Premier League preview

This is the post that you have been waiting for. The 2009-2010 Barclays Premier League preview. Another season has gone, another season has come, but the rivalry will always be there. 20 teams, 38 matches, 9 months of action, 1 champion. Who will it be?

Let's start by analysing some teams


Arsenal

They finished fourth last season and almost lost their top four dominance to an energetic Aston Villa. As we all know, Arsenal are known for their young players and wily old manager. Arsene Wenger is a football Einstein but he shouldn't be as stubborn as a mule when managing his team by insisting on grooming youngsters. Remember how the Frenchman famously knocked Manchester United and Alex Ferguson off their perch when he first arrived in England? And don't forget that Unbeatables Team during the 2004 campaign (which eventually got defeated by Man U)

Speaking about The Unbeatables, the final player from that team has left the Gunners at last. Kolo Toure decided to move to Manchester City after thinking that he will have a brighter future there. With Toure gone for good, Arsenal have lost a physically strong player in their defence

Another guy who had became an ex-Arsenal player this season is Emmanuel Adebayor, who also signed for Manchester City. It is not hard to see that with the departure of these two African stars, Arsenal have a weaker team now. But don't underestimate them. Croatian striker Eduardo is back from injury and his finishing is better than Adebayor. It is just like a new signing for Wenger. As for Toure, former Ajax defender, Thomas Vermaelen in the latest purchase to fill up the void left by him

So how many good players do Arsenal have currently? Not really a bunch of inexperienced youngsters actually. They have Robin Van Persie. Samir Nasri. Tomas Rosicky. Who else? Oh yes, Philippe Senderos is back after a loan spell at AC Milan last season. Ok who else? There is the jet-heeled Theo Walcott, the versatile Emmanuel Eboue and last but not least, their playmaker and captain, Cesc Fabregas

Actually there is still one more player who can decide Arsenal's season. He is none other than Andrei "Sandking" Arshavin. The Sandking is going to be the next big thing at Arsenal after Theirry Henry. Arshavin can play in so many different attacking positions that without him, team wouldn't look like a team

See? There is still life at Arsenal after the departure of so many star players in recent seasons. They still possess a number of good quality players and a smart manager but they still have a weakness. Judging from the current squad that Arsenal have now, they are still a level below Manchester United or Chelsea. Wenger should just go sign a couple of big names instead of grooming young boys who might eventually grow up and leave Arsenal at the end of the day


Chelsea

The best football club in London currently should be the one in the West. Arsenal is in the North. Yes. It's Chelsea. Chelsea have the best squad currently for the past few years. Their players are made up of mostly the early 2000 batch of players (players who were in their peak in the early 2000)who are also my favourite batch of players. Non-Chelsea players that belong to this group are David Beckham, Luis Figo, Francesco Totti, Michael Owen, just to name a few

The current Chelsea players who belong to that batch include Andriy Shevchenko, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Deco, John Terry, Nicolas Anelka and many more. These footballers are still in good form and all of them are blessed with good technique. Chelsea have managed to keep their entire squad from last season, something which the other big four clubs have failed to do so. In fact, their newest member is the manager himself

Other than Russian left-back Yuri Zhirkov, Carlo Ancelotti is the latest high-profile addition to the club. The Italian is renowned for his success in the Champions League with his former employer AC Milan, winning the 2003 and 2007 finals. Whether will he be a success in England is still a big question mark. He has only won a single league title in his eight years at Milan

Chelsea's destiny will very much be decided by Ancelotti the manager himself. He favours a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield but whether this diamond will end up as an unpolished one or a bright and shiny gem will be crucial to the Blues. Actually, Ancelotti should play the 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation like what he did in Milan. The team operates without any natural wingers and the full-backs are relied on to provide width on the field

The Christmas tree formation fits Chelsea perfectly since they have both left and right footed world-class wing-backs and a whole lot of central midfielders. At right-back, they have up to four different players who will be vying to start in that position. From Branislav Ivanovic to Juliano Belletti to Portugese duo Paulo Ferreira and Jose Bosingwa, all are capable of doing a good job on the right. The Christmas tree formation can fit in five midfielders so t should be Ballack and Deco behind the lone striker while Michael Essien, Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel make up the remaining three

With Shevchenko, the once-feared striker who shoots with deadly accuracy, back from loan at Milan, he will be teaming up with Ancelotti again. Ancelotti will definitely want to have his once star player regain all the glory again like what he did during his first spell at Milan. With Drogba and Anelka, Chelsea have a fearsome force in attack not to mention Joe Cole

Chelsea did not sell a single player this summer. By retaining all their players, they have already won themselves half a victory. The other half will have to won(or lost)by the players themselves, and the manager of course


Liverpool

Year after year, Liverpool and their fans say that they will win the Premier League this season but year after year, nothing has changed. Will the 2009-2010 season be Liverpool's year finally? No one knows

There is one thing which we can be sure of, that is, if either Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres is unavailable to play, the Reds' results will be directly affected. Liverpool have lost some players this summer which include Anfield legend Sami Hyypia and deep-lying playmaker Xabi Alonso. At least Alonso's former central midfield partner, Javier Mascherano, has stayed on

Last season, Rafael Benitez the manager has finally found the formation for his four best players, GTAM, and it worked well for the entire team. Losing an "A" will more or less loosen up the team but Benitez was quick to found a replacement in the transfer window and he is a double "A". Introducing Alberto Aquilani. The Italian is the latest inclusion of the Liverpool team. A talented passer of the ball like Alonso, will he live up to the expectations at Anfield?

The Reds' main weakness is when either Gerrard or Torres is not playing, the other players can't seem to gel together. They will have to improve on this if they want to do better this season. Yossi Benayoun has all but done it last season. He scored the winning goal against Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout round and two important ones against Arsenal in the Premier League

He is the kind of skeptical player who plays as the role of third striker. Someone who is deployed on the flank but runs diagonally towards the penalty box to assist the second striker (Gerrard)in attacking. Until now, I still can't think of anyone in modern football who has a similar style as Benayoun. Maybe J.S. Park from Man U is the closest I can consider

Another new player in the team is Glen Johnson. This offensive full-back has good crossing ability and is tough in defence as well. I would say that it is a good buy with a bad price (£18m). Johnson is the kind of player that the Reds have lacked in recent seasons

Do look out for the other players like Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and the heavily criticized Lucas. They are all capable of changing the game while Fabio Aurelio is another crucial player in the delivery of set-pieces. Benitez is also pivotal to his team since he needs to have a Plan B in case Gerrard or Torres is absent which he unfortunately has yet to come up with

Liverpool's midfield always looked the best in England before Alonso signed for Real Madrid but even if they had lost their midfield lynchpin, they are still a formidable threat to everyone else in the league


Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo has finally left the Red Devils. I always say that Man U is nothing without Ronaldo, this season will prove that I am right. The purchase of Michael Owen seems to be a wise choice given that Alex Ferguson is a wily old fox. In one on one situations, nobody finishes the ball better than Owen in Manchester United not even Ronaldo. Although all the hype was on the new number seven during pre-season, the main threat from the United squad is still Wayne Rooney

Rooney is the most consistent player in the team. Young, energetic and strong compared to his older English teammate. Owen can only work well with one person. That is Robbie Fowler when the both of them were the twin terrors in Europe while playing at Liverpool. Unlike Arsenal and Chelsea, Ferguson has balanced the team with youth and experience. Younger players like Nani and Anderson are exciting to watch while veterans like Ryan Giggs and Edwin van der Sar are influential to the team

New signing Antonio Valencia is Ronaldo's replacement but he still needs time to adapt at Old Trafford. Valencia has the speed and agility for a winger, his movement by the touchline is instrumental to Man U's attacking game

It is not hard to notice that most of the United players are British. This should be their main advantage in the race for the Premier League. Unlike Liverpool who have so many different colours of flags from their player's nationalities, the Red Devils look more united

Who will score the goals for Manchester United now that Ronaldo is gone? Rooney will score, Owen will score but how many can they score? It is a fact that Manchester United are a one-man team during the Ronaldo reign, now they have to switch back to an eleven-man team


Manchester City

They are the only club who can match Real Madrid in terms of spending power. During the off-season, manager Mark Hughes must be thinking that he was playing Championship Manager, having being able to buy players of his own choice and assembling his dream team. Having six strikers in a team is a big headache though. Unless Hughes uses a 2-2-6 formation with the goalkeeper playing the long ball to six fowards in the opposing penalty area, it is hard to keep all of them happy every week

Hughes might opt for a 4-3-3 formation this season. I am eager to see how former Arsenal and Manchester United strikers, Adebayor and Carlos Tevez teaming up. Man City have a pool of talented midfielders from Stephen Ireland to Martin Petrov to the "mercenary" Gareth Barry. Like their neighbours Man U, City also boast a number of British players. Even the entire management team is British. This will definitely work in their favour when the season begins

Can City finally become the number one team in Manchester? Will blue be the new colour of the city? Does money really change a team's fortunes? For the first two, I cannot say anything about them at the moment but I am quite definite about the third one. Chelsea have shown everyone that splurging on star players and putting them together in a team(despite the lack of chemistry)to play does work. You think Man City will suffer because all their new players need time to adapt? I tell you that there is nothing new to adapt to. It is still the same country, same league for them, so the Big Four better watch out


In my opinion, I think that it will be two-horse race between Chelsea and Liverpool (100% un-biased here). I feel that Chelsea have an edge over everyone and it might be their year again since Jose Mourinho left them. Liverpool might not be technically the best, but the psychologically they are strong and will push the Blues all the way to the end of the season. Ronaldo-less Manchester United will finish third and it is not surprising that they will struggle without the Portugese ace. Man City can grab fourth spot with the quality of players they possess thus finishing above Arsenal by one or two points or even goal difference and putting the Gunners to an embarrassing fifth place