Premier League Preview

Until the transfer window slams shut it's difficult to guess exactly how the Premier League season will shape up. But ahead of the traditional curtain raiser, the Charity Shield, here's my club-by-club assessment of the upcoming season...

QPR
Adel Taraabt inspired a romp to the Championship title which ought to have Hoops fans salivating at the prospect of Premier League football. Sadly, many are utterly disillusioned with the direction the club is taking under billionaire owners Briatore and Ecclestone. Taraabt’s head appears to have turned, Neil Warnock undermined at every turn and free signings such as the injury prone Kieran Dyer have not inspired confidence. If goals can be wrung out of DJ Campbell then QPR might hang on to top-flight status – but both are tall orders.

Swansea City
The first Welsh club to ply their trade in the Premier League have really got their work cut out. They’ll be hoping that a fearsome home atmosphere intimidates visiting teams, but a lack of quality will surely be there undoing. The Swans play attacking, passing football so may seek inspiration from Blackpool’s exploits last season. But ultimately the Tangerines went down and it seems likely that Swansea will follow a similarly entertaining path back to the Championship.

Norwich
Paul Lambert has done nothing but impress in a managerial career which has seen him work his way through the divisions and Norwich will be hoping they can keep him through to the end of this campaign: it would be no surprise if Lambert’s name were linked with the next Premier League club to dispense with their manager. Astute use of the loan system and Lambert’s tactical nous may see them safe, but relying on the likes of Steve Morison for goals is a brave move.

Wolves
Mick McCarthy has done a great job at Molineux and thoroughly deserved to keep them up last year. He’s an entertainingly honest manager and has quietly added some quality to his squad with Jamie O’Hara and Roger Johnson – players who will add goals from midfield and shore up a decent defence respectively. Kevin Doyle will be fully fit and Steven Fletcher pops up with vital goals – it’d be a surprise to see Wolves go down.

Wigan
Roberto Martinez is an extremely likeable chap and his commitment to attractive attacking football is admirable. But surely this year Wigan are due to return to the football league? A team which survived by the skin of its teeth last year has been shorn of quality with the departures of Charles Nzogbia and Tom Cleverly. It’s vital that the fee received for the Frenchman is well invested but Martinez has not always been convincing in the transfer market. Relegation beckons.

Blackburn
When Indian chicken company Venky’s promised to sign players like Ronaldinho for Rovers their fans were almost prepared to forgive them for sacking Sam Allardyce: a manager who comfortably kept Blackburn afloat. Since then, things have gone badly wrong. The inexperienced Steve Kean has seen the team go backwards under his stewardship and Chris Samba looks likely to leave. It’ll be another season of struggle at Ewood Park – although there will be rejoicing if the club manage to dispense with El Hadji Diouf’s services before the big kick-off.

Bolton
Bolton flattered to deceive last year. Although Owen Coyle’s team played better football than Wanderers fans had seen for some time, the fact remains that their season was decidedly average other than one purple patch of great results. They ended the season very badly and have seen attacking talents like Sturridge, Elmander and Taylor leave the club. With a full pre-season under his belt, however, the fans will be hoping Coyle’s methods will be more firmly ingrained.

Stoke
Tony Pulis is a canny operator who has firmly established little old Stoke as a Premier League force. Their football is not as direct as people seem to suggest – Matty Etherington’s craft and guile supplies as many goals as Rory Delap’s long throws. Jonathan Woodgate will be an excellent signing if he stays fit and fans at the Potteries will be expecting more goals from Kenwyne Jones this time around. Mid-table beckons.

Newcastle
The Toon Army must be the world’s most bewildered fans. Whilst early signings such as Cabaye and Marveaux hinted at a promising 2011/12, internal bickering and strange player sales have seen the wheels fall off at St James. The sale of Andy Carroll seems to have led directly to club captain Kevin Nolan dropping down a division, Jose Enrique looks sure to depart and the Joey Barton saga is becoming farcical. Restoring a sense of order and recruiting a goalscorer are vital – a few bad results could see a mutiny amongst players and fans.

West Brom
Uncle Woy did an amazing job of steadying the ship at Hawthorns and this season looks set to be even better for them. Peter Odemwingie has resisted the overtures of bigger clubs, Ben Foster has replaced calamitous Scott Carson, club favourite Zoltan Gera has returned and Owen Hargreaves may well sign for the Baggies. Although they still lack depth, West Brom’s first team is impressive and organized enough to finish comfortably in mid-table.

Sunderland
Steve Bruce loves a transfer window. Approximately 872 players have taken a spin on the Stadium of Light’s transfer merry-go-round this summer, leaving Bruce with an almost entirely new team. Experienced defenders like O’Shea and Brown will shore up the back four but a new midfield featuring the likes of Larsson and Gardner will need to gel quickly if it’s to supply sufficient ammunition for the impressive Asamoah Gyan. It’ll be another transitional season at Sunderland – how many more will the fans tolerate?

Aston Villa
Despite having lost two England widemen, Villa’s can still feel reasonably confident about the attacking areas of their team. Downing and Young might have gone, but they’ve got ready replacements in homegrown Albrighton and big-name signing Nzogbia. With players like that creating chances for Darren Bent, Villa ought to score goals. Fans will be hoping that Alex McLeish can instill some defensive solidity (signing Shay Given was a step in the right direction) but time is not on his side: the fans will turn very quickly on the former Birmingham man.

Fulham
After the bizarre departure of Mark Hughes, Fulham fans will have been delighted with the acquisition of Martin Jol. The amiable Dutchman will not do anything radical at Craven Cottage but has made some shrewd buys in the transfer market – John Arne Riise fills a problem position for them and will contribute much-needed goals. Up front, the returning Dembele and Zamora will prove a handful for anyone and Fulham will be hoping to finish in the European places.

Everton
Nothing has happened at Goodison Park except the sale of James Vaughan. With no money to spend it seems that the best David Moyes can hope for is loan signings and he should probably be looking to bloated squads in Manchester to pick up some quality to complement his solid squad. He’ll also be hoping for improved contributions from Arteta and less injuries for the likes of Fellaini, Saha and Cahill. But whilst others are improving their squads, Everton are standing still (at best).

Liverpool
The biggest question at Anfield is how Kenny Dalglish will combine the midfield talent he now has at his disposal. Stewart Downing brings genuine width, but Liverpool are overstocked with players who gravitate towards the centre. Perhaps Downing and Suarez will play either side of Carroll with the likes of Adam, Gerrard, Lucas, Meireles et al competing for three central berths. Left back remains a problem, so it would be no surprise to see three at the back occasionally. But if Liverpool are to break back into the top four they’ll need to settle on a team and a formation fairly quickly.

Spurs
Having failed to qualify for the Champions League, Spurs have stagnated a little this summer. There has been little recruitment, Luka Modric has had his head turned and they now have a bizarre trio of experienced goalkeepers. The club will need to hope that Defoe, Pavlyuchenko and Crouch better last season’s goal output – with creative midfielders like Bale supplying the crosses it’s inexcusable for the strikers to contribute so little. The top four will be out of their reach again.

Arsenal
Discontent at the Wenger regime has never been more apparent. The manager needs to make some big decisions regarding Fabregas and Nasri – they’re distracted and a distraction. Regardless of their future, Arsenal are well stocked in midfield following the emergence of Wilshere and the return of Ramsay. But as always doubts remain over the defence (which should be bolstered by the return of Vermaelen) and goalkeeper. Striking cover for the brittle Van Persie has arrived in the shape of Gervinho but Arsenal will face a fight to finish fourth.

Man City
Could this be the season City make a genuine title challenge? Mancini has presided over a quiet evolution rather than a revolution this summer, with adjustments to the back four and some low-key departures. The exception to this is obviously Kun Aguero – a wonderful player who would improve any team. Managing some big personalities will be key for Mancini – particularly up front where combustible talents like Balotelli and want-away Tevez will test the manager’s patience. They’ll probably finish second – with or without Tevez.

Chelsea
Another year older, Chelsea are now relying on players the same age as their manager. Lampard, Terry and Drogba are still the most influential players at Stamford Bridge, but Roman Abramovich will be desperately hoping that recent big-money purchases like Torres, Luiz and Ramires can deliver this year. Josh McCechran and Danny Sturridge will also hope to make their mark in what looks likely to be a transitional season – although Chelsea will comfortably finish in the top four.

Manchester United
A team that comfortably won the title has added £50m worth of talent to its squad – although the loss of experienced campaigners like Van Der Sar, Scholes and O’Shea will be felt. The Old Trafford attack has rarely looked stronger – with the problematic left wing addressed by Ashley Young’s signing. And with a young player as back-up in every position the future looks rosy – especially if Tom Cleverly is as good as Sir Alex Ferguson seems to think. If not, the failure to recruit Wesley Sneijder could be costly. But they’ll win the league regardless.

Arselona!!!

After Joe Jordan was head butted into the headlines at the San Siro it would require something special to steal Tottenham’s thunder. Sadly for them, a tie between the world’s two most attractive football teams was scheduled for the next day.

As Pep Guardiola’s all conquering Barcelona prepared for their visit to the Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal the talk was of last year’s quarter-final clash in which the Catalan club, led by Lionel Messi had routed their English counterparts. Had the Londoners learned their lesson?

Initially it seemed like they might have. The first ten minutes saw a vibrant and energetic Arsenal hurrying and harrying all over the pitch. The pressure told as Cesc Fabregas scooped a delightful pass over Barca’s defence for Robin Van Persie. In the midst of a great goalscoring run, the Dutchman immediately volleyed towards goal only to be thwarted by the onrushing Victor Valdes.

Then, from nothing Barcelona carved open the home team. Wriggling through the home defence and collecting a pass from David Villa, Messi drew the keeper expertly and dinked the ball over him. Amazingly, the ball failed to nestle in the corner. Instead it span wide of the post and Sczcesny breathed a sigh of relief.

Rather than spurring Arsenal on, however, the realisation that Barcelona could waltz through their defence so easily appeared to daunt the Gunners. The Spaniards grew in confidence and began to construct their intricate passing triangles, regularly shuttled the ball out to the gallivanting Dani Alves and began to swarm all over the Arsenal back four. With Barcelona believing the ball to be their own personal property it was vital that Arsenal seized any opportunities presented to them. Unfortunately two extremely presentable opportunities went begging.

Two lightning breaks instigated by the young Englishmen Walcott and Wilshere resulted in a shooting opportunity for Van Persie – who slapped his shot wide – and Fabregas, who crossed when he ought to have shot and saw the chance go begging. Worse than the wasted opportunities was the fact that they were sandwiched around a Barcelona goal.

With Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets probing and teasing the Arsenal defenders the ball was popped into Lionel Messi’s feet. He pushed a pass through a gap which ought to have been closed down and with the dozing Gael Clichy playing him onside Villa sprinted clear to prod the ball under the advancing keeper.

Despite some fantastic possession Barcelona failed to add to their tally, although a contentious offside decision denied Messi after a Pedro shot looped into his path. And they might feel further aggrieved not to have had a numerical advantage at the break after Alex Song’s early booking was followed by a catalogue of niggly fouls which might well have seen him dismissed by a less lenient official.

Buoyed at having escaped with only a one goal deficit, Arsenal started the second half as the better team. Both Nasri and Walcott made menacing forays into enemy territory but failed to find dangerous balls into the box. Gerard Pique picked up a booking which means he’ll miss the second leg and from the resulting free-kick Van Persie spurned a great chance to fire the ball goalwards.

Eventually Barcelona began to reassert their authority. Messi rippled the outside of the net with a left-footed shot and Arsenal responded by removing Song before he fell off the disciplinary tightrope. Rather than a defensive player, however, they brought on Arshavin and tucked Nasri further infield. It was a bold ploy coming immediately after Messi had skipped through a gap in which a screening midfielder might usually sit. And it worked.

With Guardiola’s side failing to come to terms with the tactical changes, Clichy made amends for his first half error by chipping a delicious ball into the Barca penalty area. Robin Van Persie unleashed a left footed rocket from an unlikely angle and - having anticipated a cross - Valdes watched aghast as the striker’s shot arrowed through the tightest of gaps and into the net.

Suddenly Barcelona were rocking and they game was increasingly stretched. A quick break from Arsenal saw Nasri scampering into Barca’s box. For a second he looked isolated, but he lifted his head and picked out a late surge from Arshavin. The Russian didn’t break stride as he curled a cracker into the bottom corner.

With the away side reeling the home fans launched into a lusty rendition of ‘we’ve got Cesc Fabregas’ as the clock ticked down and a win which seemed extremely unlikely at half time became a reality when Messi failed to convert in injury time.

So the veteran Wenger outwitted his counterpart as his tactical tinkering wrested control of the game from the opposition. With an away goal and a trip to the Camp Nou on the horizon Barcelona remain the favourites. But Arsenal’s pace on the break and incisive finishing have proved that the Catalans are mortal after all. Roll on the second leg.