Rooney's Ready...

With the new Premier League season about to kick off, I thought it would be a good idea to look not just at Manchester United but the League as a whole and give my views on the chances of the various clubs.

I will, of course, start with the defending Champions – Manchester United.

This is a big season for Manchester United having won the previous three League titles, a fourth consecutive title beckons but no team in the history of English top flight football has ever achieved this feat.

Can we do it? Actually, I think we can. I think far too much emphasis has been placed on the departures of Ronaldo and Tevez and how we will be weaker for their going but I disagree.

Tevez, for all his enthusiasm, was never a top drawer player in my opinion, the arrival of Owen has answered this one already. Owen will probably appear just as much as Tevez did and will outscore him. There won’t be the workrate and crazy ball chasing that Tevez seemed to enjoy but what we get in return is one of the most clinical finishers in the business with a knack for getting in the right place at the right time.

The big miss is obviously Ronaldo but for all his plus points, I think he brought a few negatives to the table which I have been moaning about on this site for the last few years.

From the outside, it did look like he really believed he was carrying the team and that the other players were there simply to make him look good. There were times last season when he finally seemed to learn what it meant to be a team player but even so, the word “Defence” does not seem to exist in Ronaldo’s vocabulary. If Valencia will be operating on the right in Ronaldo’s place then I’m quite happy with that because we will see a true team player who has both attacking and defensive aspects to his game.

The departure of Ronaldo will also open up the game for players such as Berbatov and Rooney. I expect both will surpass their goal tallies for last season.

The slight worry for me is our central midfield. It still seems that Fergie has to call on the experience of Scholes and Giggs a little too often for my liking. We lost the Champions League Final in midfield and we can get over-run. Anderson doesn’t seem to have really progressed much in the last twelve months and Carrick, for all his plus points, also seems to be treading water a lot of the time. For a club with a tradition for driving midfielders, we seem a bit lightweight in there at the moment.

Fletcher is coming on leaps and bounds in recent years and probably still doesn’t get the recognition his contribution deserves but he just seems a bit too “nice” to me. A bit of the Keano bark and snarl wouldn’t go amiss but he just doesn’t seem the type.

A fit and healthy Hargreaves would be a massive plus but sadly, this seems to be a dwindling hope as the lad is permanently injured.

Defensively, we look as strong as ever. We have let a few in during pre-season but we haven’t had Vidic fit for any of the matches. The goalkeeper situation has also been experimented with with Edwin likely to be retiring at the end of this season, Fergie has tried to bring Foster through and this could be a weak link.

To sum up, I still think we will be the team to beat this season and some players are facing a make-or-break point in their United careers, they will either rise to the challenge or fall away as so many have done over the years but if they can meet the challenge, we will be the Champions for an unprecedented fourth time come next May.

However…

Didier Drogba... he's a bit mental...

Chelsea, despite the managerial merry-go-round they have had to cope with over recent seasons (they are now on their fifth manager in three years), have remained very consistent on the pitch. The trophy cabinet hasn’t been filled quite as often as it was during Mourinho’s stint but they are still there or thereabouts in all the major competitions.

The fact that they haven’t won the League for the last three years after coasting to it for the two years previously will be hurting some of the players and that hunger might just be the factor that wins it for them in the end.

Apart from the manager situation, the injury to Essien didn’t do Chelsea any favours last season and they missed him greatly. He is now back and, if Ancelotti plays him in the right position, he will be massive for them again this season (just the kind of player we’re missing, if you ask me).

Drogba, when not losing the plot and screaming obscenities at TV cameras remains one of the most lethal strikers in the Premier League (second only to Torres in my opinion) and on his day, can mean the difference between three points and one point by his contribution alone.

I think the title will be contested between Chelsea and Manchester United. The difference in quality between the two sides is paper thin and when they meet, it can all depend on one moment. The League however, is played over 38 games and not just two and whilst they do seem to be better at beating the “lesser” teams these days, they do tend to drop points against the “big four” and reversing this could prove crucial if they are to regain the League Title.

I think it will be close but Chelsea will finish second.

Rafa Benitez - Totally barking....

Next up is Liverpool. It now seems an awful long time since their heyday when League Trophies were sent to Anfield until proven otherwise.

I think they missed a trick last season. I think last season was their best chance of winning the League and they blew it.

They remain a strong, powerful side and Rafa did seem to learn some lessons last season and didn’t rest key players at crucial stages like he had been prone to doing in previous seasons and I think the penny finally dropped that whilst Champions League success is wonderful, the English League title is the one the Liverpool fans really want.

Even the most staunch Liverpool supporter must have realised that it is difficult to claim to be “The Best Team in Europe” when you are consistently finishing third or fourth in your domestic League (the year they won the CL, they actually finished FIFTH in the League!)

I think Rafa has a big decision to make this season. It will be a decision he will make reluctantly but I think he has to realise that his squad is not big enough and strong enough to contest on all fronts in the way that Chelsea and Manchester United do. He has been thereabouts in the Premier League and the Champions League in recent seasons but has fallen between two stools on every occasion.

It might well be this season that he gives the Premier League his full focus. They could have won it last season, it was in their hands at one point but they blew it. The belief must be there that they are capable of winning it but, I see another season of close but no cigar for Rafa and his boys.

The departure of Alonso and the arrival of Aquilani is their main business in the transfer window and how this will affect them remains to be seen. Personally, I don’t think it will bring them the title and a third placed finish is the best they can hope for.

Arsene Wenger... Sit Down You etc etc

The next of the so-called “Big Four” is Arsenal and for several seasons now, their place amongst England’s Elite has seemed in some jeopardy but Wenger has always produced a rabbit out of the hat which has kept them in it.

However, I think this is a massive season for Arsenal and this could finally be the one where they are over-taken.

The big news has been the departures of Adebayor and Toure to Manchester City. Against this we have the arrivals of erm… well nobody really.

There is, of course, plenty of time for Wenger to find one of his rabbits and the January signing of Arshavin was a great signing but I just can’t see how he can make any inroads on the three teams which finished above them last season from this position and make no mistake about it; they finished fourth but they were 11 points behind third-placed Chelsea.

The damning fact about the Premier League at the moment, however, is that they were still nine points ahead of fifth-placed Everton.

So, will Arsenal drop off and will one of the next level teams step up and reverse the deficit?

Well, despite Fulham finishing in a brilliant seventh position last season, I still see the “next level” as being between Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham and (I hate to say it but…) Manchester City.

Everton have been contesting fifth place pretty consistently over the last few years and I see no reason why they shouldn’t maintain that solid but unspectacular level this season.

Tottenham are a frustrating side and I think seventh place is their limit this season but eighth seems more likely.

Aston Villa punched above their weight last season I think and they will do well to improve on sixth place this season.

That leaves Manchester City and despite the massive amounts of money being splashed around by these, Mark Hughes still doesn’t quite convince me at the highest level. He did pretty well at Blackburn when little was expected of him but now big things WILL be expected of him.

I think sixth place is the minimum that will be expected. They won’t break into the top four but they could knock Everton or Villa from their perch.

However, I think silverware might be the priority this season. Be it the FA Cup or the Carling Cup. Mark Hughes will know from his Manchester United days that success breeds success. It has been an awful long time since City lifted a trophy of any kind and getting that winning mentality back into the club will be his Number One Objective.

When United were in the doldrums a few seasons back, winning the Carling Cup was greeted with almost as much enthusiasm as winning the Champions League. It was a trophy. It was something tangible. It proved to be the springboard for much bigger and better things.

So, whilst Hughes is off chasing Cups, I think sixth place will be their ultimate goal in this coming Premier League season. I wouldn’t put it past them.

And then comes the Relegation Struggle.

Traditionally, newly promoted teams are always likely to be in the thick of the relegation battle but there always seems to be one who surprises everyone, gets off to a flyer and not only survives but puts quite a few of the more established Premier League noses out of joint.

Unfortunately, the team who comes up via the play-offs seem to be the most vulnerable so I think we can relegate Burnley right now.

Wolves have finally achieved their Premier League dream after coming so close in play-offs on several occasions.

Whether they can be the one to spring a surprise and be the team to stay up remains to be seen. Personally, I think they will struggle. I don’t think there are any really weak teams in the Premier League at the moment.

It could be argued that last years surprise survivors Hull and Stoke are the most likely to be down there with them but both showed they could play a bit although Hull just hit a brick wall midway through the season and of the two, I think they are the most vulnerable.

Perhaps more likely to stay up than Wolves (despite Wolves coming up as Champions) are Birmingham who will know what the Premier league is all about having yo-yoed between the Leagues in recent years.

The other team that could find themselves dragged in again is Portsmouth because all does not seem well there at the moment and the transfer window has so far seen a weakening in their team.

As usual, it will be a close run thing at the bottom but I think Burnley are gone and then another two from Hull, Wolves and Portsmouth.

As usual, however, it is going to be close at both ends of the table. There will be twists and turns and I doubt everything will be decided entirely before the last day of the season which is as it should be and why the Premier League is the best league in the world.

Whoever your team, all the best. Enjoy!