Premier League Preview: Bolton-Everton

Bolton Wanderers

This season will probably turn out to be another also-ran season for Bolton, which is not a bad thing. Gary Megson has done a brilliant job of continuing the club’s Premier League status after the loss of Sam Allardyce.

Having picked up the likes of Zat Knight, Paul Robinson and Sean Davis, ‘the Wanderers’ have signed experienced Premier League players who will play good solid football but are unlikely to inspire the fans. Bolton will be expecting another season of grinding out enough results to stay up, with no real notable losses to the first team squad it should be pretty much as you were.

Prediction 15th

Burnley

Having come up from the Championship last year Burnley have bought in a lot of players, although no real stand out stars. The play-off winners look set to struggle in the Premier League and without spending more money it is hard to put up a real case for them surviving.

It seems Burnley have no intention of spending big and will try to punch their way through matches much like Stoke did so successfully last season. Burnley have kept almost all of their squad from the Championship and will hope that everyone can perform to their best.

The likes of Robbie Blake and Chris Eagles will have to step it up to the big time and play their hearts out to give Burnley any chance this year, although even that may not be enough.

Prediction: 20th

Chelsea

With a new world renowned manager in Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea have looked a refreshed force in the pre-season. No more so than evidenced by their Community Shield winning performance against Manchester United.

There have not been many changes to the team, the additions of Yuri Zhirkov and Daniel Sturridge may prove to be good signings but they are hardly the massive names that have been constantly linked with the club over the summer. Ancelotti himself has said he does not want to make anymore signings and whether you believe this or not it seems that Chelsea will have the familiar line up of last season.

The lack of creative flare that has stumped Chelsea over the past few seasons has not been resolved and if Chelsea want to win the league title they will have to use all their strength and power to overcome their rivals. A good creative midfielder would seem a must but perhaps Abramovic is still having nightmares about the signing of Deco to even consider signing another.

The reccession may have stopped Chelsea’s spending but there is still a feeling of optimism around Stamford Bridge, the sale of Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo has given all the big clubs a sense of opportunity this season. Ancelloti is a wise head and if given the freedom to manage properly he could become one of the greatest in the club’s history.

If the likes of Drogba, Ballack and Essien stay healthy Chelsea could again be the force they were a few years back. Lampard and Terry should provide the leadership in an aging squad. Should Chelsea not win the league this year then there will be many people calling for wholesale changes and the need for a better youth development system.

Prediction: 1st

Everton

No matter how well David Moyes does he never seems to get gifted with decent transfer funds to spend. After another 5th place finish Everton fans must be wondering if they can ever go any higher without serious investment. Moyes immediate concerns must be that his side will drop down the table this season as free spending Manchester City look set to charge towards the Champions League places.

Without any major changes to the squad thus far Everton will be heavily relying on top scorers Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill. Keeping these two fit will be the key. Everton must also hope that someone elses shines through this season and has a breakout year.

Although lacking in top quality fire power, Jo and Yakubu are quality forwards who could have good seasons, if they work well together up front Everton should be ok.

Everton are always a solid team. Moyes has built a side that is so tough to break down, rarely do they get thrashed even against the big boys. This season should be no exception and should they hold onto star defender Joleon Lescott and Mikel Arteta it looks as though a repeat of last season is very much possible.

Prediction 5th

Premier League Preview: Arsenal-Blackburn

Arsenal

Arsenal football club have been one of Europe’s best for some time now. This is greatly thanks to Arsene Wenger who has really established his policy of bringing through the world’s best youth talent. Wenger also has the great managerial gift of being able to get the best out of under-performing players, remember Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira were nothing more than averagely good players at their previous clubs.

However, a worrying trend is beginning to emerge. Arsenal are starting to sell off their best players leading many to believe they are becoming a selling club. This all started with the sale of Henry and Vieira, admittedly when they were believed to be declining players. More worrying though is the recent sale of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, again two players who have prospered greatly under Wenger, to their main rivals for the fourth Champions League place Manchester City. There is a feeling aroung the Emirates that this may come back to haunt them in later weeks.

Arsenal have not really strengthened in the off season, the £10 million signing of relative unknown Thomas Vermaelen is hardly likely to have inspired the fans but Wenger has been known to do well in the transfer market so only time will tell.

Two major pluses, however, are the return of Tomas Rosicky and the first full season for Andrei Arshavin. Both of these players are world class and whilst they are injury prone if they can be kept fit Arsenal could challenge for honours this season. After holding onto Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal with their great youth system are still well placed to make a challenge. Defensively, though, they are still weaker than the rest of the top four and this could ultimately prove to be their downfall. Arsene really needs a solid centre-back in before the end of September.

Prediction: 4th

Aston Villa

Martin O’Neill will always play down Villa’s chances. He seems content to settle for European qualification, which given Villa’s budget is still an achievement. However, a part of every Villa fan would love to see them playing Champions League football and for a while last season it looked as if they would. If not for a major downturn in results after Christmas O’Neill’s men could have been playing Europe’s finest.

It certainly looks tougher for Villa this year, with Manchester City spending millions to try and claim that elusive Champions League place you have to wonder where Villa will fit into the mix.

A thin squad at the best of times it is probably a little disappointing to the fans to see more more exits this summer than arrivals. The loss of Martin Laursen is huge, Gareth Barry likewise and Zat Knight not pleasing.

Stewart Downing and Fabian Delph will have huge holes to fill but could prove good signings in time. However, their youth factor has to cast a shadow of doubt over whether they can be stand out performers this season.

Another team that really needs some central defensive cover before the end of September, which is not easy to come by in the modern day over-inflated market.

Villa will still probably be one of the best of the also rans.

Prediction: 7th

Birmingham City

Newly promoted Birmingham have made a habit of flip-flopping between the Championship and the Premier League. Whilst this season looks like it will be a struggle Birmingham have spent a bit of cash and will hope that they have invested enough to stay up. After watching the heroics of Hull and Stoke last season they know that anything is possible.

With many players coming in Birmingham seem to be going from strength to strength, although one of the key factors of their season will be how expensive £9.2 million striker Christian Benitez performs on unknown European soil. Relative unknowns Roger Johnson and Scott Dann will have to step up a gear to play in the Premier League but Barry Ferguson could be a wise acquisition at only £1.25 million. Lee Bowyer on a free is worth a gamble and the experienced midfielder could help his new side side to survival. That said it looks like a tough season ahead which may well end in failure.

Prediction: 18th

Blackburn

Blessed with one of the best low-budget mangers in the league in Sam Allardyce, Blackburn escaped almost certain relegation. When Allardyce took over Blackburn last season they were in dire straits but the ‘grinder’ big Sam got the team playing again and they survived comfortably in the end.

There is no real reason to expect anything else this season. The loss of Roque Santa Cruz is a huge blow but many Blackburn fans would argue that he was not really playing for the team last season anyway. The want-away striker making it clear he did not want to stay. Somewhat more surprising is the sale of Matt Derbyshire, the young talented English forward had impressed in his limited appearances for the first team often popping up with vital goals.

A few usual low-key signings will probably turn out to be good enough. It will be interesting to see how highly rated Gael Givet and Nikola Kalinic perform in the Premier League. Though it is hard to see anything other than relatively easy safety for Blackburn this season.

Prediction: 14th

Madrid the Real deal?

Real Madrid ‘the galacticos’ have had a bit of a renaissance this summer. After a few years out in the cold with little European success or extravagant spending, re-instated president Florentino Perez has spent a cool £220 million on players in the last few weeks.

The club that do not tolerate any failure appear to have lost all sense of sanity in a desperate attempt to dominate world football again. Having smashed the world transfer record in signing Cristiano Ronaldo for £80 million, they have once again helped create a frenzied transfer market whereby the world’s top players are no longer affordable to most of the big clubs. Real have also paid around £60 million for Kaka, £40 million for Karim Benzema and £30 million for Xavi Alonso.

The only other club capable of this kind of spending at the moment are Manchester City but even their £32 million British transfer record signing of Robinho now looks like pocket money. So in spending big Real have alienated the world’s top clubs and hence not many big name signings have happened elsewhere this summer.

Usually frequent spenders Manchester United and Chelsea have been relatively quiet in the transfer market and have not made any big name signings whatsoever. Content to keep the core of their squads for this season Europe’s best appear to be relying on Madrid’s plan of world domination falling flat on it’s face.

So will it? Well the apparent second coming of ‘the galacticos’ again sees the worlds top players all forced into one team and expected to instantly perform. However, this is no easy task and the first group of ‘galacticos’ failed in setting the world alight. With players such as Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Casillas, Raul and Roberto Carlos playing in their prime Real Madrid only won the European Cup once and the league title twice. Hardly awe inspiring stuff but admittedly better than most of clubs would settle for.

One of the problems with a team full of world class ‘stars’ is that they all want to be the stand out player. Rather than having eleven players gelling together to play the greatest football ever seen, there were eleven individuals on the pitch playing for themselves and not the team. Hence, free flowing football can not exist because the understanding and communication between players is not high enough.

So why will it be different this time around? It seems that ‘the galacticos’ did not work and may prove to be a failure again. Although important, money is not everything in football, more important factors such as a great manager and a great team of hard working players who love the club need to exist for a club to prosper.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini did well at Villareal. Pellegrini revitalized the team after acouple of poor seasons and has worked well on a limited budget to get Villareal into the Champions League year after year. The step up to Real Madrid though is huge. At Real the pressure will be immense and the need for instant results is always a hard burden to bare. Pellegrini has little experience of dealing with the primadonna types that he will have to control day in day out at Madrid. However, he has built up good teams who play for each other and if he can implement this at Real then he can be a huge success.

So to the players and to analyze where they might improve from the last bunch.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest signing of the summer and probably of history. The only saving grace being that the deal was tied up very quickly in early summer and so did not drag on in the usual hysteria the surrounds such deals. Ronaldo is very much an individual, he likes to score and create out of nothing, rarely will he pass the ball if a shooting opportunity arises. Very much a primaddona type, however, it seems to work for him and this did not negatively effect his form for Manchester United or the teams results. If Real get to the level that Manchester United have been these past three years with Ronaldo then they will be more than satisfied.

Another world footballer of the year Kaka has also signed for Madrid as part of Perez’s revolution. A well respected man, Kaka attributes all of his success in life to God and this humble way of life means that he is far from the primaddona type his peers so easily become. Kaka is an ideal signing for a side looking to gel well and play together as a team.

Lesser key signing Benzema is probably the most unknown player who Real have paid big money for this summer. Benzema is a world class forward who is expected to be the next Henry in France. However, he is yet to prove his talent at the highest level and this will prove a massive step up from the recently tame French league. Whilst goals against Manchester United in the Champions League have helped secure his fame on the world stage, it is yet to be seen how he will perform for Real Madrid.

Finally, Xavi Alonso who made the long awaited move from Liverpool may well be the last piece in the jig-saw. Again, very much a team player who is not greedy, Alonso may adapt well to the team in the same way that he had an instant impact when he moved to Liverpool.

So, maybe the new ‘galacticos’ have a better chance of success then the old ones did. However, I don’t think the rest of Europe will be quaking in their boots yet. Real will need to prove themselves on the pitch rather than in the transfer market to gain the kind of respect they so desperately crave and with the standard of Europe’s other clubs at the moment success is certainly no guarantee.