Premier League Preview 2009/10

Well here we go again, another season of the 'World's Best League'. That claim is even more tenuous this season, given Barcelona's mastery in the Champions League last year, and the rebirth of the Galactico era in Madrid. Of course, the departure of the 'World's Best Player' to Madrid should dampen the enthusiasm of Anglo-Saxon commentators in assigning such a lofty title to the English Premier League.

10 or 15 years ago, the offseason promised plenty of new signings from overseas, some famous, some less so, but there was generally an air of expectation/excitement (on my part) when the Premier League kicked off. This year, through a combination of credit crunch and maybe a degree of saturation (this is an interesting article on the BEEB on player nationalities) of foreign players, there have been less notable signings from overseas than in previous years. Thomas Vermaelen, Alberto Aquilani, Yuri Zhirkov are probably the biggest sigings this summer, but don't really compare with the Dennis Bergkamps, Gianfranco Zolas, Fernando Torres' or indeed Elanos of bygone and recent years. Still, other than the rumours surrounding David Villa and Franck Ribery, there wasn't much else happening this summer. We can only hope that among the likes of Christian Benitez and Nikola Kalinic we will find some unexpected entertainment.

Manchester City were probably the biggest movers and shakers this summer-but all their major signings were from English based players. Arsenal seemed more than happy to take their generous offers for Kolo Toure (who I think could discover his form again) and Emmanuel Adebayor (who reminds me a lot of Didier Drogba-for all the right and wrong reasons); Villa were likely to lose Gareth Barry anyway (and Rafa just couldn't hide his annoyance at being outbid by the Shiekh); and it's hard to know how Fergie really feels at losing Carlos Tevez to his crosstown 'rivals', but he has put up a good front at making us feel like he could care less. How Mark Hughes melds all of these talented but moody individuals into a team remains to be seen-remember-as well as Tevez and Adebayor, he also has Craig Bellamy and Robinho on his books. The addition of Jolean Lescott or another top defender will strengthen his hand, but to me City remain a team that lack a clear leader. Still, it will be an interesting season at the City of Manchester, although it is their away form (2 wins on the road last season) that could determine their bid for Champions League football.

Arsenal almost look like they have given up. Selling Adebayor and Toure to City made them a pretty penny, but strengthen a team that will surely be one of their main rivals for a Champions League spot. I know nothing of Thomas Vermaelen, but judging by the fee, he will surely be decent-Arsenal aren't renowned for splashing out on defenders. The failure to add a bit of steel in midfield (rumours of a move to bring Patrick Vieira back aside) will surely count against them. As will relying on their collection of talented forwards to remain fit and score the goals that their attractive football often fails to provide. Adebayor scored 24 goals in 2008, but only 10 in the last campaign, so he may not be missed as much as one would imagine. I see Arsenal holding on to 4th place, a full season of Andrei Arshavin promises much, but they still lack some of the key ingredients for further Premiership success.

Liverpool have been picked by quite a few pundits to finally win the Premier League this year, whereas the bookies have them as 3rd favourites. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I just don't see how swapping Alberto Aquilani (who seems to have a poor injury history) for Xabi Alonso improves their team, and I certainly don't rate Glen Johnson as a defender. So, it really comes down to Steven Gerrard and Fernando Alonso continually providing the goals and all round excellence that took Liverpool to 2nd last season. While I have no doubt that both players will be as good as they were last season, and perhaps better than last season in Torres' case, I feel that there is not enough quality in the squad to sustain a title challenge over the full season.

Like Liverpool, Manchester United don't seem to have the pieces to improve on last season. Indeed, the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is likely to significantly weaken their hand-I don't feel that Antonio Valencia and Micheal Owen will be as good as the departed, but maybe they just need to be good enough to get United over the line again. If they don't score as many goals, it may not matter, given the excellence of their defence last season, and you can be sure that Wayne Rooney will relish the chance to play a more pivital role than was the case when Ronaldo and Tevez had to be accommodated.

Chelsea are favourites with the bookmakers-as much due to the fact that Mancheseter United have lost players and Liverpool don't seem to have improved their squad. After just watching them eke out a 2-1 win over Hull City at home, I don't see much change in their style of play from last season. I guess I still fancy them overall-but they can't afford games like today-where they created 30 chances but could only take 2 of them. They have a decent squad, but players like Terry, Lampard and Essien are key-and at least one of Drogba and Anelka must hit form in patches for them to be more successful than last year. Injuries to key men cost them last year, this year the African Cup of Nations could derail their challenge, when Essien, Drogba and Kalou will definitely be absent, and there is a strong chance Mikel could be on duty in Angola as well. Chelsea can probably live without Mikel and Kalou, but it will be very difficult to compensate for the absence of Essien and Drogba. I've written more about Chelsea's prospects here.

So, Chelsea 1st, Liverpool 2nd, Man Utd 3rd is my top 3, with Arsenal retaining 4th place.

As to the rest, the 3 promoted teams, plus Portsmouth and Hull, will struggle and 3 from these 5 will go down. It will be interesting to see how last year's overachievers (Stoke and Fulham) do this year, as will watching the development of Gianfarnco Zola as a manager at West Ham United. Outside of that, there's not much to say about the other Premier League teams for now. Let's hope that the next 40 or so weekends give me plenty to write about.