The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Posted: 17 May 2013 04:11 PM PDT

May 18, 2013

MAY 18 — With Manchester United winning the English Premier League title a few weeks in advance (shame on you Manchester City and Chelsea for not putting up a better fight!), the only excitement left is the battle for Champions League places. Unlike last season, where things were left till the last day of the season (including the battle for the EPL title), as the last day of the season dawns on us this weekend, we already know the teams relegated, and the only thing left to stir the imagination is the battle for third and fourth place between Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs, for the aforementioned Champions League places next season.

Although we can all safely say that Reading and Queens Park Rangers more or less deserved to get relegated, it's with a heavy heart that most of us will be saying goodbye to Wigan, who were relegated after falling to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal just a few days after the high of winning the FA Cup after improbably beating Manchester City in the final. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will probably not be short of suitors at the end of the season, and their excellent players like Callum McManaman, Shane Maloney and Arouna Kone even more so.

But with the relegation scrap already decided, there's decidedly much less drama surrounding the matches involving Arsenal and Spurs as their opponents, who were previously still in danger of getting relegation, are now safe and have nothing much to play for except for a better finish in the league table. Trust Manchester United to still provide something to look forward to though, as the news of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement at the end of the season probably prompted Manchester City to also react by sacking Roberto Mancini as their manager and put themselves in the market for a "better" manager.

With speculation surrounding interim Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez and his probable replacement also gaining momentum in the last few weeks, I think most of us are already looking forward to the start of next season. Jose Mourinho is strongly mooted to be making a return to Chelsea this summer, and with Everton's David Moyes already confirmed as Manchester United manager next season and Malaga's Manuel Pellegrini rumoured to be taking over at Manchester City next season, we'll be looking at the very rare instance of the top three teams in the EPL all having to adapt to a new manager at the beginning of the season.

With Chelsea's already awesome squad and Mourinho's proven track record and familiarity with the backroom machinery at Chelsea, they're probably the ones who'll have much less hassle when it comes to the much dreaded period of transition. Both Manchester teams have far more to worry about when it comes to this period of transition, as Moyes has never really managed a "big" club before and the squad he's inheriting is far from complete, especially in midfield with Paul Scholes retiring for the second time, Ryan Giggs surely on his last legs, Michael Carrick already entering the wrong side of 30 and Anderson still only showing "promise" even as he's already past his mid-twenties. Money, probably a lot of it, will have to be spent to rebuild this squad, especially if we also consider the fact that even their wingers are uncharacteristically underperforming this season.

While Pellegrini is definitely a winner and has a pretty good record in the Champions League, if he does take over at Manchester City then he faces a totally different hurdle — it's his first season in English football and he'll definitely need to adapt tactically to the fast-paced and very physical nature of things in England. All this contributes to the feeling that anything could happen next season, and that the title may be truly up for grabs for the first time in a very long time.

Despite their fans' complaints about losing Robin Van Persie to Manchester United this season, Arsenal really haven't been doing so bad at all, as this season is their actual season of transition and they do look to have a much stronger squad who'll only get better next season as their newer players like Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski get attuned to each other. If Spurs can hold on to Gareth Bale and sign at least one (but preferably two) world-class striker, then their first-11 squad is quite an impressive one. And if they can groom or sign a proper backup to the Dembele and Sandro midfield partnership, I'd say they can be there or thereabouts as well.

And let's not forget Liverpool, also undergoing their own season of transition this season as they acclimatise to a new manager, they've played some truly scintillating football at times and once they've managed to get more consistency to their game, their attacking combo of Suarez, Sturridge and playmaker Coutinho is quite a frightening combination.

Even though I'm a huge Spurs fan, I'm not holding much hope for us challenging for the title next season as I know that we have quite a thin squad when it comes to quality, but as a neutral I can definitely say that with all the possible turmoil at the start of and throughout next season (imagine if Moyes loses his first three or four matches, will the Manchester United glory hunters call for him to be sacked?), we may just have the most open EPL season ever. And that can only be a good thing.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Sabtu, 18 Mei 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

0 ulasan:

Catat Ulasan