Premier League Preview Part One

Premier league preview part one

The English premier league kicks off in a matter of hours and we can't but preview as always, the wait is over, men have moved, managers have changed jobs, but the league remains. Notable absentee from the dugout this time is the self styled relegation battle expert Sam Alardyce, who surprisingly was named as the new manager of the Three Lions, Jose Mourinho made a quick return to active service after being laid off by Chelsea last winter following another defeat at Leicester, and of course the biggest name (arguably) from the new bunch has to be Pep Guardiola, who now manages the blue half of Manchester.

It's a season like no other, with big names leading out the teams in different ideologies and tactics, but there can only be one winner, and there can only be four champions league place finishers, so who misses out? Watford have a veteran in Walter Mazzari, Slaven Bilic proved his mettle last term, Mauricio Pochetinno gave a good fight as well as Ronald Koeman who now leads Everton, talking probabilities, one might want to favour the big spenders, but talking possibilities, Leicester City, champions of England, well you have to get used to hearing that for another one year or so, proved nothing is too far to dream of. Football is changing and the fans must too, anything that can go wrong will go wrong, therefore everything that is legal can happen too...

The title won't be a two horse race this season, on paper, it's Chelsea's to lose, compact, defensive and focused, no big name departures, defensive midfield cover recruited in the person of arguably the best ball retriever in the whole of Europe, N'golo Kante, no European competition distraction, Chelsea wouldn't forgive themselves if they don't win it. There's a big shout for Manchester United, a certain one hundred million pounds player just joined albeit for a second spell, how well will he live up to his price tag? Ibrahimovic joined too, as well as the intelligent Henrik Mhiktaryan, who for me is the buy of the season for United, they should compete, but with overload of ego in the team, off field issues will most likely be their albatross.

Take it or leave it, Leicester City, yes Leicester City are in the mix, they won a big battle by successfully keeping the duo of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez off the sights of Arsenal, they have only Kante to miss but they've added grit to replace him and some pace upfront in the person of Ahmed Musa. Claudio Ranieri as usual has played down title chances, he's in Europe and he's still celebrating that, he has set the 40point target, Leicester will surpass that, they most likely won't make top four, in fact no chance because people will take them more seriously this term but they will finish in the top half, they will be slightly affected by their participation in Europe.

You don't want to be an Arsenal fan right now, apart from Granit Xhaka, no meaningful addition to a team that could have won the league last season had they gotten a finisher to make the most of what comes from a gifted midfield, so it becomes a no brainer for the manager to bring in a forward with proven abilities, Wenger did try with Jamie Vardy, but his inability to convince the direct play forward to join explains how bad things have gotten for his reputation, a second placed finish last season was an improvement on the previous seasons but he can't go a step further with Per Metersacker as captain and Takumo Asano as his only striker recruit when Welbeck is out for almost a year and Giroud is only as good as one day on three days off, Rob Holding looks good, but he's not in the class of what the rivals got, best finish for Arsenal would be the same top four achievement.

Liverpool won't blame Brendan Rodgers this time, Klopp has gotten his men, he said he's done in the window and ready to compete, he faces Arsenal first, good start considering Arsenal's defensive woes but how well has his team gelled? They did beat Barcelona black and blue in a friendly before being humbled 24 hours later by Weder Bremen, the signings of Sadio Mane and Georgio Wijnaldum should add grit, but fitness must be addressed, style of play will be vital as well with the second half capitulation against Sevilla in their most important game of last season means defense must be taking seriously, Klopp believes if you score four he can score five, to be fair that's the ideology of the modern day football but you won't win the league if you leak so much. Liverpool won't finish in the top four.

Pep Guardiola will taste premier league action against Sunderland, a match that always go City's way at home, but it could be a banana skin if not careful, he's gotten the men he wanted, he spent early and must have registered his philosophy. The only question must be that of Vincent Kompany and the place of Joe Hart, where will City finish? Pep is a proven manager, he has Mourinho to fight again, but both managers have played down any acrimony, City team looks rejuvenated and ready, but so does a few others, as once stated, if you bring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich and PSG to the premier league, Arsenal will still finish in the top four, so who misses out?

Verdict:
Chelsea would be champions
Arsenal to finish in the top four
Either of Manchester United and their blue brother to finish outside top four
Expect a dark horse in the mix, Everton, Westham and Tottenham will give a very good fight.