Too early for title predictions? Never.
Too early? Nah! Come on, it is always fun to do this and I know there is another month until the season starts and the clubs have until the end of August to sort out who is coming and going. But there have been managerial changes at the top three clubs, which is very significant.
This time last year did any of us expect David Moyes to be in charge of Manchester United? Absolutely not, so that will perhaps be the most intriguing storyline of the new season. Moyes has yet to throw around his weight financially but he may not consider this a squad that needs much augmenting. It is, after all, pretty much the same squad that won the league last year and the pre-season preparations will be essential for Moyes to become comfortable in his new role and familiar with his new team.
Can United win the league again? Without Ferguson there are more question marks than before but there is certainly no doubt that they will be in the mix come the end of the season.
And what of the return of a certain Portuguese fellow in west London? Can he do it again? Is Jose Mourinho still the ‘Special One’? His track record speaks volumes and even with that slight hiccup in Madrid he still won silverware. He is inheriting a very different squad to the one he had the first time round and the question is whether or not he will be able to mould this current team into his team.
I, for one, believe he has all the right management skills to make that happen and Chelsea are very strong contenders to win the title this season. The fans will be back onside after the Rafa Benitez experiment and Mourinho will have everybody singing from the same hymn sheet before long.
Manchester City have a new manager, too, in Manuel Pellegrini and the former Malaga man has all the cash he could ever wish for and already significant signings have been made in the form of Jesus Navas and Fernandinho. Couple that with a fully fir Sergio Aguero and a rejuvenated David Silva and you’re looking at a pretty bloody good team.
With all the hullabaloo in the red part of the Manchester as well as Mourinho’s much lauded return, City have been left out of some discussions but they will be wanting to get hands on that trophy again. With a very strong team and a new, experienced manager City will the ones to beat.
And that leaves us with Arsenal. Should they be in this discussion? The noises at the end of last season were that they were going to spend big and early to let everybody know that they meant business ahead of the new campaign but this hasn’t been the case.
The Gonzalo Higuain deal looks to be stuck and moving nowhere, whereas the offer for Luis Suarez really has be taken with a pinch of salt. If the Gunners make the big signings they need to propel them into the upper echelon of title contenders than they will have to be taken into consideration but, at the moment, it appears they are clearing the decks without bringing anyone in.
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