Premier League Team Previews

Though Blackpool were relegated to the Championship last season, Ian Holloway’s side showed that a team on a limited budget can come up from the second division and play attacking football. Brendan Rodgers is likely to subscribe to a similar philosophy, and he has more players to do it. He doesn’t quite have someone of the class of Charlie Adam at his disposal, but the attacking band of three in his 4-2-3-1 setup is extremely talented.

Swansea could have a Charlie Adam of their own, but it’s all dependent on whether or not he can come back from injury. Following his serious knee ligament issues that first popped up in 2008, Ferrie Bodde was one of the best players in the Championship. A fantastic playmaking central midfielder, Boddie is (or was) also an extremely strong tackler with a knack for scoring goals from midfield. He hasn’t been fully fit since 2008 and he’s been out of action for 18 months, but he’s finally starting to come back to full fitness from his knee injuries. If Bodde is anywhere approaching as good as he was before his injuries, Swansea might become favorites to stay in the Premier League.

Having rid themselves of the monkey from their backs City will go into the season facing newer and bigger pressures. Bringing to an end the long wait for a trophy should not be underestimated, and of course was a vital step as the club looked to develop its mind set and look to take its place amongst the footballing elite.

However, and as I wrote in the wake of lifting the FA Cup and Champions League, the 2010/11 season was ultimately the fulfilment of expectation; the days of a trophy win were no longer the stuff of far-fetched fantasy but what was required from a club with the pretensions City now has.

The 2011-12 season marks another test for Arsenal’s depth and Wenger’s ability to unite his players into the flying, unstoppable force that they have proven to be at times for the last two years. It remains to be seen whether they have the depth and staying power to sustain their incisive attacking play all the way to the top, but if healthy and prepared, there is no reason Arsenal cannot join the party of dropping trophies under open-top buses this year.

Despite being 40-years-old for much of last season, the loss of goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to retirement is a tremendous one. The giant Dutchman gave United six elite seasons, including his last season when he was arguably the best goalkeeper in Europe. The fear amongst United supporters will be that they are facing a repeat scenario to when the great Peter Schmeichel left the club in 1999 - when it took six agonizing seasons before van der Sar finally came on to find stability between the posts. £18.9-million David de Gea will be the goalkeeper tasked to fill the mighty gloves of van der Sar. Despite being immensely agile, quick, and good with his feet, the 20-year-old Spaniard leaves many wondering if he will consistent enough to help lead United to further glory. Lifting the Europa League trophy at age 19 for Atletico Madrid as their No 1 provides some optimism for United supporters.

Fortunately for Villa fans, there are reasons to think that McLeish was more a victim of circumstance than a bootball-loving, over-his-head disaster. While it’s unlikely Villa will wow many people through the beauty of their football, McLeish-led teams haven’t always been as drab as his Birmingham City sides. Under his leadership, Motherwell and Hibernians had great success playing rather attractive-if uncomplicated-attacking football and he had tremendous success in his time with Rangers, winning more trophies than Martin O’Neill’s Celtic during the years their tenures overlapped. In looking at his time with City, it would appear as though McLeish-rightly, it should be said-saw a strong defense as the best protection against relegation given the club’s financial situation and was forced to go the dumpster-diving route to fill in the rest of the squad. Players like Beausajor, Zigic and Hleb were always going to be risky propositions, but there were reasons to think they could work out and in fact McLeish was widely praised for the summer he had. Many predicted that Birmingham would build on a 9th place finish to challenge for Europe. It didn’t work out that way, but it’s revisionist to claim that there wasn’t some validity to the approach.

At this point, Aston Villa is a mid-table team with a bit of wiggle room to either side. If things go well, they could make a half-run at a spot in Europe. If things go bad, there could be some minor flirtation with the relegation zone at times. Another rash of injuries to key players could make things very interesting, and not in a good way. But in the end, this is a team that’s most likely going to finish somewhere between 8th and 12th and maybe make a run at either the Carling or FA Cup. And honestly, Villa fans should be happy with that. Villa have a host of promising young players and they’ve managed to clear a significant amount of dead weight from the wage bill. Darren Bent still has a few seasons as an elite goal-poaching machine. Whispers and accusations that Randy Lerner has lost interest, ambition or the will to invest seem obscenely premature. It’s far more likely that this is a season for Villa to assess what they have, to give significant minutes to some of those promising academy graduates and to take stock of the talent in-house before investing in players from outside. Martin O’Neill had some great success at Villa, but he went all-in in getting there. If McLeish can avoid disaster, he’ll get his chance. But it’s not unreasonable to ask him to give it a year to find out where investment is needed the most.

This is a preview. There are many others like it, but this one is Liverpool’s.

Some parts will be true. Others may be less so. Not out of any desire to deceive, you understand, but simply because this is a preview largely aimed at an audience that likely has no great desire to read about an English football¹ club’s fifth-choice center back.

Following up on a season which saw them finish fourth, Tottenham Hotspur had high expectations for 2010-11. However, a lack of goalscoring punch and some shaky defending conspired to help the team slip to a disappointing fifth place finish, six points behind Manchester City for a Champions League place. The one redeeming aspect of the season was a run to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the club’s first ever season in the competition. The campaign saw Spurs defeat the likes of Inter Milan and AC Milan before going out to Real Madrid.

Tottenham’s lone first team addition this offseason has been 40 year old American goalkeeper Brad Friedel. Heurelho Gomes made a number of high profile errors during the previous season and Friedel should provide competition for the number one shirt. The most exciting addition is Souleymane Coulibaly. The 16 year-old Ivorian was the star of the U17 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored nine goals in four matches. It’s doubtful the striker dubbed “Mini-Drogba” will make a first team impact this season, but he is an exciting prospect nonetheless.

Despite having a three month long break from football Everton fans aren’t heading into the new season with the freshness and enthusiasm such a holiday brings. Instead they are weary with the club’s plight and look towards the future with frustration and trepidation.

It has been a difficult summer, mainly due to the club’s much publicised financial problems meaning for the sixth transfer window in succession manager David Moyes has had no cash to spend unless players were sold.

The Canaries earned promotion to the Premier League by finishing second in the nPower Championship in the 2010/11 season. How will they fare in the top flight after a six-year absence? Sid of Villarreal USA has a chromatic soft spot for his yellow brethren in England, so he’ll take us through it.

Some interesting tidbits: City has played for seventy-five years at Carrow Road, which seats 27,000 spectators. And the club’s theme song, On the Ball, City, is the oldest still in use in world football. Finally, City’s longstanding rival is Ipswich Town; the two sides have disputed the “Old Farm” East Anglian derby 138 times.

Gone are the Sam Allardyce tactics of punting the ball forward and physicality being emphasized, as are the days of Blackburn Rovers only being owned by those from the British Isles. In their place is Steve Kean’s desire to play fluid football by keeping the ball on the deck and the grand ambitions of the Venky’s, the Lancashire club’s new owners from India. Or at least that is what the club would have you believe.

There are some positives for Blackburn supporters. As the club was involved in a fierce battle to avoid relegation last season, the players rallied around Kean to go unbeaten in their final four matches. The foundation pieces may even be there for a surprise run to the top half of the table - another goal that Kean has publicly stated would be tangible evidence of progress.