We are at that time of year again. Like Christmas it is an annual event. Towards the end of summer, when the days get shorter and the leaves begin to fall from the trees, Liverpool fans survey the goings-on at Anfield during the close season, assess the transfers, beat their chests defiantly and proclaim the words, ‘this is our year!’ Unfortunately for them they have been wrong for eighteen years .
So this time around could it really be their year? I am not wholly convinced, but it is certainly possible. First of all, they have recruited reasonably well this summer. The high profile £20.3 million pound signing of Robbie Keane from Spurs looks to be a very good buy despite the huge outlay. Keane scored 23 goals in 54 appearances for Tottenham last season, an impressive tally particularly when you factor in the intelligent linkup play and numerous assists he offers. At 28 years of age it is also the right move for the player himself, and as a self-proclaimed life long Liverpool fan he should have no trouble finding the motivation to improve his game further. His pairing with Fernando Torres could blossom into the sort of prolific partnership that wins trophies.
As for Torres, if there is one person you would not expect to suffer from the three S’s (second season syndrome) it would have to be El Niño. The 24 league goals he scored set a Premiership record for a foreign player in his first season, usurping Ruud Van Nistelrooy, and fresh from his successes with the Spanish national team at Euro 2008 you can expect him to be competing for the Golden Boot once again this year. So they have the firepower. They also possess a miserly defence boosted by the signings of Andrea Dossena and Phillip Degen and Liverpool fans will be pleased to see the return of Daniel Agger from injury. Together with a solid midfield led by Steven Gerrard, the foundations do seem to be there for a title challenge.
Two players to look out for at Anfield this season are Ryan Babel and Martin Skrtel. Babel’s game should continue to progress now he has a year’s experience of English football under his belt, while Skrtel’s no-nonsense defending won him the admiration of the Liverpool faithful last year and he can only improve the more he adapts to Rafa Benitez’s tactics.
Rafa Benitez is now entering his fifth season as Liverpool manager and just to make it this far he has had to swallow an enormous amount of pride. Many other coaches would not have stood for the messing around he was subjected to by the club’s owners with regards the Juergen Klinsmann revelations. Given the sum of money spent over the last two years though I would not envisage Benitez making it to season six should Liverpool once again finish fourth. He has been provided with ample funds to shape the squad into his own vision and there is increasingly less room for excuses.
To really make a tilt at the title though Liverpool must improve their record against the other members of the top four. The Reds took just four points from eighteen against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United last season and must better that figure drastically if they want to deliver their fans the one trophy they so desperately crave.
Ins: David Ngog (Paris St Germain, undisclosed), Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo, free), Diego Cavalieri (Palmeiras, undisclosed), Andrea Dossena (Udinese, undisclosed), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund, free), Robbie Keane (Tottenham, £20.3m).
Outs: Jack Hobbs (Leicester, loan), Godwin Antwi (Tranmere, loan), Adam Hammill (Blackpool, loan), Scott Carson (West Brom, £3.25m), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth, £11m), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray, free), Paul Anderson (Nottingham Forest, loan), Anthony le Tallec (Le Mans, undisclosed), John Arne Riise (Roma, £4m), Besian Idrizaj (Wacker Tirol, free), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle, undisclosed), Robbie Threlfall (Hereford, loan), David Martin (Leicester, loan), Sebastian Leto (Olympiakos, loan).
Manchester City 
(Last season – 9th)
Similar to the Olympics in Beijing, Manchester City this season will strive to put on a spectacle capable of deflecting all the attention away from the shady, questionable history of those in charge. It says a lot about modern football and the Premiership that extradition charges against a former President of Thailand living in exile can directly affect the transfer policies of a football club in Manchester but thats what happens when the FA, protectors of the domestic game, make their ‘fit and proper person’ test easier to pass than an interview at Burger King.
A large proportion of City fans last season were rather blasé about having Thaksin Shinawatra in charge and on the back of a good start to the campaign even affectionately nicknamed the man ‘Frank Sinatra’ and sung his name at games. As long as there was money for players they did not seem bothered. I mean hey, who cares about governmental corruption*, fraud and mass human rights violations when you’ve got Elano?
The problem with having such a suspect figure as chairman though is that now the chickens are coming home to roost. With a court case looming Shinawatra’s assets have been frozen in Thailand, meaning an £800 million fortune is currently unavailable. Rumours that Vedran Corluka and Stephen Ireland were to be sold to raise funds had to be quashed publicly by new manager Mark Hughes and this particular cloud looks as though it will continue to hang over the club for a while longer. Until resolved the distraction caused can only hinder the playing staff and the manager going into 2008/2009.
Onto the football though. Last season Manchester City started admirably but slipped down the table as the months went by before steadying themselves to finish ninth. Ninth and a place in Europe via the Fair Play award was not deemed good enough however, and Sven Goran Eriksson was duly sacked and replaced by Mark Hughes, who joins from Blackburn. Hughes is widely considered as one of the brightest young managers in English football and his appointment should ensure that City remain competitive at the very least this season, whatever the financial situation.
The signings of Jo and Tal Ben Haim help shore up the defensive and attacking options and both should play a major part at the City of Manchester Stadium, though Ben Haim will have to force his way into an extremely solid defensive unit that performed a stellar job in 2007/2008. The return of Valeri Bojinov from injury adds to Hughes’ attacking options and many, including Fabio Capello no doubt, will be looking to see how Michael Johnson performs post-injury. He showed intriguing glimpses of promise last season.
City have an issue down the right hand side as Stephen Ireland cannot be considered an out-and-out winger, but on the left they have Martin Petrov’s pace and aggressiveness to torment defenders. Elano may have dazzled the league in the early months of t
he season, but after falling away in the latter part of the campaign he still has something to prove. All things considered, a place in the top eight this season is certainly not beyond their grasp.
*allegedly, I don’t want Thai lawyers knocking down my door.
Ins: Jo (CSKA Moscow, £18m), Tal Ben Haim (Chelsea, undisclosed).
Outs: Georgios Samaras (Celtic, undisclosed), Andreas Isaksson (PSV Eindhoven, undisclosed), Geovanni (Hull, free), Emile Mpenza and Paul Dickov (both released), Sun Jihai (Sheffield United, free), Matthew Mills (Doncaster, £300,000).
Manchester United
(Last season – Champions)
Last season Manchester United retained their Premier League crown and then went one better by beating Chelsea in Moscow to win the third European Cup in their history. In the league they boasted the best defensive record, scored the most goals, had the top goalscorer in their ranks, obtained the highest ever goal difference in Premier League history (+58) and conceded just seven goals at home. In the Champions League they went the whole campaign unbeaten, boasted the top goalscorer yet again and broke the Champions League record for most consecutive home wins. So where do they go from here?
Well, putting the glories of the past season aside, it has not been the best of summers for United. First came the all-consuming headline generator that was the Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid saga. Then assistant manager Carlos Queiroz decided to leave the club to take up the vacant position as Portugal coach. And of course added to this came the complete absence of new recruits (at the time of writing, although the Dimitar Berbatov rumours have recently intensified). But will the summer’s events, or lack of them, have any profound effect on United’s quest for a third straight title?
Firstly a word on Ronaldo. This time last year, after guiding the Red Devils to their first title in four seasons and winning almost every single individual award going, many felt the Portuguese wonderkid would be unable to improve on what was an excellent season. They were wrong. In 2007/2008 Ronaldo basically defined excellence, with 42 league goals, several assists and regular displays of sparkling individual talent. He won the Golden Boot both domestically and in Europe and should surely win World Player of the Year for his efforts.
The by-product of such overwhelming success though is it appears to have turned his head. Having served United for five years the club’s star player laid bare his desire to play for Real Madrid. Ferguson, unwilling to sell, stood his ground and to cut a long story short Ronaldo will still be wearing a red shirt in 2008/2009. The worry for United however is that the damage has been done, and the question remains: can a player perform to his best ability for a club if deep down he does not want to be there? It is certainly very difficult to see Ronaldo scoring as many goals as he did last season, but to what extent will this summer’s shenanigans affect his form? And will the fans welcome him back with open arms?
Far worse than the Ronaldo saga for United though was the departure of Queiroz. A hugely intelligent coach with formidable tactical nous, Queiroz played a major part in the club’s successes over the last few years and will be sorely missed not only for his input on the training ground but also for his paternal relationship with United’s growing Portuguese speaking contingent. Ferguson’s hunt for a new assistant continues.
In terms of playing personnel the squad has another year’s experience and the added confidence that comes from being European champions, but upfront they still lack numbers given that Louis Saha is almost always injured. That said, with a good rest and a full preseason under his belt it could be a big season for Carlos Tevez. While they may be light in striking options, given the quality of the squad in all other areas and the fact they boast the best manager around, they should be there or thereabouts again come May.
Ins: None.
Outs: Adam Eckersley (AC Horsens, free), Gerard Pique (Barcelona, £5m), Tom Heaton (Cardiff City, loan), Chris Eagles (Burnley, £1m), Danny Simpson (Blackburn, loan)
Middlesbrough
(Last season – 13th)
Middlesbrough are the type of football club that are wholly predictable and yet impossible to predict. You can be sure they will not make the top six, but after that it is anyone’s guess. Will they hang around just below the UEFA Cup spot? Will they languish in mid-table obscurity? Will they be relegation fodder?
Take last season for instance. Absolutely woeful in the FA Cup quarter-final defeat at home to Cardiff in March, they then put in an exceptional performance full of attacking flair and intent against Manchester United in April. They took points off Arsenal, Liverpool and United at the Riverside but lost seven other home games. They lose at home to Bolton one week and then thrash Manchester City 8-1 a few weeks later. Middlesbrough treat the Premier League table like their very own xylophone, scaling it up and down with wanton disregard.
Looking back at Middlesbrough in 2007/2008 it is actually surprising to think they finished 13th. It felt as though they finished lower. Between September and December they did not win a single league game, and after a 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa many fans began to question Gareth Southgate’s position as manager. They then ended the eleven game winless streak by beating Arsenal. Typical Boro. Their form continued to fluctuate for much of the season but the January signing of Afonso Alves helped as did the emergence of David Wheater at centre back, and eventually they managed to secure a lower mid-table spot.
Middlesbrough’s squad going into 2008/2009 appears too good to go down. With half a season’s worth of Premiership adapting time Alves should improve his goal tally and the defensive pairing of Robert Huth and Wheater is solid enough. Stewart Downing’s contribution will once again be vital to the club’s prospects as the major source of midfield creativity, while Sanli Tuncay and Jeremie Aliadiere should weigh in with their fair share of goals. Marvin Emnes, signed from Sparta Rotterdam, is another option down the flanks.
Opposing teams will look to exploit Boro’s decidedly suspect full back positions, which explains why Southgate is currently trying to tie up a deal for Arsenal’s Justin Hoyte. And in goal, following the departure of Mark Schwarzer it looks quite risky to be pitting two relatively inexperienced keepers against each other for the number one jersey, but one of Brad Jones and Ross Turnbull will get the nod.
You struggle to picture Middlesbrough straying too far out of character this season really. I
expect a topsy-turvy run of form, good results followed by awful ones and a mid-table finish. Sounds just about right for Boro.
Ins: Didier Digard (Paris St Germain, £4m), Marvin Emnes (Sparta Rotterdam, £3.2m), Justin Hoyte?
Outs: George Boateng (Hull City, £1m), Fabio Rochemback (Sporting, free), Lee Dong-Gook (released), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, free), Steve Thompson (Port Vale, free), Lee Cattermole (Wigan, £3.5m).
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(Last season – Champions)
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Hi Just-Football,
Good season reviews for all the EPL teams.
YNWA…