Premier League Kicks Of This Saturday 16/08/2008
This weekend signals the start of the English Premier League season. This time of the year is always exciting for the fans of Premier League clubs. All fans have hopes, fears and the expectations about what will happen between now and May 2009. They all have different expectations but all will have the same excited feeling come Saturday.
In this article I will profile all the teams and how I expect them to fare this season. I believe there are four mini leagues within the Premiership this season as always. Here are the teams I expect to be in each.
Title Challengers
Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool
European Challengers
Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Portsmouth
Mid-table Teams
Manchester City, Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham, Middlesbrough, Sunderland (Could Drop To Relegation Strugglers)
Relegation Strugglers
Fulham (Could Rise To Mid-table), Wigan, Bolton, West Brom, Stoke City, Hull City
My Predictions
Top Six
1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham Hotspur
6. Aston Villa
Bottom Three
18. Bolton
19. Stoke City
20. Hull City
Top Six
Team Profiles
1st Manchester United
Prospects:
I think like last year United will be the team to beat at the top. Even though they haven’t strengthened their squad they will have a good enough squad to compete at home and in Europe again this season. The best news that United fans had over the summer was that star player Cristiano Ronaldo was staying and not moving to Real Madrid. The Portuguese winger will again vital to the team’s success.
Transfers In
None
Transfers Out
Craig Cathcart (Plymouth Argyle, Loan), Chris Eagles (Burnley, Undisc.), Kieran Lee (Oldham Athletic, Free), Danny Simpson (Blackburn Rovers, Loan), Michael Barnes (Un-attached), Sean Evans (Un-attached), Ritchie Jones (Un-attached), Michael Lea (Un-attached)
2nd Chelsea
Prospects:
Chelsea have strengthened their squad with the addition of Portuguese internationals Deco and Bosingwa. These Players added to the current Chelsea squad will help The Blues push United even harder for the title this season. The addition of Brazilian manager Luiz Felipe Scolari will also aid their title challenge. The ex Portugal manager is a born winner having won the World Cup with his home nation and also won the South American equivalent of the Champions League twice.
Transfers In
Jose Bosingwa (FC Porto, Undisc.) Deco (Barcelona, 8m)
Transfers Out
Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa, £5m), Khalid Boulahrouz (VfB Stuttgart, £3.96m), Claude Makelele (Paris-SG, Free), Tal Ben Haim (Manchester City, Undisc.), Eduardo Alcides (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, £?), Slobodan Rajkovic (FC Twente, Loan), Ben Sahar (Portsmouth, Loan), Jimmy Smith (Sheffield Wednesday, Loan), Harry Worley (Leicester City, Undisc.), Hernan Crespo (Un-attached),
3rd Liverpool
Prospects:
Liverpool have Strengthened with the addition of Robbie Keane for £20 million from Tottenham. They’ve also signed a few other squad players. Even after these additions I still don’t believe they have the quality in their squad to challenge Manchester United or Chelsea for the title. I do however believe that they will leapfrog Arsenal into the 3rd position in the league. The Reds fans will expect a real title challenge and I’m afraid they will be disappointed.
Transfers In
Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur, £19m), Andrea Dossena (Udinese, £7m), Diego Cavalieri (Palmeiras, £3m), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund, Bosman), Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo, Free), David Ngog (Paris-SG, £?), Zsolt Poloskei (MTK, Loan), Nikola Saric (Herfolge, £?), Vincent Weijl (AZ, £?)
Transfer Out
Peter Crouch (Portsmouth, £11m), Scott Carson (West Bromwich Albion, £3.25m), John Arne Riise (AS Roma, Undisc.), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle United, Undisc.), Anthony Le Tallec (Le Mans, Undisc.), Sebastian Leto (Olympiacos, Loan), Paul Anderson (Nottingham Forest, Loan), Godwin Antwi (Tranmere Rovers, Loan), Jack Hobbs (Leicester City, Loan), David Martin (Leicester City, Loan), Harry Kewell (Un-attached)
4th Arsenal
Prospects:
I really fear for Arsenal this season they have lost three experienced players Gilberto Silva, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini. The only two players they have brought in are two young midfielders in the shape of German Amaury Bischoff and French youngster Samir Nasri. It’s that lack of experience that will cost them this season. They played some of the most attractive football last season without reward after Arsene Wengers young squad suffered from burnout. I believe it will happen again this season.
Transfers In
Samir Nasri (Marseille, £11.93m), Amaury Bischoff (SV Werder Bremen, Undisc.)
Transfers Out
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos, £994.5k), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona, Undisc.), Jens Lehmann (VfB Stuttgart, Free), Kerrea Gilbert (Leicester City, Loan) Mathieu Flamini, (Free )Milan
5th Tottenham Hotspur
Prospects:
Tottenham have underachieved in the league in recent seasons but I expect them to challenge for a UEFA Cup place at least. They could even challenge for the fourth Champions League place. They have signed two of the brightest prospects in Europe in the shape of Giovani Dos Santos and Luka Modric. Juande Ramos has spent lots of money to achieve success this season and they should final achieve success in the league. This may also be the chance for Spurs to overtake local rivals Arsenal as the kings of North London.
Transfers In
John Bostock (Crystal Palace, £700k), David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers, Undisc.), Cesar Sanchez (Real Zaragoza, £?), Ryan Mason (Youth, Free), Paul-Jose Mpoku (Standard Liege, Undisc.) Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb, £16,500,000m), Giovani Dos Santos (Barcelona , Undisc) Heurelho Gomes (PSV, Undisc)
Transfers Out
Robbie Keane (Liverpool, £19m), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers, £3.5m), Steed Malbranque (Sunderland, Undisc.), Pascal Chimbonda (Sunderland, Undisc.), Younes Kaboul (Portsmouth, Undisc.), Teemu Tainio (Sunderland, Undisc.), Anthony Gardner (Hull City,£2.5m), Troy Archibald-Henville (Norwich City, Loan), Simon Dawkins (Leyton Orient, Loan), Tommy Forecast (Southampton, Undisc.), Jake Livermore (Crewe Alexandra, Loan), Joe Martin (Blackpool, Undisc.), Leigh Mills (Gillingham, Loan)
6st Aston Villa
Prospects:
Aston Villa were the surprise team last season as they finished 6st under Martin O’Neill. They could have finished 5th but could only manage 1 point out of the last two games and ended up a respectable 6st. Under O’Neill Villa have become a solid well drilled team. They also added flair to their play last season. They wasn’t just all brawn though as they were also an attractive team to watch last season. Villa have strengthened their squad this summer and added numbers to their squad which they clearly lacked last season. I do believe they are stronger than last season it’s just unfortunate that other clubs around them have strengthened aswell.
Transfers In
Carlos Cuellar (Rangers, £7.81m), Steve Sidwell (Chelsea, £5m), Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers, £2.5m), Curtis Davies (West Bromwich Albion, Undisc.), Nicky Shorey (Reading, Undisc.), Luke Young (Middlesbrough, Undisc.), Brad Guzan (CD Chivas USA, Undisc.)
Transfers Out
Olof Mellberg (Juventus, Bosman), Patrik Berger (Un-attached), Thomas Sorensen (Un-attached) Luke Moore (West Brom, £3m).
Bottom Three
18th Bolton
Bolton under Gary Megson seem to have lost the fighting spirit that they possessed under Sam Allardyce. They seem also to lack the quality of former players. Bolton also lost a player who was a lynchpin in the Big Sam days, Ivan Campo. He was released and has recently signed a two-year deal with Ipswich Town. Bolton spent money this summer signing Swedish star Johan Elmander and Fabrice Muamba. Muamba may develop into a quality player in the future but Bolton need instant success. From what I’ve seen of Elmander I don’t believe he is the goal threat that Bolton need. All in all they don’t have the quality to survive in the Premier League.
Transfers In
Riga Mustapha (Levante, £?), Danny Shittu (Watford, Undisc.)Johan Elmander (Toulouse, Undis), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham, Undis)
Transfers Out
Abdoulaye Meite (West Bromwich Albion, £2m), El-Hadji Diouf (Sunderland, Undisc.), Ivan Campo (Un-attached), Mark Ellis (Un-attached), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Un-attached), Johann Smith (Un-attached), Leslie Thompson (Un-attached)
19th Stoke City
Stoke finished second in the Championship last season. The Potteries outfit played some really good football in getting promoted to the top league. The side which was a mixture of young and old players combined well to create a great team spirit, which helped Tony Pulis side to get unexpected promotion. Tony Pulis has proved to be a really good lower league manager in recent years but it is yet to be seen whether he can cut it in the Premier League. That can also be said of his players as most of them are lower league players. It’s for this reason that Stoke will probably have to enjoy their season in the Premier League.
Transfers In
Dave Kitson (Reading, £5.5m), Seyi Olofinjana (Wolverhampton Wanderers, £3m), Thomas Sorensen (Un-attached, Free)
Transfers Out
None
20th Hull City
Prospects:
Hull City were the surprise package of last season in The Championship as they won Promotion through the play-offs. Their promotion proved how competitive The Championship really is as they came from nowhere to clinch their place in the Elite. Hull City manager Phil brown is highly rated amongst fellow managers and coaches. If Hull City are able to survive somehow this season in the top flight, then Browns coaching skills will probably be the reason. They have spent a bit of money this season on some decent players. Their problem maybe the same as Stokes’s that their players are Championship players.
Transfers In
Peter Halmosi (Plymouth Argyle, £2m), George Boateng (Middlesbrough, £1m), Craig Fagan (Derby County, £750k), Mark Oxley (Rotherham United, £150k), Geovanni (Un-attached, Free), Anthony Gardner (Tottenham Hotspur,£2.5m), Bernard Mendy (Paris-SG, Free), Tony Warner (Un-attached, Free), Marlon King (Wigan, Loan)
Transfers Out
Henrik Pedersen (Cancelled Contract), David Livermore (Brighton, Undisc)
Whatever happens this season the Premier League is sure to be exciting and intriguing. Every team’s expectations won’t be met, yet others my over achieve. There will be triumph and disaster along the way but that’s what makes football the wonderful game that we all love. I for one will be so glad to see the start of The Premier league season as I never know what to do with myself during the long summers of no league football. Let’s hope for a fantastic season and I wish every team in the Premier League Good Luck.
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