On this day, exactly one year ago, Chelsea were sitting top of the Premier League table, one point clear of United and City who were separated only by goal difference. The Gunners were 7 points off the pace, Liverpool were down in 12th with only 2 wins under their belt, QPR and Reading were in the drop zone, a sign of things to come, and nestled in between them was Southampton.
How times have changed. And by God do I love it, which in part is my bias as a Liverpool fan, but to a much larger degree is my bias as a fan of the Premier League. In recent years the title race has been a predictable occasion with a handful of teams fighting it out. In particular the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea, with Arsenal not far behind.
This season looks to be an open contest. The hopes of Arsenal fans have been reinvigorated thanks largely to the mastery of Ozil, the superb form of Ramsey and Flamini and the thriving Olivier Giroud, who is showing what he is capable of with a season under his belt. Let’s forget about their opening round blunder against Villa, this is a team filled with confidence who are playing some spectacular football with some sublime, and most importantly, clinical finishing. The finest example was their team goal against Norwich, finished off by Jack “I’m Not A Smoker” Wilshere. Will be interesting to see how they perform against tougher opponents in the weeks to come.
On the other end of the spectrum we have Manchester United. The managerial reign of Sir Alex Ferguson is looking more and more remarkable after every round of the 2013/2014 season. Even Moyes agrees the team Ferguson won the title with last season just is just plain average. Ahead of his Champion’s League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk, Moyes was reflecting that the top European teams have “five or six” world-class players each. He went on to say, “We’ve not got that yet but what we have got is experience and several players who are in that category or close to it”. Moyes really shot himself in the foot with that one, after all Fergie won the title by a comfortable 11 points with the same group of players. United fans have come to expect their team to be fighting for European bragging rights and for the title to be well within reach. The question is, if the manager himself doesn’t think he has the team to win it, why didn’t he buy some players in the summer? You’re not in Merseyside anymore, David, go splash some cash.
This, of course, is in stark contrast to the blue side of Manchester, where Middle Eastern money was flowing freely. City spent big over the summer and most importantly they spent early. On paper they are the strongest team in the league, but the question is whether Pellegrini can get the most out of his players. The only thing stopping City from taking the title this season is their passion and drive for it, and perhaps how to deal with any further injuries to Vincent Kompany. They were phenomenal in their 4-1 drubbing of Utd in round 5, if they can recreate that form week in and week out there should be no reason they won’t be up there come May.
Venturing back to the north side of London now and specifically to Tottenham. Spurs fans will be happy with the solid start their team has had to the season. Some very shrewd acquisitions over the summer, purchased by the Bale money, have helped ease the loss of their beloved Welshman. Once this team has more time to gel they could be fighting for more than just fourth spot.
Their cross town rivals Chelsea, in my humble opinion, do not have the squad to win the title this season. They lack a centre forward who will score 20 goals a season and should never have loaned out Lukaku. But who cares about that, the self-professed “Special One” is back! Whether you love him or you hate him, the entertainment value Mourinho brings to the League cannot be measured. Jumping into the crowd after last weekend’s win against City, you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d just scored the winner instead of teen angst Torres who's had his claws out early this season.
Speaking of strikers who produce their best form in a Liverpool jersey, how good are Sturridge and Suarez? Just wait until Coutinho, the clear stand out from last season for the Reds, is back from injury. It’s not often we see teams playing with two genuine strikers up front anymore, let alone three defenders at the back. It was a risky move for Rodgers to play 4 centre-backs against Southampton and by God did they pay. But he quickly adjusted and the unconventional 3-5-2 is working wonders.
With the big six covered, next week I look forward to touching on Southampton’s strong start to the season, life looking pretty after Moyes for Everton and the battle of the bottom three, with The Black Cats having the worst start to a season, of any team, in premier league history. Until next time.
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