Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Who will win the English Premier League?

Graham Fisher in Editorial, English Premier League 12 Aug 2009

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Who do we think is going to win the English Premier League this season?

For the first time in a while it is not possible to suggest that the winners of the Premier League will come from the usual group of four top clubs. I’m sure that Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will all be in the top five but there is another team that may be able to upset the normal course of events.

Claim

Clubs like Everton, Aston Villa and Tottenham will all stake a claim and they will all be challenging for Europa Cup qualification, but they won’t have a realistic chance of breaking into that top four.

The team that has the potential to break up the gang of four is of course Manchester City. The moneybags club have brought in Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. They look to have a side capable of making a serious challenge.

If

If they can get Robinho to turn up when they play away from home, keep Santa Cruz fit, stop Adebayor from being disruptive, get Kolo Toure and Micah Richards to play like they were a couple of seasons ago and have Stephen Ireland in the same exceptional form as last season they could just about do it. You will see that there an awful lot of ‘ifs’ and I fear that there are just too many for them to succeed.

So if Manchester City are discounted that just leaves the normal four. Can Arsenal win the Premier League title for the first time in six seasons? Can Arsenal overcome the loss of Toure and Adebayor and the fact that their manager seems unwilling to spend the money that he allegedly has? I think the answer to both of those questions is no.

I shall enjoy watching the exquisite football that Wenger’s young team always play, but I think they will have to settle for fourth place at best again.

Determined

What of Chelsea? They have a new man at the helm as Carlo Ancelotti bids to emulate Jose Mourinho and take the Blues to the Premier League title. They won the battle to keep their inspirational captain John Terry against a very determined bid from Manchester City. That was great news for the club, but new faces are few and far between.

Zhirkov looks like a decent addition but many of the others are clearly reserve players or players for the future.

Gone

Chelsea will still have a spine to their team consisting of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. At twenty-nine years old this year, Terry is the only one of those players under the age of thirty. They are all fine players but I can’t help but feel that the best opportunities for this basic group of players have probably already been and gone.

The current champions Manchester United have, of course, lost Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo. The incoming players are Gabriel Obertan and Antonio Valencia as well as the gamble on Michael Owen.

Beyond

It would seem that Sir Alex is looking to the likes of the Rafael twins, Macheda, Nani and Tosic to come to the fore this season. It looks as though he is trying to build yet another team at Old Trafford. That building process is likely to mean that the Premier League may well be beyond them this season.

There we have it then, if I’m discounting Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, by the process of elimination I am left with Liverpool winning the top tier of English football for the first time since 1990.

With Glen Johnson to strengthen the defence, if they can keep Torres and Gerrard together and fit, there is no reason why they can’t build on last season’s brave runners-up spot and go one better this time around.

What do you think?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Graham Fisher


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  • Brad

    0 0

    Graham, you have asked a good question. WHO will win?
    Could it be my beloved Manchester United, possibly on the verge of fourpeating the pl?
    Or could it be Arsenal, the mighty Gunners, who did well last year, despite the doubts they had?
    Or will it be Liverpool, even greater liverpool, who gave ManU a great run for their money( I must add that the fact Liverpool threw the door wide open for the title race back in March gave me a lot of anxiety over whether or not we would threepeat, and anxiety is one of the ingredients for making celebrations all the more sweeter) and can certainly build on that, despite their set back yesterday?
    Or could it possibly be the Blue Bulldogs, as they are called in my region, the formidable Blues, Chelsea FC, who havent won the title since before MU’s current run in everything they have competed in?
    I will say that Manchester City, once their new buys adapt to being with the moneybags club, will definitely have a good season, God willing, and might even break into the Big Four…..
    Lastly, Manchester United will struggle this season, due to the losses of Ronaldo to RMCF and Tevez to our Manchester derby rivals, but it wont be long before Rooney fufills his promise of filling the scoring sheets that shouldve been filled by Ronaldo, and Frederico Macheda becomes a new star( even though he has already become one, particularly with his goals in each of his two game) and compliments Rooney’s attacks up on the front lines. Add Berbatov actually putting some work and effort into his play and we may well be fourpeating at the end of this new season.
    GO RED DEVILS!!!!!!! GO RED DEVILS!!!!!!! GO RED DEVILS!!!!!!!!

  • herman diaz

    0 0

    This will be…gulp, Arsenal’s year!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I said it!!!! No other team in the Premier league can boast Arsenal’s level of young talent. This year it will all come together. Depending on how long Nasri takes to come back and get into form, of course. He is a key cog in the gunner’s midfield. Fabregas has alot to prove this year, and the departures of Toure and Adebayor are addition by subtraction. Denilson, Arshavin, Bendtner, and Carlos Vela are all ready to step up their games. Vela and Bendtner will benefit from Adebayor’s departure. The wildcard is the enigmatic Theo Walcott. If Theo decides the time is nigh for him to take the football world by storm(like so many people have been predidicting for some time now), then Arsenal’s ceiling is limitless this year.

  • Chelsea FC Fan

    0 0

    Chelsea FC for champions no doubt…

    hopefully, we can keep the attitudes in check, not slap anyone around and completely STFU about any officiating…we create more problems for ourselves than any team we play against…

  • Soccer

    0 0

    Hopefully Liverpool can win it this year but they haven’t purchased any players to replace Arbeloa and Alonso. Big losses in my book. Not as big as Ronaldo LOL Go the Reds.

  • ugwu kingsley ejiofor

    0 0

    i think chelsea is going to re-enact what they lost some years back.they are the most physical side with a great deal of experience in their side. all they need is the right direction.focus and unity in their squad.however, liverpool seems to be the greatest threat that chelsea have.

  • kenmwu

    0 0

    Its become not as likely, but I gotta stand behind Man Utd for a fourth in a row

  • ANDRILAW

    0 0

    one thing for sure, this season doesnt belong to man u anymore. as they need time to build on their strength again for the lost of non-replaceable Ronaldo.
    for me i think only chelsea and liverpool are capable of doing it. as of the blues their players are almost all considered veteran players which means the experience wise is more than sufficient. with superb midfield and defence, the biggest problem comes from the flair. this can be solved if malouda could maintain his form , and joe cole could recover in time. For liverpool, im not their fan at all, but certainly their attacking force will be huge. A world class striker in form as in f.torres, another in midfield as in gerard, the weakness might only be in defence. even after the recruit of g.johnson, it still doesnt look like the side with formidable defence that usually only a champion team possess, the likes of carraghe are definitely good defender but not as good as the one like vidic, j.terry. Thus i think this will be tight between liverpool and chelsea to crown in england this time.

  • ANDRILAW

    0 0

    one thing for sure, this season doesnt belong to man u anymore. as they need time to build on their strength again for the lost of non-replaceable Ronaldo.
    for me i think only chelsea and liverpool are capable of doing it. as of the blues their players are almost all considered veteran players which means the experience wise is more than sufficient. with superb midfield and defence, the biggest problem comes from the flair. this can be solved if malouda could maintain his form , and joe cole could recover in time. For liverpool, im not their fan at all, but certainly their attacking force will be huge. A world class striker in form as in f.torres, another in midfield as in gerard, the weakness might only be in defence. even after the recruit of g.johnson, it still doesnt look like the side with formidable defence that usually only a champion team possess, the likes of carraghe are definitely good defender but not as good as the one like vidic, j.terry. Thus i think this will be tight between liverpool and chelsea to crown in england this time.

  • kenmwu

    0 0

    Its become not as likely, but I gotta stand behind Man Utd for a fourth in a row

  • ugwu kingsley ejiofor

    0 0

    i think chelsea is going to re-enact what they lost some years back.they are the most physical side with a great deal of experience in their side. all they need is the right direction.focus and unity in their squad.however, liverpool seems to be the greatest threat that chelsea have.

  • Soccer

    0 0

    Hopefully Liverpool can win it this year but they haven’t purchased any players to replace Arbeloa and Alonso. Big losses in my book. Not as big as Ronaldo LOL Go the Reds.

  • Chelsea FC Fan

    0 0

    Chelsea FC for champions no doubt…

    hopefully, we can keep the attitudes in check, not slap anyone around and completely STFU about any officiating…we create more problems for ourselves than any team we play against…

  • herman diaz

    0 0

    This will be…gulp, Arsenal’s year!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I said it!!!! No other team in the Premier league can boast Arsenal’s level of young talent. This year it will all come together. Depending on how long Nasri takes to come back and get into form, of course. He is a key cog in the gunner’s midfield. Fabregas has alot to prove this year, and the departures of Toure and Adebayor are addition by subtraction. Denilson, Arshavin, Bendtner, and Carlos Vela are all ready to step up their games. Vela and Bendtner will benefit from Adebayor’s departure. The wildcard is the enigmatic Theo Walcott. If Theo decides the time is nigh for him to take the football world by storm(like so many people have been predidicting for some time now), then Arsenal’s ceiling is limitless this year.

  • Brad

    0 0

    Graham, you have asked a good question. WHO will win?
    Could it be my beloved Manchester United, possibly on the verge of fourpeating the pl?
    Or could it be Arsenal, the mighty Gunners, who did well last year, despite the doubts they had?
    Or will it be Liverpool, even greater liverpool, who gave ManU a great run for their money( I must add that the fact Liverpool threw the door wide open for the title race back in March gave me a lot of anxiety over whether or not we would threepeat, and anxiety is one of the ingredients for making celebrations all the more sweeter) and can certainly build on that, despite their set back yesterday?
    Or could it possibly be the Blue Bulldogs, as they are called in my region, the formidable Blues, Chelsea FC, who havent won the title since before MU’s current run in everything they have competed in?
    I will say that Manchester City, once their new buys adapt to being with the moneybags club, will definitely have a good season, God willing, and might even break into the Big Four…..
    Lastly, Manchester United will struggle this season, due to the losses of Ronaldo to RMCF and Tevez to our Manchester derby rivals, but it wont be long before Rooney fufills his promise of filling the scoring sheets that shouldve been filled by Ronaldo, and Frederico Macheda becomes a new star( even though he has already become one, particularly with his goals in each of his two game) and compliments Rooney’s attacks up on the front lines. Add Berbatov actually putting some work and effort into his play and we may well be fourpeating at the end of this new season.
    GO RED DEVILS!!!!!!! GO RED DEVILS!!!!!!! GO RED DEVILS!!!!!!!!

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