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After witnessing the best Premier League season so far, are we heading towards another mouth-watering treat of a season? In my opinion, it will be a race among the 4 big teams mainly. We can call these encounters with many different perspectives -
Reds vs Blues
Manchester vs London
Big Spenders vs Low Spenders
Oldies vs Newbies
So let’s see what armory these “Big 4″ have, to lead the race to the EPL 2012-13 title.
The red half of Manchester has been the most consistent team for the past 15 seasons. Obviously, the main man behind this enormous success is Sir Alex Ferguson. No matter how many injuries or how much rivals spend, United have had sky-high ambitions and the team have lived up to the fans’ expectations.
Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t the highest spending manager in the market, but he is the one who goes for a mix of talent and experience, with enough cash in his pocket. As they say, others ‘buy’ developed players, Ferguson ‘finds’ potential and develops them. United have already grabbed the highly talented, Nick Powell and Dortmund’s playmaker, Shinji Kagawa. They are also in a serious hunt for Robin Van Persie and Lucas Moura, however, only one of the two moves is most likely materialize.
Last year, the United squad was threatened with long-term injuries to key players like Vidic, Anderson, Fletcher and Cleverley. Furthermore, due to lack of attacking midfielders, Rooney had to play behind the main striker. This year, United have the players to fit into that role and Rooney can play in his natural position, either replacing Welbeck or playing alongside him.
Key Players
Defence: Vidic, Evra
Midfield: Kagawa, Scholes
Striker: Rooney, Welbeck
Wingers: Valencia, Young
Last year, millions of football lovers witnessed the role that money played in winning titles. Now it seems like Mr. Roman Abramovich has adopted the same strategy for the upcoming season.
Winning an estimated 64 million pounds from the Champions League added along with the treasury that the rich Russian provides, Chelsea have had a spending spree in the market so far. They have already captured the likes of Hazard, Marin, and Oscar, whereas Moses and Willian also on their shopping cart. They have invested deeply on the attacking front, but do they need to invest on the defence too? Well, I’ll leave that question unanswered for now.
The only negative points that one can find in this young and fresh Chelsea squad is a lack of an experienced manager and a new team that lacks cohesion and understanding (but wasn’t that the same case with Man City last season – a ‘new’ team).
It is quite clear that Chelsea are the team to beat next season and all they need to ensure is that they get a good start to the season. Who knows we might see RDM wearing the Blue Sack mid-season.
Key Players
Defence: Terry, Cole
Midfield: Mata, Oscar, Lampard
Striker: Torres (be optimistic)
Wingers: Hazard
The newly dominating blue-part of Manchester has made its intentions clear, they want to be the champions of Europe. After a nail-biting finale against QPR, the City of Manchester has been flying high. What’s more? They are going to be hungry for more next season, preparing for a better run in the the Champions League than last year.
It seems like City have been tranquilized in comparison to a place where they were the most active last 2 seasons – The Transfer Market. They have targeted RVP, who sits on the top of their priority list. But the tranquilizer, the financial fair-play, have made them re-think their strategies after a reported £197m loss – the biggest ever in English Football.
But the question that arises is, do they really need to spend? Well, YES. Every year, you need to strengthen and fill in the cracks in your squad, but to do so they need to reduce the wage bills. Edin Dzeko was allowed to leave and the Bavarians were hugely interested, until they switched their attention towards Mandzukic. Juventus have also targeted Dzeko, in case they aren’t able to land Arsenal’s Van Persie.
Manchester City will definitely be defending their silverware, whether or not they spend, because they already are considerably strong.
Key Players
Defence: Kompany, Lescott
Midfield: Silva, Barry, Toure
Strikers: Aguero, Tevez, Balotelli
ARSENAL
Every year football Pundits around the world criticise Arsene Wenger’s strategies and don’t see the Gunners finishing in the Top 4, but as the fans call him, “We have a magician and we call him AW”, ‘Le Proffesseur’ has proved the so-called pundits wrong for the past 15 seasons.
But a change in strategy and a splash of cash is definitely required if they are to challenge the other 3 teams. And Monsieur Wenger has already shown his intent by capturing the likes of Podolski and Giroud and also linking to Malaga’s playmaker Santi Cazorla. That’s not the end, Wenger says has a couple of more prospects in his mind. This is the first time an Arsenal fan is seeing activity of such magnitude in the market.
But the biggest threat to their dreams is still not clear in the name of RVP. Arsenal’s betting ratios to win the Premier League went from 9/1 to 12/1 after RVP’s terrorising statement.
Arsenal have to get a strong start to the season, unlike last year, and the main cause for concern is the lack of an experience in the right back position until late September. Another addition to the back four and Arsenal should be good to go.
Key Players
Defence: Vermaelen, Koscielny
Midfield: Arteta, Song
Strikers: RVP/Giroud
Wingers: Podolski, Walcott/Chamberlain
In my opinion, these 4 teams will be the strongest contenders for the EPL title. Obviously, unlike other domestic leagues, EPL is never restricted to a “Top-2″ or “Top-4″ because there is always cut throat competition from mid-table teams as well. So buckle-up for an enthralling and awe-inspiring new EPL season.
