Manchester City looked strong last season as well and have gone a step ahead with their signings. Bringing in Mangala and Sagna in defense, they show their intent to strengthen up their back line. However strong they seem on paper (even strong enough to put up 2 title challenging teams!), last season, City lost some crucial matches by conceding goals. Both the games against Chelsea, away games against Villa, Cardiff and Liverpool they conceded goals and could not break the opponent’s defense easily.
City played a free flowing and attacking game at their fortress, the Ethiad Stadium, but struggled for form at times when playing away. Pellegrini will be looking to turn this around. He also knows that his team is capable of scoring goals almost at will, but plugging the leaks is the main job and he seems to have made good choices for it.
Manchester United or as they now say “Vanchester United” look very strong with the experience brought in by their Dutch Manager. Moyes did not fare well last season to say the least, but bringing in Juan Mata was one good decision made. The attack looks strong with Van Persie, Rooney, Mata, Janujaz, Chicarito, like last season, but the difference is that Unided will get more depth in their central midfield with Herrera, who could be creative too. He does not score many goals but can drift in the midfield to link up play. United suffered last season in midfield possession, but with the experience of Van Gaal, they could overcome that. However the presence of Vidal and Hummels would complete the team.
The crucial games lost specially against the bigger teams showed lack of strategy from the Red Devils last season, something Van Gaal will not repeat. United will definitely be a strong team this season also considering they have lesser matches to play (not qualifying for the Champion’s League). The consistency of the team can be maintained higher specially during the last 10 or so matches of the season when top teams are playing multiple competitions.
Chelsea have been title contenders almost every season in the last 10 years. However, they succeeded in winning it only thrice. Mourinho is not used to going 2 straight seasons without silverware and he will be all in this time. All that for his “small horse” last season, the horse has grown. With the addition of Costa and Fabregas Mourinho looks to bring in the dynamic play that was missing in the squad last season. Also if Costa continues his La Liga form and doesn’t get injured, he will definitely be looking to score many goals. Cole’s departure too was replaced by Felipe Luis who will be a strong defender. However, in the striker’s department, with ageing Drogba and non-performing Torres on the bench, they need other options.
Where Chelsea fell short last season was wrapping up matches against smaller teams that sat back and defended like they did. A creative and strong striker like Costa can b used to break such defenses. Hazard and Oscar are a year and a World Cup older so they too are at good experience levels in their career to be able to carry the team over the line. All in all the Blues look strong contenders this year too, but their gameplay against the first few smaller teams will show us whether they have overcome last season’s issues.
Arsenal will be looking to continue their pre-season momentum on. After winning the FA Cup last season and thrashing City for the Community Shield last week, they will be in top spirits. Wenger has patiently built this team on a financial philosophy. This season they have tried to plug up gaps by increasing the depth of their squad. Alexis Sanches with his strong performance in the World Cup will be a great option up front as on the wings. However, they could possibly be a World Class striker away from that dream. They will continue their philosophy of quick and attacking play. With the quality in their midfield, they will display the one touch football they did so well at last season. The addition of Chambers to their defense will give them more security against set plays, an area they could not defend well last season.
They will want to show a more organized defense this season and prevent letting in goals against teams that don’t allow them to play their free-flowing game. Wenger has now set his sights on the Premier League and will look for something better than a 4th place.
Liverpool are a strong team even without Luis Suarez this season. Daniel Sturridge has shown last season that he is more than ready to lead the attack, but basing arguments on 1 season’s performance will not be solid. Rodgers knows this and has strengthened his attack with Lambert, Lallana and Emre Can who could play a crucial role in the pivot, protecting the back line. The addition of Lovren is also good news for the fans as a strong defender was desperately needed to stop the barrage of goals Liverpool was conceding last season. With the tight competition a Goal Difference comes into play more than often nowadays and Liverpool need to stop conceding multiple goals every match. Their philosophy of “outscoring” rather than “outwitting” their opponents may not work this season as it failed against the likes of Chelsea last season.
Liverpool will find it difficult to score as many goals as last season without Suarez but will look to play a more balanced game this season. They will use their speed in midfield to counter and will try to keep it tight at the back. A top 4 finish is on the cards and they have to do this to continue the momentum they have gained in the last few seasons to climb back up.
Everton have shown a more free-playing style of football under Martinez. They looked close to a European qualification last season and will be aiming to do exactly that next season. The buy of Lukaku is something that was a necessity and their squad is close to complete. Keeping key players is important for them to accomplish a top 4 finish but a title challenge is not in the prospects. Their players need to get in important experience this season to be ablr to strengthen their squad enough to launch a title bid in a few years. Martinez should be given 3-4 years with the team before being judged, although he has already done a very good job.
Tottenham have been unlucky in their transfer windows with their buys not working as expected. The disappointment with Spanish striker Soldado’s poor performance last season will have to be worked around. Tottenham failed to keep it together in the big matches and seemed to play ambitiously too attacking. Their players would be more suited to a balanced play with a quick counter attack instead of the pressing attack they tried last season. European qualification seems difficult, but they could push for it anyways, and have at team that could achieve more.
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