English Premier League: Season predictions

The Top 4

Andres Villas-Boas can challenge for the top four if he could spend the £100 million safely, which he would potentially get from the Gareth Bale sale.

Unlike previous seasons, the top of the table is the most difficult area to predict this time.

Tottenham have added Roberto Soldado which means Adebayor is on his way. The highly-rated Paulinho and Nacer Chadli come in from Corinthians and FC Twente respectively. But the real focus here is on Gareth Bale. Assuming he departs, Tottenham will have another £100m added to their pre-planned budget.

If spent wisely on the right players, Tottenham can even challenge for the title. AVB has the experience of winning trophies from his stint at Porto. While selling Bale would undoubtedly be a big blow, the price being quoted is too good to refuse.

With the £100 million, they can sign a couple of defenders and midfielders and another striker if required. If they can attract big names using their Bale cash, they are the team to look out for.

Tottenham’s great neighbours, meanwhile, are having a disastrous window. Promises of Higuain and Rooney soon turned into a tug-off-war with Liverpool over Luis Suarez, and the Gunners are still stuck with the duo of Bendtner and Chamakh in their ranks. I still cannot comprehend why they are willing to spend in excess of £40 million for the troublesome Suarez when they could have got Gonzalo Higuain for just as much earlier. Puzzling indeed.

Yaya Sanogo is the only player they have actually signed, in spite of Arsene Wenger’s insistence that there is money to spend. 12 players have either been sold, released, or loaned – Andrei Arshavin the most notable one. The squad looks a bit thin at the moment, and if the rumoured size of that war-chest is true, a bunch of players are on their way.

Just who they are, and whether they are from the French league or not, remains to be seen. On the positive side, for once, the mood around Arsenal is a bit different – the rumours are about who is coming in, rather than who is going out. Considering their activity so far, nothing big apart from Suarez seems to be on the cards, other than some more unknown imports.

Going by my narration of Spurs’ progress and Arsenal’s apparent stagnation, you may have formed an opinion by now that I’m counting Arsenal out of the top four. But I am not. The only reason for that is their manager. As an ESPN commentator put it last season, “no matter what, they always get there in the end”. It could not have been put more aptly.

To Chelsea now, who are apparently already the favourites just because they signed a new manager! Their strategy to look for the young and promising is in full swing. Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel are the latest youngsters to join Jose Mourinho’s second generation, while much-needed cover has been bought in the goalkeeping department (read, Mark Schwarzer).

The average age has considerably dropped with the release of Ferreira, Malouda and Benayoun. The squad is extremely deep now, with cover for each position. Despite the relatively young age, the experience of winning a trophy has already been learnt, courtesy the Europa League.

With a universally accepted manager now, under whom they never lost a league game at home, Chelsea are firm favourites for the league title (assuming that the owner does not lose his mind and start hunting for a new manager mid-season).

Over to Manchester, and the contrast between the two clubs’ activities is there to see. City have found themselves a manager who has always left clubs in a better situation than the predecessor left it. Manuel Pellegrini recognized a need for width and bought the Spanish international Jesus Navas, and signed Fernandinho to complement Yaya Toure in the middle since City had become too reliant on the Ivorian.

The forward department looked short, thus came in Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic. Basically, they have recognized needs and bought accordingly, while clearing space for the new arrivals. So far, it has been a well planned transfer season for City, which puts their squad in great shape to regain the title. Under a manager who took unfancied Malaga into the Champions League knockout stages, it would be difficult to bet against City finishing anything other than champions or runners-up.

If City have had a superb transfer season, their neighbours have had anything but. Similar to Arsenal’s promise of signing a new striker, United have been found wanting in central midfield. They made a mess of Thiago Alcantara, and are repeating it with Cesc Fabregas at the moment. Kevin Strootman was a long-term target, but he chose Rome rather than Manchester.

Suddenly, Maroune Fellaini is realistically the only quality player they can get for that position. Scholes has retired while Ryan Giggs has taken up coaching responsibilities along with playing, so they are going to miss 21 years’ of top-flight experience.

The sooner they get rid of Anderson and Nani, the better for them – Jesse Lingard, Adnan Januzaj and Wilfried Zaha are waiting. United have been dormant so far in the market (Guillermo Varela is the only signing), and if they lose Wayne Rooney despite their firm stand, they may start to panic buy.

Last season’s title-winning squad was said to be one of Ferguson’s worst. Yet, they ran away with the title. This time, the squad is more or less similar. But the big question here is whether David Moyes can handle the pressure. It was only due to Ferguson’s presence and RVP’s heroics that United won the title last season. In case RVP gets injured, and Moyes finds the going tough, United may end up being also-rans in the title race, let alone seriously challenging for it. Even worse, I fear they might even slip into a scrap for fourth spot if injuries pile up.

Top 4 (in no specific order): Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United – Irrespective of Gareth Bale staying or leaving, Spurs to miss out by a whisker yet again. I expect a close fight between Manchester United and Spurs for fourth, with the Red Devils sneaking through.