AUG 4 — The new European football season will be upon us soon and for argument’s sake, Spain’s La Liga will be grabbing the limelight for obvious reasons. The battle royale between Barcelona and Real Madrid could well make them the two most-watched teams in the world in season 2009/2010.
It will be a case of a settled team, such as Barcelona, having been together now for a couple of seasons, against a rebuilding Real Madrid that will have pressure heaped upon them after the signings of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.
These top two players in the world will delight no doubt but can the likes of Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa become superstar defenders to provide the platform for a very attack-minded Real Madrid.
The big change at the Nou Camp will be in the shape of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who clearly lacks the pace of Samuel E’to whom he is replacing. How Barcelona will compensate for that is a risk that Pep Guardiola must obviously be willing to take.
It certainly will not be easy making predictions until the transfer window shuts with the strong rumours of Xabi Alonso, and perhaps Franck Ribery too, donning the colours of Real Madrid.
What’s in store in the English Premier League (EPL) will also be quite intriguing as Manchester United will have to get accustomed to life without Ronaldo. They have replaced greats before but this time around will struggle to replace the mercurial Ronaldo.
On their recent Far East Tour, none of the pretenders impressed, least of all Nani.
It looks pretty much that Alex Ferguson will play a very tight midfield with Park Ji Sung and Antonio Valencia working the flanks and rely on central strikers Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen to combine and get goals.
The Blues of Stamford Bridge have been having a great pre-season but when the real thing starts it will be very difficult as the pace and power of the EPL will expose their weaknesses. They need to freshen up their team but their fans will be happy to note Carlo Ancelloti is the best when it comes to managing Dad’s Army teams.
The Arsenal have lost their best defender to join Arsenal since Arsene Wenger took charge and Kolo Toure’s absence will clearly be felt. They do have a strong midfield despite the injury to Samir Nasri but could be blunt upfront. Well, strong rumours persist, so no judgement as yet. They need Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
If they can hang on to Xabi Alonso, Liverpool will win the Premiership. There I have said it again for the second consecutive season . . . my prediction for the top spot is Liverpool.
But as I said, Alonso would be the key. There have been minimal changes up to now at Anfield but Alonso’s presence and contribution has been key to Liverpool’s progress over the last two seasons.
The situation with Alonso could well mean Rafa Benitez having to tweak his formation, something that has taken him three seasons to perfect. The ambition of Liverpool Football Club is in question as this will probably be their best chance to win the premier league for the first time.
All eyes are also on Manchester City and, believe me, they will surprise or maybe shock a few teams. They will put in a serious bid for the Top Four and right now, they certainly have the potential.
I am going to stick my neck out and predict two out of City, Chelsea and Arsenal to be in the top four alongside Manchester United and Liverpool.
Quite simply, the Italian Serie A is losing its glamour and glitz (if it has not already lost it altogether) and there will be no serious contender to Inter Milan’s grip on the Scudetto.
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