So Rauru’s gone through his picks. And how boring are they? Chelsea (odds on),
City (typical), Liverpool (bias), Arsenal (where else?), Man U (whatever),
Everton, Tottenham, yada yada…
But what’s really going to happen?
Chelsea aint that good and they don’t have the depth
required for the league. Mourinho is
their biggest draw card and even he won’t be able to turn these prima-donnas
into champs. Champions League has always
been Mourinho’s thorn (he won it once at Inter only) and he’ll be after it again,
incidentally sacrificing the Premier League.
They’ll finish second, maybe even tight third as they go deep into the
Champions League - ultimately losing to 2014/15 Champs Bayern Munich along the
way.
That’ll open it up for Man City unfortunately. They still have the strength of squad and
proven absolute quality in guys like Aguero and Silva. Definitely have not hit their straps yet
(shit, we’re only four weeks in), with Toure still sulking from post B’Day
blues, but they have the only true class central defender in the league in
Kompany and he’ll boss it all the way to the end of May 2015. And do not underestimate Jovetic, Dzeko (my
fave). Fernando and Nasri.
I actually think Arsenal will shake things up from their
usual comfy fourth possie and take out third, challenging Chelsea for
second. They’ve recruited well with
Sanchez and dear old Danny and won’t trip up as much as usual – Champs League
won’t trouble them long, which is a good thing.
And do not let anyone tell you Ozil sucks. The guy is absolute class and anyone that
says otherwise is an idiot. Ozil, in his
best role centrally, as part of a front five with Sanchez, Ramsey, Walcott and
Giroud/Welbeck would be the best AM in the league (along with Hazard, Toure and
Di Maria). It’s bloody Arsene’s fault he
aint shining. Nonetheless they’ll
trouble the big teams and hammer the bad ones to be in the top three.
Man U will take the crucial fourth spot. Sure, things haven’t started perfectly for
them but why would you want to peak in September? Van Gaal has now assembled an adequate squad,
especially compared to the other contenders, and with Strootman on his way in
January, defenders coming back from injury shortly and no Champions League to
distract, it’ll end up being more of a question whether they get third than
fifth (or lower). Don’t let others tell
you the defenders aint up to it – a back four of Shaw, Rojo, Jones and Rafael
is as good as anyone in the league and that’s with a backup back four of Blind,
Smalling, Evans and Valencia. It’s all
G. Oh and here’s a wee graphic for you –
check out that front 5 (along with attacking wing backs)!
Sorry, where was I?
Oh into the insignificant positions.
Well, I won’t sit on the fence with sixth – Everton will take that. Martinez has shown what he can do over a
season with a settled squad, plus he has a bit more depth this year so will
threaten those top spots a little more.
Tottenham have started well, and again have a quality manager but the Premier
League’s a long season so I doubt they’ll seriously threaten the top four.
Outside of that I reckon we’ve got Stoke grinding it out
(cliché number one) along with Hull and surprise package Leicester to be in the
top half.
Hrmmm, feels like I’m missing someone? Ah, ha, it’s
Liverpool. Poor old Liverpool. Fooled by the false dawn of Suarez last year,
getting them to the top four. But
without him, even genius Rodgers (seriously) won’t work the miracle that’s
required to get back to the glory days of old, this season. Wonder boy Stirling will get them close to
fourth but that’ll be as good as it gets.
Final posies: Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool,
Everton, Tottenham, Stoke, Hull, Leicester.
And as for Fantasy Football – as always I took a few punts
early on. Sometimes they don’t pay off,
but with form now starting to show I’ve got my team sorted along with the
necessary tweaks so it’s only a matter of time until @LuxGolfToursNZ goes
eerily quiet.
Happy EPLing Stallions!
Happy EPLing Stallions!
3 comments:
Hahaha the Mancs are still crap! What team are you playing for next year Goodall and what Cap are they in?
Haha we'll see whose picks are closest at the end of the season. Still IBU Cap 1 mate. But we've got a few teams in Cap 4 so I may have to make a few cameos throughout the season....
As an honorary Stallion, Nick might just appear on the teamsheet for the preseason game in Otaki Panda, don't get him angry.
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