With the World Cup done and dusted and the vuvuzela’s hopefully never to be seen again, the attention in the footballing world turns back to domestic leagues - what lies in store for the season ahead, who’ll be contenders, which teams are looking at relegation, who’ll end up where and just how much money can Manchester City overspend on players you wouldn’t give a king sized packet of crisps for?
The fallout of last season was a somewhat interesting one as it seemed that the reliable nature of the Premiership and it’s “Top Four“ was finally starting to transform with the emergence of Tottenham and Manchester City as genuine contenders for the 3rd & 4th place spots at the expense of a faltering Liverpool and an Arsenal side that rarely replaces the players it sells. Couple this with a reasonably strong Aston Villa and Everton (when at full strength side) and it’s not implausible to imagine at least five teams battling it out for the final Champions League spot this season.
Much of how this season pans out will surely be decided in how teams go about retaining and recruiting players this summer. For all the talk in the papers and online of where the final destinations of Senor's Fabregas and Torres will end up this season there has been very little activity in the transfer market outside of the seemingly endless shopping spree taking place in Manchester.
Time to take a look at each team and where we can expect them to be at the end of the Summer transfer window and the season starting with champions of last year.
Chelsea
Winners in a year where the teams around them got worse - United lost Ronaldo, Liverpool imploded on themselves and Arsenal suffered strings of injuries. Chelsea were still an extremely convincing team, putting seven past both Stoke and Villa - no easy feat in itself. They are however an aging team with Terry, Lampard and Drogba all in their 30s. The addition of Benayoun seems a particularly uninspired one with Joe Cole exiting. A lot will come down to if they can lure Torres away from Merseyside. A returning Michael Essien will a huge boost, especially with Ballack's departure leaving him free to press further forward leaving Mikel to clean up in front of the back four.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 2nd
PLAYER TO WATCH: Michael Essien
Manchester United
It's safe to say the Michael Owen experiment failed, United still managed quite a respectable season for a team who didn't replace a 30+ goal player. Valencia came into his own as the season wore on but you still get the feeling another world class striker is needed. Berbatov isn't cutting it. New signing Javier Hernandez looked decent in the World Cup but it'd be a big ask for him to chip in over 15 goals if he get's the chance. There's a solid youthful team there in Smalling, Evans, Fabio, Rafael, Gibson, Diouf, Hernandez, Welbeck and Macheda. Expect to see more appearances from them as Ferdinand, Scholes, Giggs and Neville take more of a back seat.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 1st
PLAYER TO WATCH: Antonio Valencia
Arsenal
A season likely to be defined on whether their captain stays or goes. Arsenal have got by before in similar situations when Viera and Henry left but it could be argued that they'd run their course with the Gunners while Fabregas is coming off the back of his best season - one where he added goals to his game. New additions Chamakh and Koscielny should complement an improving team, although more cover is needed in defense with the expected departures of Gallas and Silvestre. Priority number one has to go be convincing Fabregas to give them one more year.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 3rd (Provided Fabregas stays)
PLAYER TO WATCH: Cesc Fabregas (Provided he stays)
Tottenham Hotspurs
I'll go out on a limb and say I don't think Spurs will make the Champions League again next season. This is nothing against them but I fear that Manchester City will be taking this place for themselves and staking a claim for third place as well. New addition Sandro should provide a bit more versatility in midfield. Like Arsenal, cover in defense is a must with both Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate being desperately unfortunate with injuries. An assault on all fronts including Europe may take it's toll on them as the season wears on.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 6th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Luca Modric
Manchester City
Mancini needs to make big strides this season, anything bar a top four finish and a domestic cup will surely only be viewed as a failure. New boys David Silva, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng should all adapt moderately well to the gritty nature of the Premier League. The recruitment of a world class striker and it's possible to see them pushing the top of the table. Expect Adam Johnson to have a breakout season.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 4th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Adam Johnson
Aston Villa
Things could be looking very dull for Villa fans next season. A pretty threadbare squad is looking to get smaller with Milner likely to be gone to City, they'll have great difficulty replacing him too. A best bet is money and players no longer needed at City. Another striker is a major priority too with Carew and Agbonlahor only managing 23 goals between them.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 8th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Ashley Young
Liverpool
Last year's disaster story. How a team who almost had the title the year before were so awful will remain a mystery. A wise move has been made in bringing in both Roy Hodgson and Joe Cole. First order of business should be selling Torres. If someone offers a reported £50 million for a consistently injured player, bite their hand off. That money can be spent on another top class striker and essential recruitments in midfield and at left back. Don't expect Liverpool to be anywhere near as bad next season if they do this. Joe Cole should flourish playing in his proper position with the Anfield faithful behind him.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 5th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Joe Cole
Everton
Everton were desperately unlucky with injuries last season. With Arteta and Jagielka out for the majority of it they never really got going until the new year. A full bill of health and they'll cause a lot of teams problems. A more consistent striker than Yakubu and Saha would be a nice addition, although it seems the Goodison Park faithful will have to hop Jermaine Beckford can turn occasional FA Cup heroics into goals week in week out.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 7th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Jack Rodwell
Birmingham City
A bit of a surprise package last season, a mid season 15 game unbeaten run in all competitions helped them solidify an extremely respectable mid table finish. Much of whether they can improve on that this season rests on their two marquee signings Ben Foster and Nikola Žigić. If Foster can repeat Joe Hart's heroics remains to be seen while the 6'7 Serbian has the potential to terrorise defenses across the country in that he's taller than Peter Crouch but is actually quite decent in the air.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 12th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Nikola Žigić
Blackburn Rovers
A strong finish to the season including wins over Arsenal and Villa left Blackburn in the top half of the table. As of writing, they've yet to recruit anyone which can't bode well as the teams around them get stronger. Nikola Kalinić was a massive failure last season so you wonder where goals will come from. They'll be difficult to beat as usual.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 14th
PLAYER TO WATCH: David Dunn
Stoke City
Big, tough, ugly and resilient, Stoke aren’t going anywhere for a long time. They seem destined to be an immovable object around the lower end of mid table for many years to come. No new signings means more of the same this season.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 11th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Ryan Shawcross
Fulham
No Roy Hodgson to work his magic and a possible player exodus doesn’t bode well for Fulham. A solid manager is needed but Martin Jol turning down the job the faithful at Craven Cottage are in for a long and difficult season. Losing Smalling is bad for long term business too.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 14th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Clint Dempsey
Sunderland
The jury is out on how new signings from Paraguay, Egypt and Argentina will slot into a fairly good squad. The logic of signing Titus Bramble is also a bizarre one. A heavy reliance on Darren Bent’s goals will be there again.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 9th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Darren Bent
Bolton Wanderers
A great addition in Martin Petrov should see them be safe enough in the mid table region. If they can secure Jack Wilshere on loan again, chances are they may climb into the top half of the table.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 13th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Martin Petrov
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Surprisingly big spenders in the off season, the additions of Stephen Hunt and Steven Fletcher look solid ones. The wonderfully named Jelle Van Damme has the jury out. Retaining Kevin Doyle is crucial.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 15th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Kevin Doyle
Wigan AthleticWigan Athletic
A lot will be placed on big budget signing Mauro Boselli who will hope to carry a great scoring record at Estudiantes but pre-season signs have looked promising so far. The worst defense in the Premier League still needs to be improved though. Expect
END OF SEASON FINISH:18th
PLAYER TO WATCH:Charles N’Zogbia
West Ham United
Expect a much stronger West Ham team this season. A solid manager in Avram Grant and some excellent acquistions in Hitzelsperger, Piquionne and Barrera who had an excellent World Cup for Mexico with more expected to come.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 10th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Pablo Barrera
Newcastle United
Fans at Tyneside need to learn, they’re not the club the once wore, stay within their means and Newcastle should have a safe enough season. Rebuilding is key. Dan Gosling was an excellent signing and if Chris Hughton is given time he should be able to wake this sleeping giant again.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 16th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Kevin Nolan
West Brom
Losing Robert Koren was a bad sign for the Baggies. The addition of an injury prone Steven Reid and untested Pablo Ibanez don’t look like too good business either. Their tendency to actually play good football will probably be their down fall once again.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 19th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Graham Dorrans
Blackpool
Ian Holloway worked wonders to get the seaside town into the top flight but it’ll be hard for a small squad by Championship standards giving most Premier League teams any trouble. Don’t be surprised if they finish with an all time low of points.
END OF SEASON FINISH: 20th
PLAYER TO WATCH: Charlie Adam
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