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Team to watch out for – Southampton
Manager left and the players followed - did Southampton become victims of their own success?
Watching Southampton get dismantled the way did this summer has really been a dispiriting experience. When asked about the uncertainty regarding some players’ future, Les Reed put a brave face in the public, stating that they need not raise money through sales to pay off the debt and that any offer would be rejected.
But, in reality who can refuse when someone becomes willing to pay £16m for a 19-year old right-back with only a handful of league starts to his name? Or a mammoth £32m for an 18-year old left back? Anyone and everyone could be tempted.
You could understand the agitation among the Saints faithful and new manager Ronald Koeman asked for some patience. With the cash available in surplus to spend, it’s the incomings that have started flowing in recent weeks.
Southampton have calmed the supporters’ nerves by signing Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle and Fraser foster apart from the loan deals for Ryan Bertrand and Saphir Taider. With more signings imminent, things aren’t half as bad as they are being made to look. Relegation fears are over the mark as the Saints remain in a much better position than most of the clubs.
Not all is lost for Southampton though. New manager Ronald Koeman gets an opportunity to mould the team the way he wants, with all the wholesome incomings and outgoings and give the club a new direction. Although his first priority must be to revoke the slide and make absolutely sure there aren’t any more departures.
On a realistic note, Southampton would almost certainly fail to match last season’s highs and an upper mid-table finish should be an ideal target at this moment considering Koeman’s first season settling in with the rigours and demands of the Premier League.
Manager to watch out for – Louis van Gaal
Following the disastrous David Moyes reign which saw United not only failing to secure a Champions League berth but also finish 7th in the league – their lowest ever finish since the 1989-90 season.
Van Gaal comes to Old Trafford with a high reputation which has sent the fans of the club excited an raring for the season ahead. There is no lack of experience for he has managed several top clubs and national teams throughout, thus managing the expectations at a big club should be no problem for him. Having been in charge of clubs of the stature of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Ajax , pressure comes naturally to him.
United under van Gaal have made a successful start during the pre-season, beating the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Liverpool. He is a manager known for his tactical flexibility and prefers playing with a 5-3-2 formation, something which the Premier League is not very familiar to.
Van Gaal believes in inculcating strict discipline within a squad, a priority of every manager taking charge of a new club, something which went missing under Moyes.
Player to watch out for – Alexis Sanchez
Arsene Wenger’s trip to Brazil paid off for he was able to persuade Chile’s World Cup hero Alexis Sanchez move to the Emirates. In recent years, Wenger has displayed a reluctance to splash the cash, but following previous season’s £43m coup of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid, Wenger once again showed that he too is not going to back down from spending big wherever needed, purchasing Sanchez from Barcelona for £32m, under the sniff of Liverpool.
Sanchez scored 19 goals and provided 10 assists in La Liga last season. Only three players had more combined goals and assists in La Liga. A clinical player, he stepped on the plate every time Lionel Messi had to sit out due to injuries. Undervalued at Barcelona, Sanchez would be happy to be the top dog at Arsenal and the Gunners would be more than happy to have him.
One of the stars during Chile’s dream run at the World Cup, Sanchez can play on the wings or even as a centre-forward and is particularly dangerous on the break. The Chilean international could form a formidable partnership with Mesut Ozil and cause mayhem among the opposition defences. No doubt why the belief in the Gunners camp is high ahead of the campaign.
