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Threatened Hegemony!
By Toyin | September 1, 2009
With a lot of investment in quality players the duo of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs have not dropped any point in the early matches of the current season of the English Premiership. The two clubs have shown right from the start that they mean business. They hit the ground running as it were!
Bunley, a newly promoted team that could be tagged as giant killers shocked the world when they defeated Manchester United by a lone goal. As If that was not enough, they humbled Liverpool too! They did what Hull City inflicted on Arsenal last season at the Emirates; disgrace a member the so-called ‘big four’. I am very sure they must have fancied their chances against Carlo Ancellotti’s Chelsea towing along their recent exploits. But they met a very uncompromising team who had too much for them. They were walloped by three goals to nil.
Last season’s most improved teams, Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa had mixed starts to their campaigns. Everton in particular had a rude awakening to reality from the demolition suffered against Arsenal. They have since offloaded Joleon Lescott, a major contributor to that massacre to Manchester City; the darling of mega bucks seeking players!
With 12 points each in the kitty for Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs from four matches, the Premiership is indeed set for a very exciting time this season. The most intriguing of the trio is team from the blue side of Manchester. Having brought in eight new and quality players in the close season, the question on most peoples mind is: would they be able to gel and bled to form a compact playing unit ready to compete? I think with what we’ve seen so far, it’s safe to conclude that they will be a major force to reckon with this term.
Chelsea? I think we know all about Chelsea! The team is a member of the Premiership elite four and thus cannot really be qualified as a new entrant. However, having been shut out of the League title three times in a row after consecutive success, the Blues have a lot to prove. Particularly now when they have a new coach who’s seen it all!
The good thing is that Chelsea kept hold of its big guns! Players like John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack are top professionals coveted by most ambitious European teams. I guess the arrival of Carlo ensured that frayed nerves were calmed. Even the billions of the Sheiks from the other side of the country could not sway their influential captain from leaving. And so JT rejected the lures of Manchester for the greater prospect at Stamford Bridge. He’s been rewarded though for the ‘loyalty’.
Do you sense subtle blackmail from the whole episode? When assurances of better contract were made, that’s when beloved JT spoke up. Footballers!
Manchester United on the other hand lost two influential players: World player of the year Christiano Ronaldo and the Argentine bullish professional, Carlos Tervez. In a sharp departure from the past, SAF didn’t make any sensational purchase. Save for the arrival of Valencia from lowly Wigan, Man U seems to have lost the legendary taste for expensive acquisitions. Is this a sign of the times?
But they got a free agent, Michael Owen! And would you believe it, this could turn out to be a very smart move for the Scot. When he’s fit, Owen would always score and he underscored this with a clinical take against Wigan when brought on late into the fray in their third match of the season. Although he didn’t get a look in against Arsenal, he could always pose a problem for any team that dares to sleep off on him!
The precarious financial situation at both Liverpool and Arsenal meant that the two teams have been very quiet in the market. While that of Liverpool could be understood, the situation at the Emirates is very confusing!
Having successfully offloaded the greedy Togolese, Emmanuel Adebayor and the want away Ivorian, Kolo Toure, Wenger has available a very handsome 40 million pounds. Surely this should trigger the Prof to buy-you wish. Arsene, as in the past went on the usual rhetoric on the strength and the potential in his team. So as it stands, only Thomas Vermeleen (who has turned out to a very good addition) has arrived.
Arsenal did play with gusto early on in the season sweeping away all oppositions both in the league and CL qualification until hard luck did them in against Manchester United. But what became clear is that while Denilson and Song bossed the midfield in the encounter and did well against their peers, they lacked the calmness needed to do the right things at certain critical stages of the match. This comes with experience and this is what Arsene need to acquire by buying a more exposed defensive midfielder to complement his talented men.
This lack of experience can be better summed up with the OG from Diaby and the penalty from Almunia. Both instances were of no imminent danger to the team to warrant the kind of decisions made by both players.
Liverpool lost a gem in Xabi Alonso and this was shown as Aston Villa battled to a 1-3 priceless win over them at Anfield. Apart from Torres, only Babel could be tagged as an out and out striker in the team. Dirk Kuyt, who was a top target man in Holland, has been turned into a winger (although an effective one) by Rafael Benitez. To underscore the importance of this season, Liverpool bought the sensational Aquillani from Roma and got a very good right back in Glen Johnson from Portsmouth.
Who will break the hegemony of the past four seasons? Would it be the Sheiks or Spurs? Or the ‘big boys’ would be able to maintain the status quo? Only time will tell!
Topics: Biz Football, Premiership, Success Pills, The Gaffer, Who Will Win |
September 1st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
No! Adebayo isn’t greedy. He had 2 go when he had 2, and he went where he was needed. Football is business don’t 4get, and who says City can’t surpass Arsenal’s records?