{UAH} Abbey/WBK: Premier League: How the big teams match up
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Premier League: How the big teams match up
Arsenal players spray champagne as they pose with the Community Shield trophy after Arsenal won the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium in north London on August 10, 2014. AFP PHOTO | GLYN KIRK
In Summary
- Arsenal drew first blood ahead of the Premier League season with a fluent performance Sunday.
- In a way, Chelsea represents a marriage between an odd couple.
- Roman Abramovich loves attacking, fantasy football.
By MURITHI MUTIGAMore by this Author
Arsenal drew first blood ahead of the Premier League season with a fluent performance Sunday which saw them dispatch an under-strength Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield.
It was a good warm up for the new season, following a break which was mercifully short for football fans thanks to the World Cup.
Ahead of the first matches this weekend, pundits in England have been busy making predictions and analysing the various teams' chances.
How do the big teams match up?
Here is a condensed summary.
Arsenal
This has been an exciting break for many Arsenal fans, with Arsene Wenger first frustrating supporters by seeming to waste a lot of time taking photos on the beaches in Brazil, before emerging with a series of eye-catching purchases.
The Chile striker Alexis Sanchez is the pick of the bunch and is a genuine world class talent, the type Wenger has struggled to buy since the decline of the 'Invincibles' class of Vieira, Henry and company.
The young English defender Calum Chambers has also arrived, as have the goalkeeper David Ospina and full-back Mathieu Debuchy.
All this has brought a buzz of excitement to sports journalists (who, being mainly from London) tend to give soft coverage to the Gunners and the Guardian predicts that good times lie ahead for Wenger's men: "Arsenal seem to mean business in a more determined way than has been previously possible since the move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium in 2006.
After many years of talking the talk they feel more ready to walk the walk."
I have to say I am not too convinced. One of the intriguing things about Wenger is how stubbornly he focuses on bringing in an endless succession of exciting attacking players while persistently failing to address the biggest and most glaring weakness in his side: The lack of a commanding central midfielder who can give the team a strong spine and stop the kind of thrashings they received at Liverpool and Chelsea last season.
I remember once Alex Ferguson being asked what he thought of Wenger buying Andrey Arshavin who had starred at Euro 2008 and the United man's reaction was simple. Great player, but does Wenger ever buy defensive players?
The Arsenal manager denied in his press conference last Thursday ever targeting Sami Khedira.
Unless he brings in a player or two in that department, I would expect Arsenal will just be the same as ever: exciting, talented and getting off to a blistering start but ultimately after Christmas being exposed as not good enough to win the title.
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho has done very shrewd business in the transfer window, selling Brazil defender David Luiz and Belgian striker Romeru Lukaku for a combined £78m and bringing in a clutch of stars from La Liga.
The striker Diego Costa, left-back Filipe Luis and midfielder Cesc Fabregas will certainly strengthen the team.
The main debate in the press is whether Mourinho can accommodate all the attacking talent he has in what is perhaps the strongest squad in the league.
Can he take the risk of playing Oscar, Fabregas, Hazard, Willian and Schurrle in the same team?
In a way, Chelsea represents a marriage between an odd couple. Roman Abramovich loves attacking, fantasy football.
Mourinho is the ultimate pragmatist.
How they will resolve that conflict will be intriguing, but Chelsea as usual will challenge and will be near the top.
Manchester United
Unlike East Africa where Arsenal has long enjoyed the numerical advantage in terms of fan numbers, in England, Manchester United is easily the best supported club.
That's why hardly an hour goes by before a football website puts up a United story to attract as many clicks as possible.
There is a genuine buzz around Manchester United this season as you would expect following the arrival of the towering Dutch tactician, Louis van Gaal.
The successful pre-season US tour has injected a sense of optimism.
"Players have a spring in their step," reports the Telegraph, "but they are also being energised by a healthy element of fear instilled by Van Gaal. It is as though the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has restored the eye of the tiger at United."
I burnt the midnight oil to watch the two pre-season matches against Real Madrid and Liverpool and it is true that they were impressive with Anders Herrera in particular bringing some much needed craft and guile in midfield.
But for all his brilliance, I'm not sure Van Gaal can win the title with Fletcher and Carrick as the main holding midfielders and Jones and Smalling at the heart of the defence.
With some reinforcements, however, the team is equipped to go back to the heights it occupied before the unfortunate Moyes error.
Liverpool
Brendan Rodgers has to rank as one of the finest British managers around, having engineered the rise of Liverpool from a humble eighth position, 28 points behind champions Man City in 2012 to their current position in the Champions League.
He has some of the clearest ideas of any manager of how he wants his team to play and has brought in crucial defensive cover in the shape of the Croatian Dejan Lovren.
But then Luis Suarez, catalyst of so much that was good about Liverpool last season is gone.
Divock Origi will spend the season on loan at Lille and we will only watch him on our screens next season, to witness the nerveless attacking he displayed for Belgium at the World Cup.
"He feels no pressure," team-mate Jan Vertonghen said of Origi's performances. "He plays like he's on the street."
As things stand, Liverpool will need reinforcements to help Daniel Sturridge in case he gets injured but they should not be written off even without Suarez.
They will remain one of the more exciting sides and Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho showed their mettle in a 4-0 thrashing of Borussia Dortmund on Sunday but it is perhaps asking too much to expect them to claim the title.
Manchester City
It is possibly a sign of how good things are in the City camp these days that the club barely makes the news.
Manuel Pellegrini has engineered a quietly successful upgrade of the side which fell short several times under Roberto Mancini and they are still regarded by several commentators as title favourites.
The Manchester Evening News claims that the disruption caused by Yaya Toure's birthday antics has not caused too much trouble.
"Early signs from City's US camp suggest Toure has been his usual happy self around the squad. He is arguably City's best hope in the Champions League this season, the competition the Blues really covet."
Both sides in Manchester will have very interesting encounters in the next few months in what should be an exciting season, with Tottenham and Everton all pushing the clubs above for a top four finish.
Enjoy the ride.
Democracy is two Wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed Lamb contesting the results.
Benjamin FranklinUAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
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