Skip to main content

Premier League 2014/15 Preview Part One

Arsenal

The Gunners ended a 9 year wait of a trophy last season with FA Cup success, they added the Community Shield to earlier this month. Now Wenger has dipped into his wallet again and brought Chile star Alexis Sanchez, it's a massive statement for their intentions this season. The buzz around Arsenal is back and their fans feel they could challenge for the title again. They do need to find cover in the centre back position though. 


Key Man- Aaron Ramsey - If he didn't get injured last year it could have been an even greater season for Arsenal, he picked up where he left off and he was defiantly in with a shout for player of the year award. I think he is Arsenal best player and will show it this year. 


Aston Villa
Villa have added experience this summer with Senderos, Kieran Richardson and Joe Cole coming into the squad, along with Roy Keane as assistant manager. It looks set up for him to take the main role if things don't start well for them. Still with a young side but Vlaars performance at the World Cup should give the defence confidence.

Key Man - Christian Benteke his injury last year haunted Villa and nearly put them in the Championship his goals will be more than vital again. 

Burnley
Finished second last season and they were the surprise package to get promotion. Sean Dyche put together a hard working side lead by the sheer amount of goals Ings and Vokes got. It will be a massive task for them to stay in this league but you know they will give 100% every game. 

Key Man- Danny Ings is a poacher and what chances he does get in the top flight he probably will take them. 


Chelsea
Now this is Mourinho's team, his 'little horse' last season did well but now Jose has no excuses. They look strong at the back, in midfield and attacking midfield. Diego Costa will be the focal point up top. The return of Drogba shows what little faith they have in Torres. They're my pick to win the league. I think as the season goes on they will become more 'Mourinho like' and make sure no slip ups to lower league opposition will happen. 

Key Man- Cesc Fabregas the former Arsenal man finds himself back in London and I think his signing could be key. He could take the Lampard role and break into the box late to score, or he may just play centre midfield. Whatever he does he will want to prove he doubters wrong who say time at Barcelona was a flop. 


Crystal Palace 
Palace stayed up with quite ease in the end, once Pulis came in they looked stronger and pulled off some very big results. Beating Chelsea and virtually ended Liverpool's title hopes come to mind. But now he has gone due to lack of ambition from the board. They haven't really strengthened the squad much only real notable player coming in is Brade Hangeland. They lost out on quite a few names. His departure so close to the season is a massive blow.

Key Man- Mile Jedinak the captain rose to the challenge of Premier League football and was the rock of their midfield which aloud the other more skilful players to express themselves further up the pitch. 


Everton 
In what was Everton's most impressive season for years they looked like a team that had the training wheels taken off and went for it. Martinez style of football has followed him his whole career, now with probably his best squad he has worked with he could take them that one step further, be it breaking the top 4 or winning a bit of silverware. 

Key Man - Romelu Lukaku they have now brought the star from Chelsea and his goals where massive last season and is a power house forward who suits their style of play. 


Hull City
FA Cup runners up meant Europa League football at the KC stadium, how they cope with Thursday / Sunday schedule will be new for Bruce. He has though brought in numbers to the squad for their busier season. The main aim will be of course to stay in the league. 

Key Man - Tom Ince after travelling up and down the UK he has found himself at Hull. He has to get his head down and show what he can do, he hasn't progressed from his time at Blackpool so his time is now. 


Leicester City 
The Championship winners and fully deserved will feel they have enough to stay up this season. The Foxes have good owners and a good manager, up front is where it could be a problem as Nugent, Woods and Vardy don't strike me as Premier League quality. 

Key Man - Mark Albrighton came in from Villa and his experience and goals from the midfield will be helpful. 


Liverpool
After the cruel way the reds missed out on the title things got worse in the summer as Suarez went on the attack at the World Cup. His Liverpool career ended there and he got his move to Barcelona. They have done I feel a Tottenham and collected as many players as possible, but the majority have played in the premier league before. Liverpool went so close to the title which was theirs but they conceded far too many goals which basically cost them in the end. I don't think Liverpool will have as good a season because United and Chelsea won't be as bad, the loss of Suarez and you always know how Rodgers will play, so what's his plan B? Champions League returns to Anfield which is a bonus. 

Key Man - Daniel Sturridge is now the prime goal focus can he get as much as he did without Suarez laying them on a plate for him? 


Manchester City 
The Champions were probably the best team all round last season and deserved their second title in 3 years. I still think improvement is needed in Europe but they are now without a doubt the team to beat in England. I think they will just lose out on the title this year. They had to get some defender's in Mangala and Sagna should fit in well.

Key Man - Vincent Kompany is the heart of the defence and maybe the club. Without him on the pitch they look like they have never defended together. He's so key for them and after the summer of Yaya forgotten birthday City fans will rely on the captain who they know they can trust.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Where has as it all gone wrong for Chelsea?

After Chelsea’s defeat in Germany to Bayer Leverkusen manager Andre Villas-Boas is a man under serious pressure no matter what he thinks. As Chelsea sank to their third defeat from their last five games I look into where has it gone wrong? Well Chelsea was on a run of six unbeaten going in to their game at Loftus Road towards the end of October. A game where Chelsea thought they would walk all over their London rivals. This didn’t happen that day in West London Chelsea lost the game and lost the plot. The repercussions of that match have still left an effect. QPR won 1-0, but the game will also be remembered for John Terry’s racist slur, Chelsea’s ill-disciplined team (7 yellows and 2 reds). Plus AVB was fined £12,000 after the game for comments made about the referee. Since that match Chelsea have only beaten Blackburn Rovers & Everton on penalties. Their defence looks weak, Terry is getting exposed and David Luiz is not the best partner. Centre of midfield is a problem, Lampard ...
After this weekend’s events what have we learnt in the Premier League. Firstly its Man City’s title to lose, 11 wins and 1 draw in the league at this point they look unstoppable. Man United have a problem in centre midfield. Rooney is filling a gap there and Fergie knows he has a problem. There’s a lack of creative talent in the centre of the park, missing out on Nasri & Sneijder is showing plus the loss of Scholes showed how good he really was. Young could move into the centre where he did play for Aston Villa which could be an option. Tottenham look to be firing on all cylinders now, pace down both wings and they have the creative spark with Modric and Van Der Vaart. Now with Scott Parker doing the dirty work they look in good condition for top 4. Newcastle United’s first test against City was always going to be hard after an easy start to the season, but they do look solid at the back and have been exciting to watch. Chelsea look to have forgotten how to defend, lost th...

English sides in Champions League..

A look at the English sides in Champions League action this week. Real Madrid v Liverpool  Out of form Liverpool head to Madrid which was always going to be the toughest game of the group. They were given a footballing master class at Anfield by the current European Champions as they won 3-0. Madrid are on a 11 game winning streak in all competitions and I only see that continuing. Liverpool are struggling, Mario Balotelli hasn't lived up to the hype, while Gerrard is struggling this season and it looks like he will be rested, or in other words 'dropped'. There is a clear over reliance on Raheem Sterling, if you keep him quite you keep Liverpool quite. They still can't defend, which cost them their first ever Premier League title. I see Real Madrid winning this 4-0 with Ronaldo scoring the first. Arsenal v Anderlecht  Arsenal could practically seal their place in the knock-out stages of the Champions League with a win here. The Gooners snatched victory against Anderlech...