look out for these guys!
As the 2008/2009 EPL season gets closer to kickoff he thought on everyone’s mind must be what they should expect this season and from who. I have decided to give some insight into how this season could turn out. It is too easy for me to say that the top four would be United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool and thus have decided to speculate and maybe I will accumulate by the end of the season.
So what will happen? I sincerely feel that United can make the best effort to retain their title. They would have the least changes and the most chemistry between the hypothetical top four mentioned. If they manage to sign Berbatov from spurs then their attack will be fearsome even without Ronaldo. United’s key is a well balanced team without too many experiments as seen last season.
Chelsea remain strong despite yet another change in management. I strongly feel that their team spirit is high and carries them through rough times. Grant was nothing special yet the team prospered and this fighting spirit together with their experience will push them through. New signings such as Bosingwa and Deco may make the difference just as they may not. I will give them second place again.
Arsenal has undergone dramatic changes in personnel saying goodbye to the prolific Alexander Hleb while acquiring the likes of Samir Nasri, Aaron Ramsey and the returning Johan Djourou and Carlos Vela. Arsenal will suffer from the many new faces entering and causing upset to their chemistry. They promise to have a strong end of season run. Hopefully Adebayor will be able to keep his feet on the ground after a mix up with Milan!
Liverpool have also shaken things up quite a bit bringing in Brazilian goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri from Palmeiras; Danish forward Nikola Saric from Herfolge; Italian defender Andrea Dossena from Udinese; Swiss defender Philipp Degen from Borussia Dortmund. Also they have attained Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel from Zenit St. Petersburg for a fee of €8.5m; Scottish midfielder Alex Cooper from Ross County for a fee of €0.2m. Again here Liverpool promise to be strong in the latter half of the season.
I feel the last two teams, Arsenal or Liverpool could lose their places to Manchester City. City has made a massive signing in Brazilian forward Jo from CSKA Moscow. He scored 30 goals in 53 appearances with them and can bring lots oj joy to the other side of Manchester. Lastly, City’s new manager Mark Hughes has the capacity to take his new club to unseen heights and leads the way for a historical season ahead. I shall leave you with the three players to impact the EPL this season:
TOP 3
1) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)-Fergie will have a more defined role for him allowing him to be more consistent this year.
2) Bosingwa (Chelsea)-If he makes runs like he did during the Euro’s he will cause all sorts of trouble for opposing defenders.
3) Jo (Manchester City)-His goal scoring record with CSKA Moscow could only mean that he is a big threat to the defence.
Close followers: L Modric, and F. Torres
Bottom 3 (Past peak)
1) C. Ronaldo (Manchester United)- Will not repeat last season’s stellar performance especially while recovering from injury.
2) F. Lampard (Chelsea)-Don’t know whats all the fuss about this fellow. Far from his best.
3) Peter Crouch (Liverpool)-Lack of first team opportunities speaks for itself. Transfered to Portsmouth..why?
Filed under: Football, Uncategorized | Tagged: Arsenal, Berbatov, best players, blackburn rovers, chelsea, crouch, english premier league, EPL, hleb, jo, Liverpool, manchester ciy, manchester united, mark hughes, nasri, Ronaldo, rooney
talkfootballonline
TriniGunner
fourthreferee
Interesting comments reddevil.. Some I agree with, and others I disagree with.. For now I will comment on your impact players:
Top 3:
1) Wayne Rooney - push
United’s goals are going to come from Ronaldo again. Mainly because every team’s top defenders have to mark Rooney & Tevez, leaving non-defenders like Michael Essien to unsuccessfully attempt to mark the World’s best. If they get Berbatov too, then Rooney may see his minutes decrease..
2) Bosingwa - Disagree..
Come on now, he may be a good defender, but he is still a defender (and a wing-back at that), so his impact is not going to be that big.. Plus he plays 20 min and he is gets injured!! Hmm.. Somewhere someone are chanting “What a waste of…”
3) Jo - Disagree
More often than not, strikers do not make an immediate impact in the premiership. Torres last year was out of the norm. Shevchenko, Kezman, Bianchi, and others. History is littered with big name strikers who failed to make an impression in the premiership. Plus all strikers need someone to create the opportunities, and by the end of last season, the rest of the BPL had Elano all figured out.. He will score, but others will score more..
Bottom 3:
1) C. Ronaldo - Disagree
He will probably not score as many goals as he did last year, but then again who will. True talent cannot be suppressed, and he will have a 15-20 goal season, which is excellent for a midfielder.. No matter who he is..
2) F. Lampard - Push..
I have doubts about him only because I have no idea what Scolari wants to do with the team.. Chelsea have 5 central midfielders for 2 spots, someone has to be the odd man out. The man is still talented, and may actually go to Inter instead..
3) Peter Crouch - Disagree
Goals are goals, no matter who scores them and how they score them.. Crouch looks goofy, but he scored more than Voronin and Babel, yet got less starts, and was villified quite unfairly.. He went to Pompey because he was wanted there, and he will actually get to play for a manager who likes him..