Premier League New-Boys

With every new Premier League season comes three new teams eager to try and slug it out with the best clubs England has to offer. This year the Premier League welcomes Queens Park Rangers (QPR), who won the Championship title, Norwich City, who got second place and Swansea City, who won the playoffs.

Both QPR and Norwich have been in the Premier League before but this will be a brand new experience for Swansea who have yet to get to the Premiership since its inception in 1992. In fact, Swansea become the first Welsh team into the Premier League after a dramatic victory over Reading. 

How will these teams fare?

Most of the time the promoted teams start off well. They have nothing to lose and they tend to surprise some of the bigger teams with determined performances that run on adrenaline. However, as the season goes on, at least two of the teams often struggle with Blackpool's recent season being a great example of that. 

A lot of it depends on how the teams act in the transfer window over the summer. Rarely does a promoted team perform well in the Premiership without spending some money improving their squads. With that in mind, QPR should be best placed out of all the new teams to retain their newly acquired Premier League status because they are the richest of the three clubs.

Personally, I would like to see Swansea stay up because I like the football they play. They keep the ball on the ground and they like to pass and move. However, they will struggle to stay up if they don't improve all over the pitch and add some Premiership experience in the vital areas at the back and in the centre of midfield.

Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to seeing these new teams take on the EPL ever-presents and hopefully give them a run for their money.

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The 2010/11 Premier League season is over!

Another season has finished and it's time for a quick round-up of how things finished at the top and bottom of the table. 

As we already knew, Manchester United are Premier League champions once again with Chelsea finishing in second place and Manchester City coming in third. Arsenal, who only a few weeks ago were challenging for the title, fell into fourth place winning only one of their last six Premier League games. Things need to change at the Emirates for Arsenal to recapture the glory of the late 90s and early 00s. Tottenham Hotspur edged out Liverpool to finish fifth and qualify for another year of European football, albeit the Europa League and not the Champion`s League.

The other big story at the end of the season concerns the teams that have been relegated. Falling at the last hurdle this year were Birmingham and Blackpool who join West Ham in preparation for the Championship.

Blackpool had started the season so well and were high flyers in December, looking at possible European qualification. However, as I predicted, those good times did not last long and Blackpool started to plummet down the table. Their gung-ho style of football was never going to work in the long run with the squad they have.

Birmingham fans will be looking back on a bittersweet season that saw them capture the Carling Cup (defeating Arsenal in the process) and get relegated. I think if you ask most Birmingham fans, they would trade the Cup for Premier League status but at least they have something to smile about. I had predicted that Birmingham would struggle to stay up despite their Cup success because the squad was playing like a team who believed it had done its job after winning a major trophy. They simply failed to find the same form in the Premier League as they had in the Carling Cup.

Scott Parker will be on the move

West Ham were relegated a week or so ago and it has been a long time coming for the Hammers. They have been on the verge of relegation since they came back to the Premier League a few years ago. Hammers' captain, Scott Parker, will be highly sought after over the summer so it should be interesting to see who bags him. Arsenal could really do with a player like Parker who can keep running hard for 90 minutes and put in a strong tackle. 

 

Come back in a couple of weeks to find out who has been promoted to the Premiership along with QPR and Norwich and how the new teams stack up. 

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Saints' starlets attracting attention.

17 year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

For a number of years now the Southampton FC Youth Academy has been producing some of the brightest young talents in the UK. Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Wayne Bridge and even the great Alan Shearer are all products of the Southampton youth system. All have since left the Saints to go on to bigger and better things in the Premiership. Walcott plays for Arsenal, Bale for Spurs and Bridge now plays for West Ham but had stints at Man City and Chelsea too. Alan Shearer initially left Southampton for Blackburn before returning to his home town of Newcastle, where he played for the majority of his career.

Anyways, enough of the history lesson. The fact is, two new youngsters, both products of the Saints Youth Academy, are being watched by Premier League clubs. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam “I don't-have-a-fancy-double-barrelled-second-name” Lallana are playing some great football for Southampton down in League One.

Adam Lallana (Right)

Lallana had a breakout season last year, scoring 20 goals as Saints marched towards success in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and a 7^th place finish in the League (they started the season with -10 points). Oxlade-Chamberlain, on the other hand, is currently in the middle of his breakout season. His recent form on the wing for Southampton has been nothing short of astonishing and he deserves all the plaudits he is getting.

Despite the undoubted talent of both players, whether or not they could play in the Premier League, at least right now, is disputable. If either player moved to a club like Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea, they wouldn't get anywhere near the first team. They would be playing reserve team football or warming the bench. They might get 10 minutes of game time here or there in the cup competitions but they won't progress as players.

Theo Walcott made the mistake of leaving Saints for Arsenal at too young an age and sat on the Gunners' bench for two years before playing. In contrast, Gareth Bale stayed at Saints for an extra year after gaining the Premier League's attention, learned his trade by playing regularly, and is now thought of as one of the best left wingers in the world.

Southampton do not have to sell their prize players any more (thank you Markus Liebherr), but if the players really want to leave and would like to ply their trade at a higher level, they should really make sure they are ready to do so. Lallana seems to have already made his decision by signing a four-and-a-half year deal with Saints in a move that will delight the fans.

It is worth noting that Southampton have yet to recieve any offers for either player despite Lallana and Oxlade-Chamberlain being linked to Newcastle United and Liverpool respectively.

The FA Cup Fourth Round Draw

The FA Cup enters the Fourth Round

The draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup followed the game between Manchester United and Liverpool yesterday, which United won 1-0. The fixtures are listed below:

Torquay v Crawley Town or Derby

Watford v Brighton

Bolton v Wigan

Arsenal or Leeds v Huddersfield

Fuham v Spurs

Everton v Chelsea

Southampton v Manchester Utd

Swansea v Leyton Orient

Burnley v Burton

Birmingham v Coventry

Doncaster or Wolves v Stoke or Cardiff

Notts County v Leicester or Manchester City

Stevenage v Reading

Aston Villa v Blackburn

West Ham v Nottingham Forest

Sheffield Wed v Wycombe or Hereford

Some interesting ties there. Saints v Man Utd is a good one and should be a great game. Maybe Saints will be able to pull off a shock like the one in the 1976 FA Cup final? Fulham v Spurs, Bolton v Wigan, Everton v Chelsea and Aston Villa v Blackburn are all Premier League ties and will be interesting to keep an eye on too.

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The Romance of the Cup lives on...

The FA Cup

The FA Cup has to be my favourite cup competition out of all the sports I follow. Nothing even comes remotely close to the size of it or provide half the drama that it brings. For the smaller clubs it is a chance to play against some of the best teams and players in the world and possibly cause an upset or two along the way. For the bigger clubs, it is a chance to achieve glory and win one of the most coveted trophies in football.

For me, the single best thing about the cup are the upsets. To see a smaller club play against the odds and defeat a bigger club is fantastic and every neutral fan wants it to happen. On Saturday, the FA Cup proved once more that there is still magic in the competition as we saw plenty of higher ranked teams toppled by lower league opposition.

Southampton (League One) defeated Blackpool (Premier League) 2-0

Southampton controlled this game from start to finish and won the game by two goals to nil that included a wonder strike from substitute Guly Do Prado. Both sides made plenty of changes to their squads before the game started and it is testament to the second string players that Saints have that they were able to overcome a squad that plies its trade in the Premiership.

Stevenage (League Two) defeated Newcastle (Premier League) 3-1

Were Stevenage out for revenge for what happened 13 years ago? I think you can safely assume that they were. Stevenage came out and played this game like their lives depended on it and embarrassed a pretty strong Newcastle side. It wasn't just a smash and grab victory either. Stevenage scored three goals and only conceded a wonder strike from Joey Barton. Of course Newcastle are focused on Premier League survival, but this one will sting for a while, no doubts there.

Notts County (League One) defeated Sunderland (Premier League) 2-1

Despite Notts Country being a whole league higher than Stevenage, this result was a bigger shock than the Newcastle one because this game was played at Sunderland's home ground. They weren't beaten on some awful pitch, they were beaten in their own back yard. Steve Bruce will not be happy with his side after this one and we could see a dip in form for the Black Cats if they don't bounce back quickly.

Burton Albion (League Two) defeated Middlesbrough (Championship) 2-1

If you had read my other article then you would know that I called this result before the game kicked off. It was written in the stars. Middlesbrough have been so rubbish all season and they were playing away from home...it was meant to be that Burton would further compound the misery of the teeside club. This result does nothing to lift the already depressed spirit of the players and fans of Middlesbrough football club and we could see a relegation to League One if they don't sort themselves out. 

There were also some great efforts from lower league teams that forced replays.

Leeds United (Championship) drew with Arsenal (Premier League) 1-1

Leeds were only a few minutes away from beating Arsenal at the Emirates before Fabregas scored a 90^th minute penalty. A draw was probably a fair result on reflection and now Leeds get to entertain Arsenal at Elland Road in the replay. I think Arsenal will probably get the job done at the second time of asking but the game served to highlight, once more, just how inconsistent this Arsenal team has been at home.

Leicester City (Championship) drew with Manchester City (Premier League) 2-2

Sven managed to pull off a great result by guiding his Leicester side to a deserved draw with the mighty Manchester City, his former club. The return fixture, at the City of Manchester Stadium, will probably be a different story but Leicester can enjoy the moment for now.

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It's not really going to plan, is it?

This has not been a season for the favourites in football has it? We have Middlesbrough, favourites to take Championship glory, languishing just outside of the relegation zone. Southampton, favourites for League 1, are struggling to find consistency as they continue to throw away valuable points and Premiership favourites Chelsea, sitting in fourth place, have hit a slump the likes of which we haven't seen in years, and it's not even that bad of a slump. It just goes to show you that in football, things aren't as predictable as we once thought.

I guess inconsistency is rife in the lower leagues, so Southampton are just following the natural order and Middlesbrough have been simply awful this year and have no-one to blame but themselves. But why are Chelsea failing? Well, the main reason behind their current struggle is that many of the other teams in the league have gotten much better and the level of competition has increased. In the Premiership we now have “smaller” teams (hardly the right word, but I think you know what I mean) regularly beating those in the “big four” (Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and, although I don't think they deserve to be a part of it, Liverpool).

For example, Manchester City have become a massive threat to all of the “big four”. They are now the richest club in the world and, even though it isn't the most admirable way of gaining success, their money and power in the transfer market will mean it is only a matter of time before the real Manchester club wins the Premiership (Man Utd fans can send me hate mail if they want, it doesn't make it less true). It's not just Man City and their billions either.

Teams like West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United, newly promoted from the Championship, have taken points off Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. In years gone by this would not have happened. This is surely a sign that many of the smaller clubs in the Premiership have made some progress in recent years. Even Alex Ferguson believes this is the case. Of course, it was admit that or say that his team has gotten worse...

Everton have often been a threat, as have Aston Villa over the past couple of seasons. Big, physical sides like Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers have also enjoyed some success against the "big four" in recent times. Likewise, it would seem that Tottenham Hotspur, the Premiership's perennial underachievers, have finally got themselves into a position where they can challenge for a top three spot.

While we may never see a really drastic change to the top three sides in the Premiership, the higher level of competition is definitely making the title race a lot more exciting. Right now the top of the table looks enticing:

1^st Manchester United – 34pts

2^nd Arsenal – 32pts

3^rd Manchester City – 32pts

4^th Chelsea – 31pts

5^th Tottenham Hostpur – 27pts

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9^th Liverpool – 22pts

While Man Utd do have a game in hand, it is not, as it may have been two or three years ago, a guaranteed three points. In fact, if that extra game proves to be an away game, United will be happy with just one point as they have been less than convincing away from Old Trafford's soil.

Liverpool, much like last season, are also going through a rough patch. However, unlike Chelsea, their trouble can be attributed entirely to the terrible running of the club and the average quality of the players that have been brought in. In addition, Torres and Gerrard, their only two great players (other than Pepe Reina of course) have not been that good and have had injuries to contend with. Simply put, without those two in the side, Liverpool are very, very ordinary. Hodgson has spent a fair amount of cash since his arrival on some real tripe. While Raul Meireles is starting to find his feet, Christian Poulsen has looked like a fish out of water since his switch from the slow paced Serie A to the fast paced Premiership, which is odd considering Scandinavians usually adapt very well to the English game.

Chelsea haven't imploded like Liverpool so the slump they have hit is not really their own fault. It is simply the case that everyone else is upping their game. I guess this is a change for the better for the Premiership. The more teams that can challenge for Europe and the Champions League, the better. If a couple of extra teams want to throw their hat in for the Premiership title as well, I won't complain.