With the start of the 2013/14 Premiership season just around the corner I thought I would take a look at the various teams and the transfers in and out. What can the supporters of each team really expect from the upcoming season.
Each day I will take five teams in what will be a four part preview. Today I will start with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Cardiff, Chelsea and Crystal Palace. Two promoted sides from last season, two teams with title aspirations and then Villa, who will be looking to improve on last seasons dismal run.
Arsenal:
Arsene Wenger will be looking to appease some of the growing discontentment within the ranks of Arsenal supporters. Now the longest serving Premiership Manager, about to embark on his 17th season in charge of the Gunners, he has been without a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup win.
The joke surrounding Wenger from other supporters is that he bids on big players, ultimately misses out and then signs a 17 year old who may come good in the future. This may still be the case this season with the attempted capture of Liverpool striker Suarez being rebuffed by Brendan Rodgers.
Some of the bigger names released this window were Denilson, Johan Djourou and Andrey Arshavin of which only the Russian Arshavin got any league games last season. Certainly considering previous departures, Van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor and many other big names it is certainly testament that Wenger keeps the teams in the Champions League positions. Certainly if they can get Suarez it may be just the firepower up front they have needed, but I doubt they will. That will leave Yaya Sanogo as the solitary signing so far this season, and I am not sure that will be enough to push them back to the level they were at in the early part of Wengers tenure.
Aston Villa:
Paul Lambert must have wondered exactly what kind of mistake he made leaving Norwich City for what he thought was a bigger club in Villa. While Aston Villa struggled to avoid relegation, ultimately by just 5 points, Norwich City were that amount of points away from a top eight finish! It was important that Lambert cut out the dead wood and built on his core of youth players. Out went Richard Dunne and ex Norwich City goalkeeper, Andy Marshall. Also exiting Villa Park was Stiliyan Petrov, although this was health enforced and I am sure would be the first name on Lamberts team sheet if it was possible.
Good news was the U-turn of want away striker Christian Benteke who scored just over a goal every two games for Villa in the League last season, about 40% of all their goals and that is $10.5 Million well spent. Added to the team is Jed Steer, another Norwich Goalkeeper who has represented England at various youth levels and one for the future. Keeping one eye on building for the future are the signings of Spanish left back Antonio Luna (22), Danish striker Nicklas Helenius (22), Ivorian born Danish defender Jores Okore (20), Dutch winger Leandro Bacuna (21) and Bulgarian winger Aleksandar Tonev (23).
American Brad Guzan will most likely be first choice keeper again this season and it will be interesting to see how Gabby Agbonlahor and some of the promising youth from the end of last season will fare this season. Certainly Lambert is now facing similar pressure from the Villa fans as Wenger with his policy and still to work out is where Darren Bent will fit in, if at all with the Villans this season, after being used only 23 times in all competitions last season.
Cardiff:
With the promotion of the Welsh club up to join Swansea it now makes the English Premiership 10% Welsh! Malky Mackay, the boss of the Bluebirds will certainly have his work cut out as they start out one of the favorites to go straight back down. Striker Rob Earnshaw left on a free transfer and is now plying his trade north of the American border in Toronto and fellow striker Heidar Helguson was released and currently has no club.
Signings so far this season do nothing to give me any hope that they will stay up, despite the way they won the Championship Division last season. So far five signings have taken place and of them the most experienced would be the England defender, Steven Caulker, who was on loan with Swansea last season. Hopefully there are more signings in the works behind the scenes otherwise I do not see how Cardiff can survive, even taking into account the passion and love striker Craig Bellamy has for the club from the place of his birth.
Chelsea:
The special one has returned to Chelsea and with it has rekindled some Londoners passions. Chelsea finished third and won the Europa League last season under Rafa Benitez. The fans hated Rafa as much as they love Jose but in soccer it is said that you should never go back. Kenny Dalglish found this out with Liverpool and as a player Shaun Wright Phillips found it out at a lesser extent when retuning to Manchester City. Can Jose buck the trend or will his second spell not so much dazzle but fizzle?
A whole bunch of fringe players have been released since the last game of last season but so far, at least numbers wise, not many have been added. Mark Schwarzer was signed from Fulham on a free transfer. Despite his experience you have to ask how much the 40 year old Australian will contribute to the campaign. Young Dutch midfielder, Marco van Ginkel was signed from Vitesse for $12million. Their biggest acquisition so far is the German winger, Andre Schurrle signed for $27.5 million. At 22 years old he is certainly still young but already has 24 appearances for the German National team under his belt. The ex-Leverkusen player certainly could hold his own in the Bundesliga.
Reports are ongoing that Chelsea have signaled their intentions to sign Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and indeed labeled him as their main priority. Whether they will get their man I am unsure, but if they do he along with Torres, Demba Ba and Lukaku knocking at the door will mean The Blues will once again have a wealth of attacking options this season.
Crystal Palace:
Many Baltimore soccer fans may look to this side as their adopted team. It was back in 2006 that Crystal Palace Baltimore was founded and was affiliated with this English side. They played a few seasons in the USL Second Division before deciding not to field a team for the 2011 season and decided to try to rebrand the side. This was attributed to the financial difficulties the English side was in. That year four businessmen who then successfully negotiated a takeover. They also managed to by the Stadium from Lloyds back after fan pressured the bank to agree terms.
The ex Blackpool Manager, Ian Holloway is in charge of the team now so at least we will have some great sound-bites to look forward too. Six players have left, mostly on loan and six players have arrived. The players arriving are older and more experienced but you have to ask, like Cardiff, will it be enough. Kevin Phillips is now 40 and although he has scored just under 300 career goals you have to wonder how much life is left in those legs. Jerome Thomas is a decade younger but hasn’t really set any league on fire with his strike rate, 24 goals in 248 appearances. Stephen Dobbie and Aruna Dindane were also signed which now makes the combined age of these four strikers over 130 years.
Jose Campana, Midfielder (20) and Dwight Gayle, Striker (23) make up the six new faces and I must admit I am really worried that this team, more than Cardiff, will be the League whipping boys.
Well that is part one complete. Check back tomorrow for Everton, Fulham, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester City.
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