With more
money coming in through subscriber TV in Britain and overseas, the Premier
League is now clearly one of the richest leagues in the world and close to
competing with the big American pro-sport leagues for gross income. Whether
that money will filter through to the lower leagues of the Football League
remains to be seen, although the quality of football in the Championship has
certainly improved over the last 5 seasons as the likes of Derby, Middlesbrough
and Nottingham Forest are spending up large so they can get a piece of the
Premier League pie.
At the same
time, the race at the top is as hot as ever. Chelsea, Manchester City and
Manchester United clearly lead the league with the money they have at their
disposal - along with recent reputation and Champions League football - to
spend on and the clubs in blue will be title contenders this season again.
United will
be dark horses particularly with the signings they’ve made in the off season –
while Bastian Schweinsteiger is clearly one for the short term, Morgan Schneiderlin
is an emerging force and should be a United anchor as long as he doesn’t share
the same luck as his predecessors Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves. Along
with signing rising Dutch star, Memphis Depay to replace the gun-shy Robin van
Persie, Van Gaal continues to play all his cards when he can and spend large
and spend on known quality and United should at least consolidate their place
in the top 4.
Which
leaves us with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and possibly Southampton
and Everton to pick up the rest of the pieces in the top 4.
Much as we
would like to see the Saints and Toffees spring a surprise and reach the
Champions League, they still don’t quite have the squad depth as the rest to
make a sustained push for the top 4. Nevertheless, I expect the Toffees to
improve on their performance last season - if not, Roberto Martinez will probably
get the chop. The Saints look strong too but could be hamstrung by their
participation in the Europa League.
Tottenham
remain an enigma. They can be brilliant one day, awful the next. However,
Pochettino is working some nice things at White Hart Lane and if Harry Kane has
a repeat of his performance from last season, then Spurs fans will be singing
Gareth who at long last. They’re a 50-50 chance of breaking into the Champions
League and challenging for the title, but I expect them to be 5th
again.
On the
other hand, Arsenal and Liverpool could really spring a surprise in the title
race this season. Arsenal have bought well in the summer and Alexis Sanchez has
emerged as the Gunners’ most consistent talisman since Thierry Henry. The
defence is also improving and will be strengthened by having 3 top keepers in Wojcech
Szceszny, David Ospina and Petr Cech. Their midfield is finally showing steel and
you feel that the Gunners are on the cusp of greatness after years of
consolidating themselves in the top 4.
Liverpool
have also bought pretty well in the summer. While Stevie G will be a big loss
for the Reds this season, he did cast a shadow over the club and new captain
Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen, Adam Lallana along with new signing, Roberto Firmino
will now have to step up – which they seem to have done in the pre-season so
far. The signing of Christian Benteke is a big one for the club and he could
potentially be the striker that Liverpool have wanted since Luis Suarez bit his
way to a move to Barcelona. Danny Ings and a fit Daniel Sturridge will offer
good support up front leaving Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli in the
dark - Lambert has now signed with West
Brom while Super Mario is now likely to return to Italy.
My head
says Chelsea for the title, but my heart says Arsenal or Liverpool. We shall
see.
As for the
race to survive, Bournemouth and Watford would naturally be favourites but they
should be in with a fight till the last day. Eddie Howe is a cracking manager
and the Cherries have a lot more money to spend on players than people make
them out to be. Sir Elton John and his fellow Watford fans will be hoping their
new manager – their umpteenth in as many seasons – can get it right from the
start or it will be a long season.
Then there’s
Leicester City in the post Pearson era and Norwich in the Alex Neil era, a
Villa side without Benteke and West Ham with the man they’ve wanted for years
at the helm (Slaven Bilic) plus playing their final season at the Boleyn
Ground.
It’s set to
be another cracking EPL season so it might be worth spending that $20 on a
Premier League Pass now.
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