Part 1: English Premier League Season Preview and Predictions
It doesn't seem as though the football world took a break after the world cup. Ever since Andres Iniesta netted the match winning goal, that saw Spain lift the World Cup trophy for the very first time. Maybe the shocking impact of this stuck with football fans the world over, bringing about a sense of continuation. However, with the Premier League season kicking off this past weekend all that happened with the world cup is now old news.
The opening matches of the premier league saw teams such as the cash spending Manchester City and Tottenham (who are currently participating in their first ever Champions league) go on to draw their opening game. Teams like Arsenal and Liverpool also managed to draw with each other over the course of the same weekend.
However it is still unclear as to how teams like Blackpool, West Brom and Newcastle, along with the more popular teams of the English league will perform over the course of the next nine months. Here is a look at what experts believe might happen.
Arsenal
Arsenal have always been one of the best teams in the English top flight ever since the club was founded. They have however also managed to always be the greatest underachievers in the league as well. They have only won two Premier League trophies so far which by Arsenal’s standards is a very disappointing figure.
Arsenal had some major worries going into the season, mainly consisting of the fact that they were short of a World Class goal keeper and with all the defenders moving out of the club, they were also short on the number of centre backs at the club.
The other major worry was whether or not their captain, Cesc Fabregas was going to stay at the club. There were countless rumours that the Spanish international was on his way to Barcelona, but those rumours have been put to bed ever since the player committed his future to the club.
If Fabregas and Van Persie can remain fit for the rest of the season, then their services would prove to be very valuable to the team. New signings like Chamakh are also expected to make an impact on the league this season.
Over the summer the players that Arsene Wenger has let go of are, Philippe Senderos, Fran Merida, Mikael Silvestre, William Gallas, Francis Coquelin, Eduardo, Sol Campbell and Sanchez Watt. On the other hand the players that he has brought in are, Laurent Koscienly, Marouane Chamakh, Kyle Ebcilio and Phillips Roberts.
Just by looking at those names it is easy to tell that the team has let go of more players then they have signed. The main concern is the fact that Arsenal have failed to sign a World Class keeper. In Arsenals opening game against Liverpool, the weakest link that could be seen for the Gunners was none other than their goal keeper, Manuel Almunia. The keeper was all over the place and could have done much better to keep out N Gog’s shot on goal. Arsene Wenger has since not made any comments regarding the situation and has remained adamant on signing a new keeper.
The other problem that Arsenal have is the fact that they are now short of world class, central defenders. With Koscienly seeing red against Liverpool, Arsenal will have to resort to Alex Song playing as centre back this coming weekend and hence not allowing the player to play in his preferred, defensive midfielder position. What this will result in is the teams performance dropping slightly.
Experts believe that if Arsenal manage to sign the two or three crucial players that they need, before the close of the transfer window, then they might be able to launch a successful title challenge. However if they fail to do so then, apart from a top four finish their isn’t much that the team can look forward to achieving this coming season and it would just add another year to their barren, trophy less run.
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