incREDible

I sit here, still battling to find the words to express what we witnessed last night. Don't get me wrong, even though we were 3-0 down, there was still belief that we could do it. Every Liverpool fan had that feeling of hope and belief but to see it unfold was just magical. Anfield on a European night is a stadium like no other, we've heard the tales of the past, we witnessed for ourselves some of these incredible victories, Olympiakos in 2004, Chelsea in 2005, Dortmund 2016 but last nights win against Barcelona tops them all. The passion, the commitment, the fire and desire each and every player showed is just testament to that performance. When Jurgen took over four years ago, critics were out against him, criticizing his high intensity training regime, his rash and wild football style, last night we saw it bare fruit, in fact this whole season we saw what Jurgen envisaged for this team. 

On Monday night, after Vincent Kompany struck and incredible goal, handing Manchester City a slender one goal win over Leicester, it sank the hearts of all Liverpool supporters as we knew that virtually wrapped up the league for them and with a mountain to climb on Tuesday night, our teams displays this season would have no trophies to show for but Jurgen and the team had other plans for us. I'm a big critic of Divock Origi, while he might be a squad player for me he never seemed to fit into the Liverpool team that Klopp has built, I've been giving him stick every time he came on for us this season, but today I eat my humble pie. He scored two important goals for us last night, the first one was crucial, an early one that kick started the come back momentum, and the last one which was the key to sending us to Madrid in June. His play all round last night was magnificent, fighting for the long balls, pressing and keeping the ball up the pitch when it was needed, Klopp trusted him and he repaid him. 

In a game like that, you cannot pin point individuals, as that was a proper team effort but a word to our captain, Jordan Henderson, the one many fans wanted to see go for most of the season, last night proved why he still wears that armband. From the first goal, till the final whistle, he was there marshaling his troops, fighting for the ball, urging the team forward, never letting anyone drop their heads, that is what a captain does and that is why he will always be our captain. Even when his night looked over after he banged his knee, he came back on to fight till the end. He wanted to be there, fighting through the pain making sure his team gets over that line and they did. 

Emotions were at an all time high when that final whistle blew, the team standing in arms in front of the Kop will bring a tear to any supporters eyes. They were all in it together, the fans played just a big of a role as the team did last night. Their voices unsettled that Barcelona team and even with two former Liverpool players, they could do nothing. Praises after the game coming in from stars of the game, Csec Fabregas being one of them and ex managers of the game, Arsene Wenger and one that left me speechless was an interview with Jose Mourinho, his admiration of Klopp shows that he does appreciate good football when he sees it and isn't always a pompous arrogant jackass. The Barca players head home shook after what happened to them last night, but there's a lesson for everyone from this, something that we Liverpool fans always knew, never, ever write Liverpool off in Europe. 

You'll Never Walk Alone

Citizens do it right

Yup, its that time of the year again, the final weekend of the Premier League. While there still may be football left this season, the end of the league still leaves a dent in the social calendars of many in the world. It's a somber moment that you can't really put into words as for the next few months, normally, many would not know what to do with themselves. Thankfully it's a world Cup year, so we have that distraction to keep us occupied for a month. This Premier league season has given us a lot to talk about though, records were broken, some amazing players have entered the league to give us some brilliant football, there were antics on and off the field and as always some shockers along the way.

In just his second season in the English league, Pep Guardiola went to prove why he is probably the best managers out there. After finding his feet last season, he made strategic signings to strengthen his team, found the ideal shape and style that suited their play and on they went, rampant from start to finish, suffering only two losses the entire campaign so far! While we can single out key players like Kevin de Bruyne who was instrumental in City's devastating attacks, the entire team pulled their weight along the way and in such helping the team achieve their 3rd English Premier League title.  The trophy was handed to them last weekend, letting the team start their celebrations a bit early as Sunday's game see's that as their last fixture for the season having being knocked out of the major cups. 

Chelsea, where do you start? After coming off as Champions the season before, one would not have expected the team to dip in form so badly. Antonio Conte seemed lost at times, as he could not fathom what was going on with his team. No matter what you say, being Champions the one season and finishing outside the top 4 the next is never ideal, especially from a team that is firmly rooted in the top 4. The fight for those spots over the years have been hotly contested though, with Tottenham, a runner up last year, having a major role in the decided spots. While Conte's team might not see this season as an entire failure with a spot in the FA Cup final booked, it certainly would worry the supporters should they not claim silverware at Wembley next weekend as Antonio's days at the Bridge could be numbered. 

Everyone loves to hate United and with the arrogant Jose Mourinho in charge, that hate grows even more but honestly, I cannot understand the criticism they've been receiving since the beginning. of the year. They are in second spot, be it 19 points behind the winners, but they also will be competing for the FA Cup next weekend, so there is a genuine chance of a trophy but still the press seem to berate Jose and his team, my question is why? They say their style of play is unattractive, but please show me a Mourinho side in the past 6 years that did play attractive football? He's a type of manager who grinds out results, keeps things tight and that's how he's being stacking his sides up over the years, why would you expect anything different now? Because he spent a shit load of money on an overrated French midfielder? No! For him, he's done his job and I'm sure the Glazers are happy so we'll be seeing more of the same next season.

Much was expected from Spurs this season, after giving Chelsea a good run for their money the season before but Mauricio Pochettino's men didn't really live up to expectations. While most of the teams did strengthen over the season, the seemed to be content with what they had. Unfortunate for them, as it saw City, United and Liverpool leapfrog them. While they are currently in 3rd spot, one down from last season, they have a tricky last game against Leicester who seem to be ending the season on a high after drubbing Arsenal 3-1 in midweek. A draw or less for Spurs could see Liverpool regain 3rd spot on the final day. 

For as long as I can remember the English League, there has always been one constant, and that was Arsene Wenger. After he announced he would be leaving the club after 22 years in charge, it was an awakening to many that we will no longer see the tall, lanky Frenchmen in the league again. In my opinion, it was 2 seasons too late. Most of the fans had turned against him, while his teams performances left much to be desired. For the second year in a row, his Arsenal team won't be qualifying in the Champions League, something which was unheard of before as he was masterful in always securing that top 4 spots. Arsenal have good players but not the type of quality required to challenge the likes of City and United, there is no indication yet of who they are going to replace him as manager but I'm sure the Arsenal faithful want someone who has a proven record. 

I'm going to end off with my beloved Liverpool, it was the second full season with Jurgen in charge, much was to be expected but he kept our ego in check from day one. He said we were not title ready yet, and whatever we achieve this season would be the best he could do. With one more game to go, and only requiring a point to secure Champions League qualification, it seems that the German has done enough to please everyone. That position could have been much higher if we didn't have a major distraction in the Champions League, but we're in the final against Madrid and you can bet your bottom dollar Jurgen will want to change his records of being the losing finalist this time round. But we have one more game left against Brighton which won't be a walk in the park but 3  points is needed to ease the nerves and to head into the final full of confidence. 

It's been a great season for the neutral, City will only grow in strength over the summer and so will the rest of the league. There will be many who will be staking claim to the title from early on but only one shall end the season on the top. I cannot wait but for now, let us enjoy the final day of the season and all the drama it will bring with it. 

Silly Season is Over

As the door slammed shut on the summer transfer window last night, it brought much relief to many clubs out there who were trying their hardest to hold onto their star players. Over the years the game has changed and the money has escalated, I mean it's quite ridiculous in some cases. This transfer season saw the record price for a player being smash, previously it was held by Paul Pogba who's transfer from Juventus to Manchester United cost the English club a cool £89 million but a year later saw PSG come in to shatter that price by triggering a release clause in Neymar's contract with Barcelona to lure the Brazilian to the French side for a whopping £198 million! With clubs prepared to fork our insane amounts as those, it just blew the costs per players out of proportion. 

Smaller clubs who had players who gained interest from bigger clubs had exorbitant price tags slapped to them, just so the club could make a great profit from the sale but what that actually did in most cases was scare the prospective buyers away, ultimately ruining chances for the players. Then in certain instances you get players who wanted a change, and tried forcing moves but were unsuccessful. One case which is close to home is of Philippe Coutinho wanting to switch to Barcelona. Understandable it was a life long dream for him and I agree with the player that he tried to be reasonable and respectable about it with the club but when Liverpool didn't budge, he played the transfer request card which didn't go down well with the club nor the fans, thereafter faking injury to make matters worse. 

While we might be livid with the player and can't understand why he would want to move away from what seems like an exciting future for the club, we can't tell what his ambitions or aspirations are. Like Stevie Gerrard said in an interview, it might have been a dream for him to play for Barca as a kid and they could have threatened him and said this would be his one and only chance to join. So you can sort of understand the predicament he was facing. It's quick for supporters to get angry at situations like this but this where football teachings come into it, there is no player bigger than the club. For me, it was a tough pill to swallow when I heard it but if he doesn't want to stay, let him go. Virgil van Dijk faces a similar fate with Southampton but yet with just 2 hours to go in the window, both Coutinho and van Dijk still remain servants to their club, whether it be loyal ones remains to be seen. 

While there was plenty of drama, there still was a lot of sales going on, so who do you reckon did the best business in the Premier League? Many say City, getting their players in before or during preseason, they spent a lot, got in some quality players, prices on some of them remain questionable but at the same time you got to see how the market reacts. Chelsea made some clever purchases but would it be enough for them to defend their title? I personally don't think so but they should still be putting pressure on whoever is. Spurs, finishing second last year and still have a squad which is probably the same as last years may find things a bit different this season, as it is they haven't had the greatest first 3 games but I feel their lack of desire in the transfer market may come back to bite them. Arsenal? The less said the better, for them it's all about holding down the gates and making sure there isn't a max exodus. So far Oxlade-Chamberlain managed to break-out and sign for Liverpool. A signing which confused me a bit seeing that we didn't really need him but who am I to judge. 

I personally think the cleverest deals were done by Jose, he's a shrewde guy and gets what he wants. Signing Lukaku and Matic proved to be the last pieces in his jigsaw puzzle that is Manchester United. They have been unbelievable since the first kick of the ball this season and really look like the United of old, with Zlatan declaring himself fit again and rejoining the Red Devils for one more season for "unfinished business", who knows what this team who looked destined for 6th place again can achieve. My only concern if I was a United fan, is what happens if players get injured, what then? We saw how sides could frustrate United last season and we saw how United could frustrate teams by not wanting to play football in fear of losing. Overall, this Silly Season has been one that certainlly riled up emotions from many and most of us are glad to see its over so we can concentrate on the real matter at hand and that is the football!

The End is Nigh

No, the world isn't ending, well for some of us it feels that way. Every year millions of grown men around the world bemoan this weekend that is coming, it signals the end of weeks of anguish, excitement and glory, it's the last weekend of the English Premier League. While this year saw Chelsea secure the title with 2 games to spare, it wasn't plain sailing from the 5 times winners of the trophy. They started off the season on a bit of a shaky note with loses at home and dropped points against silly teams but Antonio Conte and his men then put their heads down and while focus wasn't so much on them anymore went about their business notching up 3 points every weekend and slowly started building momentum for their title charge. While many tried but fell away, there was no denying that Chelsea deserve their title. After a small stumble towards the end of the season, well more like a sudden surge from fellow London club Tottenham Hotspurs but a loss to Westham a week ago saw that one put to bed.

While Chelsea will are in celebrations mode, it will have to be cut short for the final league game as well as the final of the FA Cup which they will be facing another London rival, Arsenal. While on the subject of the Gunners, over the last decade, Arsenal's claim to fame is finishing in the top 4, in fact in the 2015/16 season they celebrated finishing in the top four as though they won the title. This year however saw many other clubs push their way into their seat, with the resurgence of Liverpool and Mauricio Pochettino men making progress from last season to nudge into second place, this season could see Arsene Wenger's team finish outside a Champions League place. There is however a small chance that Arsenal still could get fourth place, with the Top 3 places almost already decided with Manchester City's win over Westbrom last night, Liverpool have to win their last game against Middlesbrough to guarantee they Merseyside club a return to Champions League football. 

Having had a terrible second half to the season, most of the damage was done in January, Jurgen Klopp's men have found a last bit of fight in them to end the season on a high, following a triumphant rout at Westham over the weekend, spirits are high in the camp and they hope to transpire this onto the field on Saturday when they end their campaign at home in front of the Anfield faithful. Anfield normally being a good hunting ground for the reds was the scene for many disasters this season, goalless draws against minnows and even defeat from teams who were fighting relegation. The Reds have found themselves being complacent at times and other times, looked like the best team in the world. It's a Jekyll and Hyde complex that Klopp needs to figure out and fix before the start of the new season as this team has potential to go on and win trophy's. Obviously there needs to be some changes in the team, our defence isn't the best and it's become a problem for us with teams knowing how to exploit this issue.

One can't do a season wrap up and not talk about the teams from Manchester, lets give the Red side a break and talk about the Blue side for a bit. There was much fanfare at the start of the season with the appointment of Pep Guardiola as their manager, he is undoubtedly one of the best in the world and given the kitty City have at their disposal, we were all expecting big signings and a strong City challenge but Pep quickly learnt that the English league isn't like the Spanish or German one, he didn't make any notable signings apart from Jesus in January who gave his team that spark which kick started them and helped finish 3rd, I feel if he didn't get injured City would have been there with Spurs fighting Chelsea for the title but alas it wasn't to be. 

Now the Red side, well with the leagues favourite manager taking charge at the most successful club in the Premier League, you know everyone's eyes would be cast onto Old Trafford checking their transfers, results and what colour tie Jose is wearing. And Jose is one to never shy away from the media, so that coupled with his breaking of the transfer record fee by acquiring Paul Pogba at an astronomical price, he was only heaping more pressure on him and the team. Suffice to say, while they didn't do as badly as previous seasons since Alex Fergurson departed but they didn't do that great either with them pretty much cemented in 6th place, even after their long stint of unbeaten games that saw them move no where. They have a lot of work to do but are still holding on to their hopes of reaching the Champions League by winning the Europa League where they will face a very tough Ajax team. Knowing Jose thought, he'd park the bus and hope the game goes to penalties so you never know. 

Never the less, this season was great entertainment as always, it provided us with much to talk about, whether it be bad refereeing of which we saw plenty of, or great games such as Monday nights 7 goal thriller with Chelsea and Watford. One thing we can be sure of is next season is going to be a whole lot more interesting with teams back in the Champions League and competing for the title. It's going to be a busy summer and the Confed Cup coming up in Russia should seal the void that we might have over this break period. 

Too Early For Conclusions?

We're only five games into the new English Premier League season and a lot of people are already drawing conclusions to what they've seen. As predicted, Manchester City have had a pretty good start with flawless victories so far. Pep has them playing a brand of football we've haven't seen a City team play before and it is quite pleasing to watch, they certainly are the team to beat. Surprisingly we find Everton at second position, most of their fans are quite happy but one has to realise they've haven't had the most difficult fixture list to contend with seeing that only Spurs were their real tough game from the lot. Speaking of Spurs, they're not doing too badly but the surprise package so far has to be Liverpool.

As a supporter of the team, seeing that fixture list before the season started, I would have been happy with 8 points after the first five games but after three trips to London and remaining unbeaten from them with an emphatic victory against the current league champions at home, one has to start wondering if this team can maintain their form throughout the season. We know Liverpool are prone to blow hot and cold, as shown against Burnley which saw them lose 2-0 away from home but the games thereafter showed some promise. 

The team that was making all the noise preseason seemed to have quietened down after three straight defeats, which one might that be? Manchester United of course, now this post isn't meant to poke fun at the rivals but merely state observations of what could be going wrong in the team. Now as much as we mock them for spending so much money on Paul Pogba, secretly we all wished our teams could splash some cash on a world class player like that and cause mass hysteria in the football transfer window. It's what makes the game more exciting, unfortunately it does add pressure to the player, with such a high price tag he will be doing his utmost to prove his price but that can cost them dearly as we saw with Andy Carroll when he made the switch to Liverpool, granted the price was no where near Pogba's, it was a record for a British player and he always tried to do more than what he was capable of during games which subsequently saw him reduced to sitting on the bench. I think Jose needs to sit him down and tell him to just relax and play his normal game, and not expect him to go out there and score hattricks every game. 

Now for the elephant in the room, well troll in the room, aka Shrek. As much as most of us love to hate Wayne Rooney, he is a quality player. After Scholes, Giggs and Ferdinand left the fray, it was up to Rooney to be the English stalwart of the team and credit to him he has done a fantastic job but the thing we all need to realise is that players get old and while they do remain fit, aspects of their game gets affected. They're not as a sharp as they once were, not as quick and their radar goes a bit off every now and then. When Gerrard left Liverpool it was a bittersweet moment because we knew we were losing an asset to the team but he knew he wasn't good enough to make the first eleven any more and he didn't see himself as a player who came off the bench to help the team. I feel the same is happening to Wayne at United. He wants to start every game but can he? Jose wanted Rooney for his Chelsea team 4 years ago and now that he finally has him, he wants to play him in the role he envisaged for him but Jose needs to realise Wayne isn't that same player anymore. The defeat against Watford saw Rooney making some dreadful passes, the last thing he will want is the Old Trafford faithful turning against him for playing badly. I think it's time Wayne realised he isn't that same player and either leave the club or settle for a place on the bench before he damages his good reputation with the supporters. 

Maybe I'm wrong though? Maybe Jose has a plan and he's just waiting for the whole team to click into gear. As I said, we're only five games in so to draw conclusions now would be premature and stupid but from what I've seen so far, this what it seems like but we still have 33 games to go and it's going to be an interesting few months leading up to the December period and we're surely in for a treat. 

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. 

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!