As Arsenal fans we must hope that some of the following events happen: 1) Man United's new signings take ages to gel. 2) Andre Villas Boas turns out to be **** 3) Man City flop with an unsettled Tevez 4) Liverpool's resurgence under Dalglish is less than first imagined 5) Tottenham don't get taken over by a Middle Eastern Oil Company 6) Arsenal sign some good players. Which of these are likely to happen?
1) Man United's new signings take ages to gel. (In short yes - perhaps but Utd usually start slow) 2) Andre Villas Boas turns out to be **** (possibly) 3) Man City flop with an unsettled Tevez (Probably true ) 4) Liverpool's resurgence under Dalglish is less than first imagined (Very likely) 5) Tottenham don't get taken over by a Middle Eastern Oil Company (Not likely ever) 6) Arsenal sign some good players. (Wenger will sign a few more players I'm sure) Result Man Utd Champions and possibly Arsenal 2nd or 3rd.
WTF are you putting the spuds in that list for? They got as much chance of finishing top 4 this season as I have of winning the Lotto and I don't even buy tickets! .......the answer is 6.
All things being well, Arsenal will have some good new faces on the payroll. They need to do this. A revisit of 2010/2011 cannot be entertained. Of the rest, well I imagine Utd will still be the ones to beat. Who knows? We may be the ones to do it......
Of the options highlighted any of all them may happen, after all it is football we are talking about. The least likely is Man U taking time to gel and even if they, do who among the others outside the top six are likely to be able to take advantage on a regular basis. The one I fear most is that The Arsenal will not be able to attract players of a known and proven ability, last seasons decline in the final two months appears to have shown that however much opposition supporters admire the style of play it doesnt win trophies, and that and regular appearances in the Champions League are the yardstick. fingers crossed that AW has a few tricks up his sleeve before the season gets underway. I think it is also telling that there has been no great rush from clubs for those who are supposedly available for transfer- Bendtner, Almunia, Denilson, Eboue. it would be interesting to see what putting Diaby on that list would produce.
That all depends on De Gea. Even if Young and Jones take time to settle in we have other players to cover for them. But if De Gea struggles it could be the post Schmeichel era all over again... Doubt it, but given that he will have to work with Torres, plus the old guard of Lampard and Terry, he may struggle to make a big impact. Still questions over whether the Chelsea dressing room has too much power there - can AVB get them in line? Dunno about flop, but I have a feeling they will go one worse than this season, probably finishing fourth. Quite possible there. They still haven't really faced adversity under Dalglish. If they start slow and lose a couple of matches to unfancied opposition it will be interesting to see how they respond. Hmmm... Very likely to happen. Unfortunately they are also likely to be 15 years old thus giving Wenger a good four or five years to have their spines surgically removed before putting them into the 1st team. They'll still be good enough to keep you in the top four long term, but I fear AW has potentially permanently lost sight of what is needed to win the league. My prediction: 1. Utd / Chelsea (depending on how AVB does) 2. Chelsea / Utd 3. Arsenal 4. City 5. Liverpool / Spurs
