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As we edge closer to the start of yet another exciting season of the premier league, we look at the various challengers to Manchester City’s crown. Last season Manchester City and Liverpool went head to head and Liverpool ran them close. Chelsea too were in the mix but lost out at matches which mattered most towards the end. Arsenal showed again that they are a top four side but not good enough for the title. Manchester United slumped to their worst league standings in the premier league era and Tottenham, despite making multiple signings, failed to deliver. So which teams will battle it out for the Premier league this time around.
Manchester City:
There is no doubt that City will be the team to beat this season. City has won two titles in the last three seasons. The cash rich club has so much quality and depth in their squad that perhaps arguably, they have the perfect squad not only in England but the whole of Europe. They have world class options at every position. They may have dominated the premier league for the past few seasons but with the squad they have they will surely targeting Europe this season. Unfortunately they have been getting tougher groups or draws in Europe, but this time around they should get at least to the quarter finals.
City already have an enviable squad. They have players who can adapt, who can dictate play or who can also play fast flowing football. The only way they can fail this season is through their own complacency. Last season they tore apart each and every opposition at home. Though their away form was shaky at times they did improve towards the end of the season. City won the title in style last season scoring 102 league goals along the way. This time though they can expect it to be a bit tougher with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool strengthening their squads as well.
Not that this squad needs to change much but no matter how good a squad is, it does needs to get refreshed every now and then. City have bought Sagna from Arsenal, Fernando from Porto and Wily Caballero from Malaga. Manuel Pellegrini has tweaked his squad so that they could challenge for each and every trophy. Honestly looking at other teams, except for Chelsea, Manchester City should have no problem retaining their crown next year. Hence there is little doubt they are the favorites to retain their title again next year.
Chelsea:
Last season Chelsea got their best signing – Jose Mourinho. The wily Portuguese was welcome back by the Chelsea fans with open heart as he has always been their favorite. His last term brought trophies galore along with dominance in English football. Chelsea fans expected the same this time around too. They way Chelsea started their campaign certainly suggested that Jose would sweep the premier league once again. But obvious flaws like lack of goals from the strikers and a lack of genuine box to box creative midfielder was their downfall. They were top of the league and had their chances but somehow Jose couldn’t pull the rabbit out of the hat this time.
But that was last year though. This time around Jose has not only covered up the squad weakness but also bolstered it with World class talents. The striker problem has been taken care by getting Diego Costa, who was one of the best strikers in Europe with over 30 goals which helped Atletico Madrid to win the La Liga over their more prosperous rivals. To back him up he has even bought back Fan favorite Dider Drogba. He also has option of the talented Lukaku who did well in his loan spell at Everton.
But the Star signing undoubtedly has to be Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. He will add creativity, vision and goals to their already burgeoning midfield. And to cover the loss of Ashley cole, they have brought in Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid. Overall the squad looks very good and balanced and perhaps the only one to challenge Manchester City’s dominance. With Jose putting together a team as per his liking, you can sense that Chelsea will go all out for the Premier league crown.
Liverpool:
Liverpool were surprise Title chasers last year. They made City work really hard for the title last time out. Last Season it looked like Brendan Rodgers had finally found the perfect combination. The players were gelling together, their play was fluent and they scored against every kind of opposition. Of course they had the mercurial and enigmatic Luis Suarez. No disrespect to other Liverpool players but it was Suarez who made them title contenders. Sturridge, Coutinho, Sterling, Gerrad etc all played their part to perfection. But now that Suarez has left for Barcelona, can Liverpool again challenge for the title.
This season they have to compete in the Champions league as well which wasn’t the case last season. Liverpool have the cash to build a squad but the question is can they build a squad which would be good enough to handle the challenge domestically as well as in Europe. It would be interesting to see how Rodgers handles his squad. He has made mini raid on Southampton by buying Lambert, Lallana and Lovern and brought in Emre Can, perhaps as a cover for Stevie G. He has also got Markovic, an attacking midfielder from Benfica for creativity but are these players good enough to do the job.
It might be that playing in Europe might take a toll on the squad. For quite a few of them the Champions league would be a new experience including Brendan Rodgers himself. Liverpool will take the momentum of last season to have another crack at the title. But last season too they weren’t considered as title challengers yet they surprised everyone. So they might mount a decent challenge but it seems hard that they would be able to compete with Chelsea and Manchester City during the long season.
Arsenal:
Arsenal have always been a top four team. Arsene Wenger has always done shrewd business at the transfer market. He has hardly overpaid for a player. But times have changed and money talks. He has done well to give Arsenal profitable account books all these years, but its time they changed that. They need to start getting ruthless in transfer market now. Last season Arsenal bought Mesut Ozil for a mammoth price to make a statement of intent. But there has always been something lacking in Arsenal to mount a genuine title challenge. They have always been in the mix as contenders every season. But they haven’t really raised themselves up for the title challenge.
Last season Arsenal started with a bang and looked like they might actually go for the title. But somehow there was a similar collapse in their challenge and hopes quickly faded away. For all the entertaining, fluid, incisive and good football arsenal play, they just can’t covert them into Title Challenges. Arsenal have, perhaps the most fluent midfield but what they lack is a midfield general that would do all the dirty work. Add to that they don’t have a forward capable of scoring over 20 goals a season. They didn’t have any backup for Giroud last time out.
This season Alexis Sanchez was the marquee signing for arsenal. The Chilean just might be a catalyst to propel Arsenal to the title. But it might be too much for him if Arsenal do not click as a team. They have brought highly rated youngster Calum Chambers from Southampton and the dependable Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle, both right backs, to cover the loss of Sagna to Manchester City. Also, they got David Ospina from Nice to give Wojciech Szczesny competition between the sticks. This season could be important for Arsenal as they won the FA cup last season and that might give them the confidence that they could go on to win the League title this time out.
The ‘Could be Contenders’
There is still couple of weeks to go before the start of the new season and the transfer window will be active even after that. So teams would still look to add to their squad and increase their chances of winning the league. But it is hard to look past these four teams challenging at the top. Manchester United and Tottenham have got new coaches so it might be a bit difficult for them to challenge this season. A top four finish would be a more likely target for both clubs. United may get in the title race due to Louis Van Gaal, but he needs at least 3-4 world class signings to do that. This looks highly unlikely as they have missed out on Champions league this season and he needs time to look at squad and make them play as he wants.
While all these teams will be fighting for top honours this season, it is hard to look past Manchester City and Chelsea at this point. Chelsea have made some great signings this season to end the dominance of the ‘Manchester clubs’. It seems Jose has finally assembled a squad which can take on City and bring the title back to the Capital. City on the other hand have been calculative in the transfer market till now. They don’t need to bring big signings to the already glamorous squad they have. But with unlimited money to spend, you cannot bet against them making couple of marquee signings before the transfer window irrespective of whether they need it or not.
So for the moment it looks like it would be Manchester City and Chelsea for the title but it would certainly make things interesting and entertaining for the neutrals if other teams can manage to put their hats into the ring and have a go at the title.
