The Greatest League

Go back 10 years ago, the English league was the best league in Europe. The money, the mangers, the big names, it had it all. The teams were dominant in the Champions League and it was one of the toughest leagues in the world but then something happened. Not quite sure what it was but it lost it's dominance, players were attracted to other leagues such as the German, Italian and Spanish, the English teams that did make it to Europe often faded away early in the competition and overall it fell behind the likes of LaLiga, Bundesliga and Serie-A. 

Has all of that changed now? This season see's probably the best line up of managers ever seen in a league and they're all managing English teams. Mourinho, Conte, Klopp, Wenger, Guardiola and Ranieri (I had to slip in ol Claudio there) take on each other in the English Premier League in whats set to be one of the most anticipated one yet! Most of the managers will have their first test this weekend seeing that they have been brought in during the summer with the exception of Klopp, Wenger and Ranieri. While Jose has managed in the league before at Chelsea, it will be a different kettle of fish for him as he tries to exorcise the demons that has plagued Old Trafford for the past 2 seasons. 

While on the subject of Jose, he's causing quite a stir so far and even though he's at the team I love to hate, I'm rather loving it. He's known for shit talking and to be honest, the league needs that. Whether or not his demons of last season at Chelsea have followed him to United remains to be seen but one things for sure, he's certainly doing things his way. Firstly the signings, Bailly, Miktarian, Ibrahimovic and the signing everyone is talking about, Paul Pogba. Jose literally broke the bank to bring in the French International and while the spot light has been on him for the past month, I don't think he will be their key signing for United. Bailly for me will be of more significance to the team as their defence seems to be in tatters after the departure of their famed brick wall of Vidic and Ferdinand. 

Last season saw a complete outside take the title and for that, we now don't know what to expect. Many are scared to make any predictions, can Leicester do it again? I doubt it but there's always a chance that they were not one season wonders. They've made some good signings and managed to hang on to star striker Jamie Vardy but they still need to keep the others that played a pivotal role in last seasons success. 

Coming back to the battle of the managers, many seem to think Jurgen Klopp has the upper hand. He came in almost midway through last season so he's had some time to assess the players and see which individuals will be key to his revamp of the squad. He's made a number of good signings, nothing record breaking but from what we've seen in the preseason, it was money put to good use. The stand out for me has been Sadio Mane, yes we've got a habit of poaching players from Southampton and whilst most of them haven't shined as they did at the Saints, I believe Klopp is spot on with this one. He's got the pace, he's strong and he has knowledge of the English game and while he didn't cost 89 million pounds, he didn't come in cheap at just over 30 million pounds. Many argued that it was a bit much for him but I rate him being a better buy than Pogba, so come the end of the 16/17 season I'd love to see a head to head stats between the two of them. I still don't thnk Klopp has the end product and the injuries don't help him either. He isn't far off from that and we've seen glimpses of the team he wants, the demolition of Barcelona at Wembley was simply breathtaking so lets hope we can see more of that come the start of the league this weekend. 

Liverpool have the toughest opening fixture list from any of the other top teams with most of their matches being away from home, some of them by choice as Anfield see's their new mainstand take shape and increase the overall capacity of the stadium. Arsenal away is first up and while many bemoan the lack of activity from the Frenchman, I don't doubt his tactics. He's the longest running manager in the league of our decade, he's been through it all, seen it all and he's proven that he doesn't need a lot of cash or big name players to do the job. The board are happy with him as he makes them profits and the fans, well the fans of Arsenal will never be happy regardless. They normally don't hit the ground running in the league so Sunday's encounter will be a tricky one.

Overall this season is going to be one of the greats and everyone in the world will be keeping an eye on it. From world class managers to the most expensive player in the world, it has it all. Entertainment? You bet it will be, with even the smaller teams wanting to prove a point. Everyone is going to go out there and try to be a Leicester City, whether or not they can achieve it remains to be seen. One things for sure, it's going to be great viewing pleasure and will reaffirm the English Premier League as the Greatest League, once again. 

Never give up

Like many out there, I got up yesterday morning in disbelief, Leicester City, Champions of England. For many who don't follow the league, you might be wondering what the big fuss is all about? Well there have been many miracle stories in football, Man Utd in 99, Liverpool in 05 and Segio Aguero's last minute goal to win the league in the dying seconds of the 2011/12 season but nothing can top this. 

As the saying goes, "the league is a marathon and not a race" so for Leicester City, a team whom had to dig themselves out of a relegation spot last season, to come in and perform consistently every week to stay ahead of the pack is no mean feat. I know they didn't have that many competitions to par-take in like the other top flight teams and they've been lucky with hardly and major injuries during the season but all that forms part of the luck you need to win England's most coveted trophy.  

Claudio Ranieri came in at the beginning of the season to try and steady the team to a respectable position in the table, I doubt he even thought it would have been possible to achieve what they have done. For many years the league was dominated by the formidable "big four" but as the years went on and big money came into the league, it saw things change and maybe for the better. Yes many might say money is killing the game with certain teams having the bank balances to pay for big name players but Leicester City went and showed the world that you don't need money or big names to win. The total cost for their starting 11 for most of the games never exceeding 400,000 pounds, which some players earn in 2 weeks... It was hard work, belief and pure passion for the game that got them where they are. 

That's what Leicester did this season, it reminded people why we play and watch this sport, and what makes it the beautiful game. With odds against them at 5000/1 to win the league at the start, for them to prove the bookies and world wrong is something extraordinary and will be spoken off in years to come. Whether or not they would be able to replicate this form next season is questionable but what they've taught everyone is that nothing is impossible.

 As a Liverpool supporter it is a sore point that Leicester managed to win the Premiership before us as well as with less points that we've managed to score on more than 3 seasons but that's football for you. They were ready for the challenge and kept going till the end. You ride your luck during the season and make the effort when need be, every season has it's own challenges but you got to overcome them to secure that prize. 

One thing is for sure, next season I don't think anyone would be able to predict what can happen and whether or not bookies will be putting outrages odd's on teams to win the league will be interesting to see after having to pay out a lot of money this season. To Leicester, the football world salutes you on what you have achieved, slaying giants along the way to earn respect in a sport that's dominated by money and superstars, you showed the world you don't need all of that to be winners. 

The madness continues

The English premier league isn't short of controversy, whether it's a team and their manager celebrating a draw at home or a side that's just been promoted, topping the table before Christmas. It really is one of the most exciting leagues in the world and you can understand why supporters of it go into mass depression during the off season. 

Just today Jose Mourinhno, probably one of the best managers the league has seen was given the axe at his much loved Chelsea Football Club. With their dismal performances this season, it's hard to say it wasn't inevitable but still, sacking a manager of Jose's calibre is unheard of. The guy just won the Premier League title with the very same team last season and now they're languishing 1 point above relegation. It's madness I tell you! It's difficult to pinpoint where it all went wrong for the Portuguese coach but it was clearly evident that he lost the faith of his players and once that happens not much can work in your favour. Even though club owner Roman Abromovich and him are close friends, business is business. 

For Chelsea to take such a rash decision right before the crunch Christmas period, they have to have someone in mind to replace Mourinho as you wouldn't want to go into a fury of fixtures with someone who's there just to fill the gap. With rumours running rife about Pep Guardiola due to leave Bayern as well as Diego Simeone's name popping up, there seems to be some good talent waiting to take over the reigns at Chelsea Football Club but if you have to look at the number of managers they've had over the years, it really seems as if they're whorinng themselves out to managers. Whatever the case, it add's to the madness of the Premier League. 

Moving across to Manchester, starting off with the better half that is City, all is not well there. They've been having a shaky time of recent with some lacklusture performances and unfavourable results which see's them slip down into 3rd position. Pelligrini, another under fire manager, then again any person who manages City are under fire all the time but the Italian will have to figure out a way to dig themselves out of this slump. He has some positive news going into this weekend though, with star striker Sergio Aguero returning from injury so that should help the team out. 

Right, now we go to the other side of Manchester, the Shitty end. The jury is still out for the drunk Dutchman, yes Louis van Gaals army have been blowing hot and cold but of recent they can't blow anything at all. There seems to be a goal drought affecting the team and with that saw a string of results that didn't make their supporters very happy, not forgetting them getting dumped out of Europe. With Wayne Rooney still a ghost like figure in the team, one wonders if it's time to let him go? I mean not everyone can be a Scholes or Giggs. 

Moving on to Liverpool, yes many mocked Klopp for his "celebrations" after the draw with West Brom but any twit with half a brain would know that it was more of a thank you to the supporters than a celebration. The fans urged the team on in to the 8 minutes of injury time to find that second goal to equalise against Tony Pulis side who employed Jose "park the bus" tactics and tried to kill the game off, then again they tried to kill Dejan Lovren but luckily the Liverpool centre back isn't too badly injured and only suffers a few weeks on the sideline. Klopp is turning out to be quite the character and I like him, the league needs someone like him, his english isnt great now but he gets his message out there one way or another. The passion he has for the game is very evident and thats what Liverpool needed, lets hope our injury woes come to an end soon and we start firing once again.

Last but not least, Leicester City! I know right? The team everyone thought would be number contenders for relegation are now number one in the league, what the fuck? Got to hand it to Claudio Ranieri, he's done a stellar job at the Tigers and proved to everyone it wasn't just a lucky start to the season. He has a quality squad filled with players we never knew about but they doing things right and they're winning.  Their lead striker, Jamie Vardy is scoring goals for fun and breaking all sorts of records, the other striker Riyad Mahrez scored one of the goals of the season on Monday night to beat Chelsea and probably get Jose fired. Only one thing I can say to them, respect!

It's On!

Yup, in little under 3 days time the most important football league in the world will kick off the 2015/2016 campaign to see who will be crowned Champions of England. Yes while the competition might be just for teams in England, it's fan base knows no boundaries as I'm sure if there were intelligent life out there in the universe, they to would have vested interest in the Barclays English Premier League. 

Anyway back to matters on earth and particularly, England, it's very hard to say if current Champions Chelsea have what it takes to retain their title. Yes, manager Jose Mourinho still has a very strong squad and the spine that turned out to be his winning formula is still very much intact, their summer signings aren't one to make the headlines apart from the signing of United flop, Falcao. Now we don't want to delve into why the Colombian wasn't a success in Manchester but Jose obviously feels that it had nothing to do with the league but rather the team and management. Time will tell whether he would be a worthy acquisition and if history goes to show anything, Jose gets out the best in the players he wants. 

Moving things across to Manchester, starting off with the biggest side, Manchester City... (see what I did there), their ever flowing cash reserves continued to flow during the summer transfer window with their biggest signing to date being Raheem Asswipe, I mean Raheem Sterling. Okay, take nothing away from the kid, he is a quality player and has a lot to offer any team, and he's British but I still think he is an unfinished product, he might have felt that he was wasting his time at Liverpool but no one knew him better than Brendan Rodgers and maybe just one more year at Anfield could have sharpened those skills he needed to be that great of a player but he and his dumbass agent chose to move on and things didn't start off too badly for the lad with him scoring within the first 5 minutes of his Citeh debut. City do have a strong squad that could prove to be one of the main contenders for this seasons title but this year might not be a two horse race, because the Wenger Boys are coming to the party. 

Yup, Arsenal of late are starting to show a lot of promise, besides beating Chelsea last Sunday in the Community Shield, they really did prove the doubters wrong last season, one of them being myself. Arsenal always get off the mark really well but fall down in the second half of the season, credit to them, even though they had a bad patch they still kept fighting till the end and with that in mind, I can see them pushing Cheslea and Man City all the way till the end. They have a young squad, they play some beautiful football and they have a manager that is out there not only to prove a point but to save his job! Whilst winning the FA Cup might have been a life line for Arsene, he knows he has to deliver again this season or he might find himself out of favour with the fans and the club board. 

Now that we got the certain top 3 out of the way, it's time to talk about who will take 4th, last season those Manc's pipped it and with that made it in to Europe. Their season wasn't the best and the star signings they made last season have all gone, in Falcao and DiMaria, their drunk manager van Gaal has however added another two big names during the summer break in German Midfield sensation Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneidelin. Both very talented midfielders but is that what they really needed? Their defence is currently in a mess and with the departure of Rafael, it's not looking any better, hence the biggest thing for them is keeping the services of DeGae in goal. Then again the window is still open and they'll be fighting harder than the Nights Watch at the wall against the white walkers to keep him there!

Next up my beloved Liverpool, I honestly don't know what is going to happen this season, from the total collapse of all things last season to the emotional goodbye to our stalwart Steven Gerrard and then Brendan completely formatting the backroom staff, who knows what to expect this season? It's going to be a fresh new look for sure as coaching styles will differ with the new men in charge, new players coming in the likes of Danny Ings, Christian Benteke and the man that everyone is looking forward to see play in Red, Firmino. I still think our key players will be Henderson, Coutinho and Skrtel with James Milner coming into play a pivotal role in midfield. Lovren needs to up his game this season, our defence has been shocking for the past two seasons but last season our lack of goals was more worrying. Hopefully with the new look strike force and a fit again Sturridge things might change and we will contend for 4th. 

Other teams that will cause a headache for these teams are Spurs, who with Harry Kane in the front could do damage to anyones goal average. Ronald Koeman still seems to be working wonders at Southampton, so they're another danger side. Alan Pardew and his Crystal Palace team will want to upset a few and at his old club Newcastle, long lost manger Steve Mclaren will want to prove he still has what it takes to manage in the Premier League. Another Premier League oldie returns, with Claudio Ranieri to Leicester City, but I doubt they will be a thorn in the side just yet.

One things for sure, given what happened last season, it's going to be an open race, if Chelsea have the start they had last season, they could runaway with it again but nothing can be predicted in this league, BRING IT ON!