We are almost there.......Its the 8th of August and in a couple of days, when referee Graham Poll, puts his whistle to mouth, Tottenham and Sunderland will set the ball rolling to start off one of the most eagerly awaited English Premier League ever.
Yes, every time it looks like--"This" time is the most awaited EPL. But, to me there have never been as many contenders to the EPL. Well, speaking from my brain, I would say Chelsea are favorites--simply because of the depth in their squad. There have
been very few notable exclusions apart from Robben(Has his transfer to Madrid finalised?), and yet they have signed Florent Malouda, Sidwell, Telal Ben Haim. And I wont be surprised if Ballack and Sheva have a bigger impact this time round.
Generally, the foreign players take an year or two to settle down in the EPL. Everyone do their normal business. Terry will be a rock, Cech will be reliable as ever, Dargar,oh sorry Drogba will continue from where he left last season.....etc etc. But, to me, what puts them ahead of Man Utd is, the one year of English football experiance that Ballack and Sheva will carry. No one ever doubted the quality that these two possessed. I think these 2 are too good players to perform badly for two season in a row. (Lots of 'to's eh!!)
Manchester United to me, are second favorites, marginally behind Chelsea. While they will welcome with open arms, the Paul Collingwood of English football--Owen Hargreaves
and the highly talented Nani(I assume he is highly talented since he is from Portugal and the Brazilians speak Portugese right!!) and Pederson(was that the other guy's name?), they will be praying that their solid back four of Vidic, Fedinand, Evra and Neville carry on from where they left last season. I thought, the form and more importantly, the injury free'ness of these four was a reason often overlooked because of the huhaha behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
No doubt, Mr.Basu had a great season, but defence is such a non-glamorous part of football, that I wont blame people if they forgot the United back four.
Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that it is very very unlikely that these four will be as injury free as last season and hence the defence might just struggle.
Liverpool......well I thought I would leave this for Raja or Abhishek to complete. Anyway, I will make an honest attempt to assess their chances. On first sight, it looks like they are too much dependent on Gerrard. But they have made a couple of decent signings, in Babel and Benayoun. While Babel brings some fresh legs into the Liverpool strike force, Benayoun's experiance of playing in England and the
creativity he posesses might just be what Liverpool may be looking for. Solid defence and disciplined football has always been their forte, and i dont expect that to change. Like Shave and Ballack, I expect Kuyt(probably Liverpool's best player last season) to improve and the arrival of fellow dutchman, Rayen Babel, might just make him feel better. I think Torres will be a flop. Big statement?? May be. But, anyway.....lets see.
Totenham look good, with the ever improving Berbatov threatening to replace Henry as premiership's best striker. They have been improving consistently over the past few years. This might be the season, where they might break into the top four.
Last season's surprise package was Portsmouth. Remember, they were second in the league for a couple of monhts into the season. And to finish in the top 10 after almost being relegated the previous season was a commendable achievemnt. This season's surprise package could be West Ham. Yes, they have lost Tevez. But a look at their strike force of -- Bobby Zamora, Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole and the midfield of Freddie Ljungberg and Scott Parker tells me that they could be a force to reckon with. Dont be surprised if they make a top 8 finish
I will come to MY team in another post!!!
