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| Who can stop United's pursuit for 20? |
Amidst a backdrop of rioting and social unrest within some of the country's largest cities, the English Premier League kicks off this weekend. At the time of writing, only Tottenham Hotspur's opening match at home to Everton has been postponed due to the trouble, with all other scheduled fixtures due to go ahead; possibly however with altered kick-off times. I'm not going to spend any more time commenting on the scenes witnessed throughout the last week, so onto the football!
The opening round of games is spread right across this coming weekend, with 6 fixtures on Saturday 13th, 2 on Sunday and the first Monday Night Football of the season on the 15th:
Saturday, 13th August
Blackburn Rovers vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fulham vs. Aston Villa
Liverpool vs. Sunderland
QPR vs. Bolton Wanderers
Wigan Athletic vs. Norwich City
Newcastle United vs. Arsenal (ESPN)
Sunday, 14th August
Stoke City vs. Chelsea (Sky Sports)
West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester United (Sky Sports)
Monday, 15th August
Manchester City vs. Swansea City (Sky Sports)
No real stand-out fixtures from that opening round. Newcastle vs. Arsenal perhaps the pick of the weekend fixtures, purely on the memory of last season's corresponding game, whilst Swansea's first game back in the top flight sees them up against money haemorrhaging, title contenders Manchester City. Still, this is intended to be a season preview and as such the opening weekend shouldn't, and won't, have much bearing on how these teams perform between now and May 2012.
Season previews are ten-a-penny these days, be it on blogs and websites, in magazines or on the television. Therefore, in an attempt to differentiate this from the norm, I will not be addressing the season in the time-honoured fashion of team-by-team guides, but rather by looking at the Premier League as a whole and how it is currently evolving. Many sports broadcasters enjoy indulging in the popular sentiment that England's top division is 'the best in the world'. I'm not going to try and argue for or against this, as it is undisputedly, 100% impossible to provide an answer for. The 'best league' is the one that you, the fan, enjoy the most; for whatever reason that may be. What is a far more interesting and complex debate to be had is what the Premier League has become over the last 3-5 years; looking at the styles of play, the players it attracts and teams performances in continental competitions.
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| Sergio 'Kun' Aguero |
Perhaps the move obvious place to start is to look at the new additions to Premier League squads during the summer, and there are some very interesting ones to say the least. Manchester City inevitably spent big, with the wonderfully talented Sergio Agüero joining from Atletico Madrid for a reported £35m. 'Kun' was joined by Stefan Savić, a 20 year-old defender purchased from FK Partizan and Gaël Clichy, the French left-back, who joined from title rivals Arsenal. The Agüero deal is pleasing on many levels, and not just for City fans. In isolation, any deal that brings a player of the quality of Agüero to England is exciting enough, but it is even more fascinating when examined next to other recent transfer dealings, especially concerning their rival championship aspirants.
As has been mentioned in other articles on this blog, there is still an obvious and lingering aspect of British football that places great emphasis on strength and power. Managers enjoy the luxury of having a tall, 'target-man' as an option up front, with some clubs, including Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur using it to good effect. Over the last couple of seasons however, there appears to have been a notable shift in the type of footballers that teams are identifying in attempts to strengthen their squad. This has been more obvious at the top end of the table, with clubs evidently concerned with finding a balance within their squad in order to cope with domestic and European commitments. Hard working grafters, such as Dirk Kuyt and Ji-Sung Park are valuable commodities to teams that are competing in multiple competitions; they provide a more disciplined dimension for a coach to consider and their popularity is evidence of the high esteem in which they are held. Certainly in the last few seasons though, this style of player is being usurped within squads, both in terms of the amount of them and the emphasis placed upon them, by more skilful, creative individuals.
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| David Silva |
FC Barcelona's dominance of the European scene is clearly having an effect on the way in which teams address their style of play. There are teams who maintain a direct approach, such as the aforementioned Stoke City, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. Now there is nothing wrong with that; teams are well entitled to play within their means and to maximise their resources, but for sides competing for league titles and looking to make an impression in Europe, it is imperative that they establish several facets to their game. You could argue that Barcelona does not have this, but when a team's method of play is so strong, they need not worry about a Plan B.
This has been reflected in recent transfer activity in the Premier League. Manchester City's capture of David Silva from Valencia in 2010 for around £24m gave Mancini's side the kind of player that had been missing the previous season. Not strictly a No. 10, Silva has the wonderful ability to float around the final third at will, able to escape the opposition midfielders in attempts to create chances for the plethora of forwards at City's disposal. Some questioned whether Silva would be able to deal with the more physical nature of the Premier League compared to La Liga in Spain, but he was excellent in 2010/11; scoring 6 goals and adding 15 assists.
Across Manchester, City's fierce rivals United made perhaps the best signing of the summer, when they completed a £7m deal for Mexican striker Javier Hernandez. A deal that was in place earlier in the year and concluded very much under the radar, Hernandez lit up first the World Cup in South Africa and then the Premier League, where his 13 league goals helped Sir Alex Ferguson's side to a 19th English championship. A small, diminutive forward with a wonderful spring, Hernandez is unique in England's top flight and another example of a move away from pursuing tall, powerful players.
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| Chicharito |
Not to be outdone, United's arch rivals for the crown of England's most successful side, Liverpool, have spent fortunes since the turn of the year in a bid to reclaim their perch at the top of the domestic game. Although they have added the powerful and burly Andy Carroll from Newcastle United for a ridiculous £35m, the real focal point of Kenny Dalglish's side is the mercurial Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez, who signed from Ajax Amsterdam in January. A superb second half to the season was followed by several fantastic performances in the Copa America, where Suarez scored in Uruguay's 3-0 victory over Paraguay in the final.
There are several other examples throughout the league of an increase in emphasis on creative midfielders and forwards; Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart at Tottenham, Stéphane Sessègnon at Sunderland, Marc Albrighton at Aston Villa, Yossi Benayoun at Chelsea and Lee Chung-Yong at Bolton. Not only are there more of these players emerging or arriving at Premier League clubs, but they are becoming integral first XI members. All of the above are regular, if not first-choice at their respective clubs. With Barcelona abroad and Arsenal at home highlighting the importance of ball retention and the role it plays in winning matches, it's not surprising that managers are attempting to change the way they approach matches. Roberto Martinez at Wigan Athletic and Owen Coyle at Bolton Wanderers are just two examples of coaches making an effort to change the footballing philosophy at their respective clubs.
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| Home grown talent |
It's not only players arriving from overseas that are facilitating this change. Clubs are starting to produce more and more British based players of a similar style. Jack Wilshere has just completed his first full season at the Emirates for Arsenal and is beginning to establish himself as a regular in the England national team. Josh McEachran at Chelsea appears set to follow in his footsteps, and with many citing a lack of creativity in the Chelsea ranks, may have the opportunity to establish himself this season, especially with new coach Andres Villas Boas insisting he will allow young players to make an impression.
Again, was with the Premier League's top clubs, those further down the ranks are also starting to produce far more technically gifted individuals. Aston Villa, which is regularly held up as an example of a club that is willing to give young players the chance to impress has many exciting players on its books. Scottish midfielder Barry Bannan had a brief run in the team during the club's injury problems last year; the scheming central midfielder was joined by the likes of Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso. Everton too have an excellent record in player development. A quick glance at their squad highlights Leon Osman, Jack Rodwell and Seamus Coleman as three players who either started their careers at Goodison or made their step-up to first team football there. Throughout the league there are also numerous creative and technical players that will be looking to made further impact in 2011/2012. James McCarthy (Wigan), Matt Jarvis (Wolves), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City) and David Hoilett (Blackburn) all impressed last season and are regulars for their respective clubs.
Hopefully this is beginning of a change in footballing philosophy in the English Premier League. I should reiterate that I appreciate the way that teams such as Stoke and Blackburn play; many outsiders are foolish enough to think clubs with limited resources should be expected to try and play expansive attacking football. That is not only naive and idiotic, but incredibly insulting. Journalist and author Jonathan Wilson recently opined that football whilst sometimes entertaining, should never been seen as a form of entertainment. I echo this sentiment greatly. Defensive and disciplined football can be appreciated just as much as attacking play, where reckless abandon results in many goals, but generally poor play.
However, an improvement in the technical abilities and creative intelligence of players should always be strived for. The further English football gets away from an over-emphasis on hard tackling and direct play the better and this season may just be the beginning of such a change.
Or if you were looking for something a little more traditional:
- United to win the title
- Arsenal to bottle something...anything
- Blackburn's owners to embarrass themselves
- Norwich to go down
- Chicharito will score more goals than City win matches
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