Continuing with the mid-table claustrophobia, we find the sturdy Stoke City are a force who are usually comfortably sandwiched in between European and title contenders and those nervously looking over their shoulder at obscurity. Tony Pulis’ side are consistently and notoriously difficult to break down at the Britannia Stadium, whilst their away form could improve. West Brom, now under new management due to Roy Hodgson’s departure for England, may find life under Steve Clarke easier with Romeo Lukaku’s arrival on a season-long loan from Chelsea. With Shane Long in need of a more explosive campaign, the Irishman may find just that alongside the 19 year-old Belgian.
Hopefully, the battle for a Europa League place will be similarly as exciting as last season, providing nobody new seriously enters the race (in the way Newcastle did); then it will only get more exciting. Fulham’s mix of experienced, ageing players and unknown faces that arrive out of the blue (making an instant impact like Pavel Pogrebnyak did) always produce a relatively creditable finish for the Cottagers. With Clint Dempsey’s future uncertain for the time being, Brian Ruiz may well be relied upon to be the integral source of the club’s goals – it is unlikely, however Martin Jol may be able to lead them to a Europa League spot if all goes to plan.
Meanwhile in Mersyside, Everton and Liverpool’s campaign looks to be a hard-fought one. Both will be seriously aiming for a finish above the other and improving their chances of Europa League qualification. Realistically, Liverpool are still in a prolonged period of transition due to the well-covered story that we are all familiar with. Brendan Rodgers, if he chooses to adopt and stick with his notorious tiki-taka style of play will have a challenge on his hands. New signing Fabio Borini is an impressive striker who will finish off (and willingly take part in) the flowing moves that Liverpool will inevitably produce, whilst Joe Allen’s arrival signals how Rodgers is seriously setting his mind on improving the midfield to replicate a stronger version of that he had at Swansea.
Crossing Stanley Park, the royal blue half of the city are looking onwards and upwards with a growing sense of optimism. A positive pre-season and the arrival of the influential Steven Pienaar and the promising Steven Naismith who has already worked with the spectacular Nikica Jelavic at Rangers means that the Toffees may well be able to build on a strong finish to last season and continue their flowing, attractive football going forward.
In the North East, Martin O’Neil’s Sunderland, who slid the wrong way in terms of performances at the climax of the previous campaign will be in with an outside chance of European qualification. O’Neil, like at Aston Villa, may well turn a mid-table team in to something much stronger with Stephane Sessegnon, James McClean and Sebastian Laarson pivotal to a charge up the table.
Sunderland’s neighbours, the rampaging Newcastle who remarkably finished 5th in May, will need to continue their surprising development under Alan Pardew by retaining key players and pushing onwards and upwards to what could be a fairytale season for the Toon Army. However, could second season syndrome come knocking? Can Newcastle really do it all again?
Finally, we could well have an incredibly tense, three, four or maybe even five-horse race for the title on our hands for a significant amount of time; until, most likely, a club or two loses its firepower. Under Andres Villas-Boas, Tottenham’s style will undoubtedly have altered slightly, despite inevitably relying on pace on the wings. Until their collapse last season, Spurs were still being credited with an outside chance of being title contenders: will they collapse again? Or will the proposed 34 year-old Portuguese genius make even more of an impact?
Each season, Arsenal’s chances of winning their first Premier League title since 2003/2004 are always considered. With an unsettled idol in the form of Robin van Persie (who is heavily linked with Manchester United), whether Arsenal will have their leader for the whole of next season is unclear [It’s become a little clearer – Manchester United have tied up the deal! – Ed]. New signings Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski will offer their fair share of goals and combine to create a very attack-minded squad; however Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to strengthen the defence through new, major signings and, simply, a defensive coach will leave the Gunners’ chances of returning to the peak of English football in the near future severely dented.
Staying in London, Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea, the F.A Cup and Champions League winners of last season, would appear to be taking their title bid incredibly serious after prising Oscar, Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Kevin De Bruyne from their clubs to strengthen the Blues’ squad under (for the upcoming season, anyway) Roberto Di Matteo, who cannot revert to last season’s eventual tactics in any way, shape or form and ‘defend’ their way to any glory. One concerning fact however, is that the Italian may not hold the authority (despite his two trophies for the club) someone like Pep Guardiola would to renovate Chelsea by loosening the grip of the ‘old guard’. In the short term, this evolution does not appear an overly wise decision; however, sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take one forward – a lesson John Terry and Frank Lampard will be learning in the near future.
Click HERE to head to PAGE THREE…
