Carl Kinsella & Jack Leahy
Sports Writers
Arsenal
It’s all getting a little too familiar for Arsenal fans. Arsene Wenger has bolstered his squad with a summer’s worth of strong signings only to find the extremely talented feet of Alex Song (nearly) and Robin Van Persie out the door. The Gunners landed an impressive 3rd place finish last season, but it was yet another season without any silverware – and if they’re to lose the free-scoring Van Persie, it’s hard to imagine Premier League new-boys Olivier Giroud or Lukas Podolski taking up the reigns to the same effect. If Song and Van Persie are to leave, Arsenal’s season will hinge on fringe players like Tomas Rosicky and Andre Arshavin replicating the best form of their careers and taking their game up a notch.
Strengths
Spanish midfield wizard Santi Cazorla promises to be a great addition to the Premier League. Beyond that it seems their greatest strength, the man they call RVP, will no longer be their greatest anything before long.
Weaknesses
Arsenal is a team full of players with suspect injury records with Tomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagana, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta having all spent quite a lot of time on the physio bed. Arsenal’s main weakness lies in their lack of cover on the bench, particularly in defence.
Bottom line
Wenger is never going to let his team give it anything but a very good shot but without Van Persie they have no X-factor to take them above the league’s other heavy-hitters. 4th.
Aston Villa
It’s a fourth manager in as many seasons for the Villains and this year the burden falls upon former Norwich coach Paul Lambert. He takes charge of a Villa side that has punched far below its weight since the departure of Martin O’Neill. The talent is there – players like Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Gabby Agbonlahor and Darren Bent should not be in the throes of a relegation battle, and yet. Lambert will expect more from his players this year and will certainly not subscribe to former manager Alex McLeish’s more mind-numbing brand of football, something for the Villa fans to cheer at least.
Strengths
Reasonable quality all over the pitch. Dutch international Ron Vlaar has been brought in to help shore up the defence. If he strikers up a partnership with our very own Honey Monster, Richard Dunne, chances for opposition will be slim indeed.
Weaknesses
Villa have looked apathetic for two straight seasons now. Players like Darren Bent and Gabby Agbonlahor aren’t the sunniest of characters at the best of times. Furthermore, having lost Gareth Barry, James Milner and Ashley Young, Aston Villa just isn’t what it used to be, and the whole club looks a little lethargic these days.
Bottom line
An improvement, but not a particularly dramatic one. Fewer draws on the horizon at least. 13th.
Eden Hazard comes to Chelsea having promised a lot.
Chelsea
Chelsea confounded expectations across the board last season. From race rows to player power and domestic disappointment to European glory, Chelsea twisted and turned their way through football’s equivalent of whitewater rapids. Roberto Di Matteo has been appointed full-time after delivering Abramovic’s long sought-after Champion’s League trophy but his league form from last year still begs a question or two. Luckily for him he has been entrusted with a summer war-chest to match that of City’s and has procured two superstars in the making in Eden Hazard and Oscar (that’s it, like Cher or Madonna). While he’s lost Chelsea’s talismanic striker Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres showed promising signs of a renaissance at this summer’s Euros. If he’s ready to turn his Chelsea career on its head, the Blues could be in for one hell of a season.
Strengths
An extremely solid engine supported by very talented flair players. Lampard and Ramires seated behind Mata and Hazard will make for incredibly dangerous opposition this term.
Weaknesses
The Chelsea back-line doesn’t really inspire the same fear it used to. John Terry and Ashley Cole have visibly lost a bit of lustre, and David Luiz and Gary Cahill are yet to show their mettle in the Premiership.
Bottom line
Too much quality in the side not to put up a decent fight, but not enough quality to win. Expect it to be taken out on the manager. 3rd.
David Moyes has managed to keep Leighton Baines in blue so far.
Everton
Everton are another Premier League club suffering from same-old-story syndrome. So much so that David Moyes’ marquee signing this summer has been the recapturing of Steven Pienaar, having sold him to Spurs a few seasons ago. Everton’s spine is one of real quality with players like Marouanne Fellaini, Jack Rodwell and Leighton Baines always playing with huge dedication to match their skill. Last season’s signing of Nikica Jelavic proved to be an inspired bit of business from Moyes and he’ll hope for a similar bit of inspiration from Steven Naismith who he has also nabbed from (what was once) Glasgow Rangers. Simply put, Everton are probably going to do alright again and if things go pear-shaped, they’ll only do a little worse than alright.
Strengths
David Moyes is heading into his eleventh year in charge of Everton FC. He knows the club and its players inside and out and can never be accused of doing a bad job. Everton have a manager who knows exactly what he’s doing.
Weaknesses
Now that Tim Cahill is gone, there’s a lot of pressure of Jelavic to hit double-figures in terms of goal tally because it is very hard to see where Everton’s goals will come from otherwise.
Bottom line
More adulation for Moyes after he racks up more success on a shoestring budget. “Success” being a relative term, of course. 8th.
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Fulham
Ah Fulham, every football fan’s third favourite team. It took Martin Jol’s Cottagers a long time to get going last season and even when they did it seemed as though they were struggling to hit fifth gear. The failure to snap up Pavel Pogrebnyak on a permanent deal will rankle at the Cottage worse than that Michael Jackson statue outside, and the release of Danny Murphy won’t have been met with too much good will either. Nevertheless, the flair of Moussa Dembele and Bryan Ruiz should give Fulham some excitement this year even if this summer’s transfer window hasn’t brought the obvious progress Fulham fans might have hoped for.
Strengths
An extremely competent manager with extremely competent players. Hard to beat at Craven Cottage.
Weaknesses
Notoriously poor away form. If Clint Dempsey leaves for Liverpool they’ll be relying on Hugo Rodallega for goals, and that never did Wigan Athletic any favours.
Bottom line
Still the best of the Premier League’s also-rans with a very clever man at the helm. 9th.
Fabio Borini brings some bit to Liverpool's attack
Liverpool
They spent a lot of money for nothing last summer, so it’s only right that Liverpool FC spent the 2011-2012 season in dire straits. Impressively relevant wordplay aside, there were many broken hearts on Merseyside this summer when King Kenny was dethroned (even if it was for the best considering Liverpool’s league performance last year). Players like Charlie Adam, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing all failed to live up to the minimum standards demanded by the Anfield faithful and something had to give. Brendan Rodgers is new sheriff in town and the hope is that he’ll import his free-flowing Swan-celona football and reintroduce Liverpool to the pass-and-move groove they so desperately miss. Liverpool is still home to some of the brightest talent in the league in Luis Suarez, Man City target Daniel Agger and the irreplaceable Steven Gerrard but something special is needed to harness it into a credible force again.
Strengths
While Agger was fit last season, he and Martin Skrtel maintained one of the meanest defence records in the league with special thanks to Lucas Leiva. Coupled with the attacking threat of Suarez, Liverpool still have the skeleton of a great team.
Weaknesses
Too much deadwood for the better players to carry. Players like Jay Spearing, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll spent last season looking out of place in the Premiership, let alone Liverpool’s famed red kit.
Bottom line
Patience will be key when it comes to Liverpool’s development but they can’t possibly hit the post 33 times again. 6th.
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Manchester City
Roberto Mancini gave his doubters a slap in the face in the dying seconds of last year’s Premier League campaign proving all it takes to win the league is pluck, perseverance and pounds sterling in their hundreds of millions. It seems as though Carlos Tevez is back and ready to tear teams limb from limb alongside last year’s signing of the season Sergio Aguero. With a backbone of Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and the unsung Gareth Barry as well as service from David Silva, this City team is still the best in the league on paper. There’s even more talent waiting in the wings with young players like Mario Balotelli and John Guidetti striving to become starters for City week-in week-out. The competition and quality within City makes them a fearful prospect this year if they can stave off complacency.
Strengths
A seemingly endless stream of players who can score goals. Roque Santa Cruz is their seventh choice striker, says it all.
Weaknesses
Roberto Mancini has not proved himself to be the most collected of men when speaking about his players and dealing with problems within the City camp. Stefan Savic also proved, through four horrendous performances last season, that he is not able back-up to Vincent Kompany.
Bottom line
If they don’t win it, it’ll be their own fault. 1st.
Kagawa gives United an attacking edge
Manchester United
Without being too clichéd, anyone who writes Manchester United off does so at their own peril, and it usually doesn’t work out too well for them. Like him or loathe him, Alex Ferguson has moulded his teams into a relentlessly effective system for the past 25 years and very rarely has it let him down. A solid defence and central midfield flanked by strength and pace on the wings on a player or two to put the ball in the net. Score, celebrate, repeat and if you can, leave it as late as it can be left. Nani, Valencia and Ashley Young are Ferguson’s current speed-merchants and Rooney is the irresistible force in front of goal. The system is hard to combat and their defence (when it has Nemanja Vidic in it) is incredibly hard to penetrate. The addition of Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa is an astute one, a Silva-type player from whom United will benefit greatly, adding brains to their brawn. Robin van Persie’s fitness and form should be major determinents.
Strengths
Ferocious in attack and miserly at the back, an impressive team in either box.
Weaknesses
Still relying on Paul Scholes to pull the strings in the middle of the pitch. Could conceivably be over-run in the middle this season, options have worn thin.
Bottom line
It’s going to be tight again but a more cohesive City should pip them to the post. 2nd.
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Newcastle
As of August 11th, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has yet to resort to his profiteering ways and has held close his previous summer’s worth of incredibly impressive and economical purchases. Yohann Cabaye, Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba all made an incredible impact for Newcastle under Alan Pardew and surprised punters and pundits a like. The Magpies were very much last season’s dark horses (with white stripes) and this season they will face new challenges such as European football as well as the expectation and pressure that comes with being a team that tends towards the higher end of the table. No great dealing in the transfer window yet means Pardew is dealing with a squad he knows well next year, but also one not quite big enough to accommodate a push for both European success and Champion’s League qualification.
Strengths
Cisse and Ba would appear to be a match made in heaven based on last season’s showing. If Ba’s admittedly dodgy knees hold and Cisse’s goals continue to defy physics then all will be well at the stadium formerly known as St James’ Park.
Weaknesses
Losing three crucial players to the African Cup of Nations and the new challenge of European football on a small squad will be Newcastle’s greatest obstacle this season.
Bottom line
Now that the sheen of surprise has worn off, it’s up to Newcastle to raise their game accordingly and meet the standard they’ve set for themselves. 7th.
Top-scorer Grant Holt remains a Canary
Norwich
The Canaries have been somewhat quiet on the transfer front this summer, but losing manager Paul Lambert to Aston Villa is as bad as losing a host of first-team stars. On paper, these guys shouldn’t have lived to fight another season at the top, yet under Lambert’s shrewd management they managed to far exceed expectations. If the likes of Anthony Pilkington, Wes Hoolahan and Grant Holt want to end next May as Premier League players, much more of the same plucky approach will be required. Holt proved somewhat difficult to handle over the summer, but was eventually persuaded to forgo a move to West Ham by new boss Chris Hughton.
Strengths
Chris Hughton isn’t Paul Lambert, but is an experienced Premier League coach with a respectable stock. He knows his team are capable of performing at this level and knows how to elicit performance from supposedly weaker players.
Weaknesses
Chris Hughton isn’t Paul Lambert, and his squad isn’t any better off for quality than it was at the end of May. It’ll be difficult to build on last season’s showing, which usually points towards second season syndrome.
Bottom line
One of the stronger weaker teams, if you get me. 16th.
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QPR
The lesser-known beneficiary of the final-day drama of May 13th 2012, Mark Hughes was keenly aware that his side had to improve over the summer or face a lot of uncomfortable Saturday afternoons staring down a loaded barrel. Reinforcements have come in the form of Andy Johnson, Fabio da Silva on loan, and Park Ji-Sung, and the acquisition of the energetic South Korean from Manchester United is likely to prove the most astute of them all. One-time captain Joey Barton is in the self-inflicted headlines once again this pre-season, and much of the Rs’ hope for the year ahead rests on whether he can finally produce the international-quality performances he keeps tweeting about.
Strengths
When QPR began to struggle in the first half of last season, owner Tony Fernandes stepped in and allowed the club funds with which to strengthen in January. The return to this was skin-of-the-teeth survival, and he’s likely to intervene financially once again if required.
Weaknesses
A front-line of Andy Johson, Djibril Cissé and Bobby Zamora is a hark back to 2005, the last time any of these strikers were good enough to score lots of goals in the Premier League. Well, Zamora had a decent season a few years ago I guess. In any case, all three have a record of putting the ball in the back of the net, but none have a recent history of doing so according to a consistent or reliable pattern.
Bottom line
Enough other teams look weak enough that Mark Hughes and Joey Barton will continue to be employed in the top division. 12th.
Gurthie is now a Reading man
Reading
Few people backed Reading to gain promotion from the Championship last season until a run of 12 games unbeaten shunted the more glamourous West Ham and the more plucky Southampton down the table. Reading finished the Championship season on top of the pile, and have improved modestly this summer with the acquisition of Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie.
Strengths
Reading approach this season with the look of a newly-promoted side that are going to get on just fine. There is a fantastic spirit in the dressing room, and the supporters share their optimism ahead of the new season with the players and club officials alike. It’s a well-run club with a boardroom and technical staff that know what’s in the club’s best interests,
Weaknesses
Adam Le Fondre’s modest tally of 12 goals topped the scoring charts at the Madjeski Stadium last season, and it’s only going to get more difficult from here.
Bottom line
It’ll be tough, but Reading are well-prepared for the struggle. 15th.
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Southampton
Not sincethe heady days of Kevin Phillips, Anders Svensson, and James Beattie have the Saints been a force with which to be reckoned in the Premier League, but we here at UT are delighted to welcome them back. Rickie Lambert is still around, having managed an impressed 27 goals in red and white last season, while David Connolly – more likely to feature in ‘Obscure 00s footballers’ than score a Premier League goal – is back in the Premier League once more. That nice feature aside, the squad is small and looks undercooked with regards preparation and general talent.
Strengths
A great team spirit and a natural – albeit untested at the highest level – goalscorer in Lambert.
Weaknesses
A series of arrivals from lower-league clubs means that the Saints, on paper at least, have the weakest squad in the league.
Bottom line
Exactly: the bottom line. 20th.
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Stoke City
Since their return to top flight football in 2008 Stoke have, for better or worse, brought a unique individuality to the Premier League. No big name arrivals or departures this summer ensures that we are in for another season of ruthless route-one and relentless long-throws from Tony Pulis’ men. Stoke’s usual mid-table berth was unsettled by the momentum gathered by all three of last year’s promoted teams but now that all three of them have suffered managerial upheaval, one would imagine Tony Pulis’ experience will see Stoke regain their composure. Jermaine Pennant and Matty Etherington, the two wingers crucial to setting up chances for Stoke’s ample aerial threat both struggled with injury last year. If they can play consistently throughout this season they will provide for a Stoke team with goal threats all over the park from Kenwyne Jones and Peter Crouch up front to centre-backs Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross.
Strengths
Strength. It is a testament to Stoke’s brute force that the true mark of Premiership star these days is whether or not he can do it ‘on a cold night at the Britannia’.
Weaknesses
After four seasons of the same style, teams are growing accustomed to Stoke’s threat. This predictability would be disastrous were it not so hard to counter.
Bottom line
Expect the league to be less tight around the middle this year and expect Stoke to rise above your Norwichs and your Swanseas, as Mark Lawrenson would say. 11th.
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Sunderland
The Black Cats endured a torrid start to last season under Steve Bruce, whose extensive summer dealings failed to form a coherent unit. All changed and changed utterly when the former Manchester United defender was replaced with Martin O’Neill, and the Black Cata climbed to a respectable position safely in the middle of the table.
Attacking prospects like James McClean and Stephane Sessegnon make Sunderland a decent side on the attack, while experience at the back comes in the form of John O’Shea and Wes Brown. O’Neill likes his sides to go about their business with the minimum of fuss, so expect them to coast along the season without troubling either end of the table.
Strengths
A solid all-round team with extensive experience and the odd next-big-thing.
Weaknesses
Since Darren Bent’s departure to Aston Villa, no one has put the ball in the net quite as often.
Bottom line
A safe, neutral, vanilla ice-cream. 10th.
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Swansea
Gutted of their two biggest assets in the summer as Joe Allen and Brendan Rodgers headed north-east-way for Liverpool, it’s going to be a very different season for Swansea second time around. Rodgers brought to the club a footballing culture whose tactics ensured that his team performed above themselves. Allen was an integral part of that, though it was Leon Britton who really made it tick and he remains in Wales. Jonathan de Guzman and Michael Laudrup are their respective replacements, both arriving with big reputations and good experience, albeit not in the Premier League.
Strengths
Players capable of competing at the top level while still playing football.
Weaknesses
Still a small club with little resources and shipping on their main products.
Bottom Line
May struggle. 17th.
King's retirement was confirmed this summer
Tottenham
André Villas-Boas, so callously discarded by Chelsea, is back with a vengeance. The Portuguese manager is seven years younger than his current first-choice goalkeeper, but brings with him a host of tactical know-how and as much self-belief as you like.
He’s had a tough summer, though, trying to make a splash in the transfer market. Emmanuel Adebayor’s wage demands are too high, Jermaine Defoe keeps remembering to come to work, and Luka Modric is already sleeping with his new partner. Hugo Lloris never happened, and Ledley King retired. Only Jan Verthongen and Gylfi Sigurdsson have arrived, and the squad hardly looks any better off then when Harry Redknapp left it for the Engla… Oh. Awkward.
Strengths
Gareth Bale, ‘Team GB’ defender Steven Caulker, and right-back Kyle Walker give the sight a youthful energy. Generally good squad.
Weaknesses
Modric’s transfer saga has dominated the club’s summer, which is hardly the statement on which AVB wanted to begin. No one in the squad can be expected to score goals regularly.
Bottom line Champions League hopes will only disappoint. 5th.
West Brom
It’s been a relatively quiet summer for the Baggies, save the purchases of one-time England keeper Ben Foster and the lesser-known Marcus Rosenburg and Claudio Yacob. Roy Hodgson’s departure at the end of last season to take up the England job saw former Chelsea and Liverpool deputy Steve Clarke appointed to the managerial role, and the Scot will fancy his chances in extending the Baggies’ record run in the Premier League. Once again, the form of Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long should be major players in deciding where in the table Brom finish up, but in any case they should be fine. These guys are improving solidly and can now be considered an established Premier Leage club.
Strengths
With Long and Odemwingie up front, goals will come.
Weaknesses
Bad runs of form just seem to last that extra forthnight in West Bromwich, so they’ll have to hit the ground running.
Bottom line
Solid and unspectacular. 14th.
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West Ham
West Ham have never been a club short of a few pounds, and their transfer ambitions were underlined by big-money bids for Norwich’s Grant Holt and a (loan and purchase) move for Andy Carroll. Still, Alou Diarra, Mobido Maiga, Jussi Jaaskelainen, George McCartney and James Collins are just some of the signings brought in by seasoned Premier League wheeler-dealer Sam Allardyce this summer. However, despite consistent quality in teh ranks, the Hammers have struggled to get the best out of their players in recent years, leading to a couple of relegations. The West Ham side relegated in the 2010/11 season was full of raw youthful talents, most of whom can be expected to return to the top division a season harder and ready for action.
Strengths
A proud footballing tradition and a manager who knows the English game inside-out.
Weaknesses
Not a lot of genuine talent in the ranks, and some of the summer signings look past it at Premier League level.
Bottom line
A big signing could change everything, but for now they look likely to struggle. 19th.
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Wigan
That Wigan have continued to survive in the Premier League is one of the top-flight’s most baffling realities. No club in recent memory has looked the executioner in the eyeball so consistently and lived to tell the tale the next August. Roberto Martinez has spent £15m so far this summer to ensure fewer sleepless nights in early April and offset the loss of Hugo Rodallega to Fulham. It’s never quite black and white in this league, but there are at least three poorer teams in the competition and we hope that that’ll be that.
Strengths
Sporadic quality in the likes of Ali Al-Habsi and James McCarthy. Martinez is still one of the more sought-after managers in the league and knows a thing or twi about staying up.
Weaknesses
Inconsistency consistently leaves the Lattics dancing with danger, and their luck may soon run out.
Bottom line
It could be a long April. 18th.
