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While discussing the openness of the title race as predicted by Arsene, my thoughts were that the year end table will look like United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, City, and doesn’t matter after that. But I wanted to wait till the end of the transfer window before making my predictions for the season.

Now that we’ve seen a few games and a rather lacklustre transfer window is closed (thankfully), it’s time to put my neck on the line.

Broadly speaking, I expect the top three to remain the same as last year but not in that order. City, Tottenham and Liverpool will probably fight it out for the next three places although it will be a big challenge for Redknapp to balance the Premiership with the unchartered waters of the Champions League. Similarly, Roy Hodgson faces a big challenge as the club’s future is uncertain and some of his main players aren’t in the right frame of mind.

Let me take this club by club starting with our title rivals,

Chelsea: The reigning champions have lost five experienced players in the transfer window and replaced them with two. In terms of involvement in the League last season, Ballack had 26 starts and 6 substitute appearances. Carvalho 22 starts, Cole 14+12, Deco 14+5, and Belletti 4+7. That’s a lot of squad depth. They will need big contributions from Benayoun and Ramirez and will have to hope that their key players maintain their fitness. Essien can be a like a new signing for Chelsea!

The big positive for Chelsea is that they can defend really well, especially against the smaller sides. So even if they have some players missing they can always play a tight game and hope to nick a winner. Another advantage is that their key players have not had many injury concerns. But as we saw in the 08-09 season, if Drogba misses a large chunk of games they’ll fall just short.

I expect them to have some extremely dominant periods and some phases when they drop a lot of points. Second in the League is my prediction.

United: Contrary to popular belief I don’t think United are on their way down. I think Fergie understand the Englishness of the League better than anyone else and that will help them a lot. Berbatov looks like he will do much better this season and that should ease some burden of Rooney. United fans will also be hoping for more from Nani, Valencia, and the refs (their twelfth man, especially at home).

If they can keep Vidic and Ferdinand fit, United have a good chance of winning the league. If they have injury problems in defence they will be third. Prediction: first or third.

City: They have the squad for a title challenge but I’m not sure they have the manager. To be honest, I’m not completely convinced by their squad either because it’s loaded with defensive minded players. They have some creativity on the wings but when their most creative central player is Yaya Toure, it tells me they’ll struggle to break teams down away from home as we’ve already seen.

I think they’ll be fourth because of their squad that should help them see off the Spuds and Liverpool. They will only finish higher if one of the top three really make a mess of things.

Tiny Totts, Liverpool, and Aston Villa will have some good patches and will be tough games for the top teams but I don’t expect any of them to be serious title challengers.

That brings me to Arsenal.

I think we will toggle with United – first or third.

A lot will depend on injuries of course, but I think we’ve added good quality over the summer. I know some people will still talk about the Keeper but we made a mess of things in 07-08 when Almunia was hardly at fault. I think we can win with our present defence and Keeper but that will depend on how our midfield and attack works out.

I don’t think it makes any sense to separate defence, goalkeeping, midfield and attack when analyzing football games. So statements like, “we don’t have a defence to win the league” or “we can’t win the league with Almunia” sound really hollow. In a game like Cricket we can say batting and bowling are completely separate and the quality of one doesn’t normally affect the quality of the other. That is not the case in football.

I’ve always maintained that Arsenal defend well when we can play our football and attack well. It’s not that much about personnel in defence or between the sticks. Yes, those guys will make the occasional mistake and we will concede some stupid goals. We did that in 07-08, even in the early part when we were running away with the league. The difference was that in those days we had team that never accepted defeat and always found a way of coming from behind on rare days when we did go behind. Sadly, that didn’t last till the end of the season but that’s a topic for another day.

To me the fitness of Van Persie and Fabregas will be key this season. We need more than 30 league appearances from both. Once again, going back to 07-08, we had 32+4 appearances from Adebayor and 32 starts from Cesc. In 08-09 RvP had 24+4 while Cesc had 22, Last season Fabregas had 26+1 while Van Persie made 14+2 appearances. It’s not difficult to see the impact our best players have on the year end tally.

We will definitely benefit from the improved performances of Walcott, Nasri, and Arshavin. Also the arrival of Chamakh should add to our attacking strengths and will perhaps counter the absence of RvP to some extent. Even then, I’ve a feeling the fitness of Van Persie and Fabregas will make the difference between first and third.

Champions League and the Cups

I find it very hard to make predictions for the Cup ties and in many ways Champions League is a Cup despite its name.

A lot will depend on the draw. If we get some home games we should do well in the FA Cup. I don’t expect us to win the Carling Cup with our policy because many teams have invested so much that they desperately need something just so they can look in the mirror.

In the Champions League I expect we will have a real challenge if we draw United, Chelsea, Farca, or Madrid. We should get past all other teams including Bayern, although that could be a tight game.

Farca have Messi and with the system we play it’s tough to deal with a guy like him. Even if we manage to keep him quiet we might end up leaving space for others. Still with a fully fit first team I’d definitely enjoy a battle with the scumbags.

United, Chelsea and Real (now that they have the Dark Lord) will defend against us and stop us from playing. As I said before, once we can’t play the way we like our defensive issues are exacerbated. In Cup games I expect we will have a real challenge getting past these sides. That doesn’t mean we can’t do it. A lot will depend on the personnel available and the form on the day so it’s pointless to predict the results of Cup ties right now.

All in all, I think our best shot is at the Premier League title, second best would be the FA Cup or the Champions League depending on the draw.

As per the new regulations all the clubs have now announced their 25 player squads along with a long list of U-21 players who’ve been registered so that they are eligible to play in the Premier League just in case. You can see complete details of the squad lists and junior players of all the 20 clubs on the official site.

It’s interesting, although not surprising, to note that Chlesea have only given a 19 player list for the senior squad. Many clubs have not filled their quota of 25 senior players. Arsenal with 20, Villa 22, Blackburn 21, Blackpool 24, Bolton 24, Everton 21, Liverpool 21, United 24, Newcastle 23, Sunderland 24, and Wigan with 19 have some room to manoeuvre in the market in January or next summer.

In effect, only Birmingham, Fulham, City, Stoke, Tinies, West Brom, West Ham, and Wolves have taken up their full squad quota.

In such a case the U-21 players will clearly play a vital role as the season unfolds. Not surprisingly, Arsenal seem to have the strongest contingent of young players. I’ve not examined other squads in detail but a cursory glance showed that no other squad had the same level of proven talent at the youth level.

As expected Ramsey, Walcott, Gibbs, Vela, Frimpong, Wilshere, Szczesny and Traore are all part of the junior list, not to mention the likes of Nordtveit, Lansbury, Eastmond, JET, and many other talented youngsters who’ll probably form a big part of the Carling Cup squad.

I might be wrong as I don’t follow the youth football of other clubs but I don’t think any two or three clubs combined have such a strong youth contingent in terms of talent and top level experience.

Chelsea are really taking a huge gamble as their 19 player list is supplemented by the likes of Gael Kakuta, Daniel Sturridge, Jeffrey Bruma, and Borini. We can see the impact of letting the likes of Ballack, Deco, Belletti, Carvalho, and Cole leave with only Benayoun and Ramires coming in. They’ve also allowed youngsters like Di Santo, Scott Sinclair, and Miroslav Stoch to leave.

A couple of injuries in the same area and they could be really short, especially upfront. From a depth point of view I don’t think they have enough. What they do have is a solid track record of not having too many injuries in the same area and key players who have gone years without picking up long term injuries (Essien being the exception that proves the rule!). If it changes this year they will struggle to stay close to the top. Otherwise their key players will always make them strong contenders for any trophy.

United have named 24 players in their senior squad but that includes the perennially injured Hargreaves, past his prime Owen, unsettled Anderson, and completely unproven De Laet. In effect they have a 20 man squad.

They do have youngsters like Macheda, Obertan, Smalling, Bebe and Pogba but none of them is experienced or proven at the top level.

I think United have far better balance and depth in their squad when compared to Chelsea. I’d say they are on par with Arsenal in terms of strength in depth. If Berbatov can improve his performances this season and if the golden oldies stay fit they will be close to the top.

Surprise, surprise! City have taken up their quota of 25! I don’t have to mention the kind of depth they have. Any team that has a bench worth close to a hundred million pounds will not be short of players. I still don’t think they’ve a chance of winning the title but I’ll discuss that in detail in another article on predictions for the season. As far as strength in depth goes, City are probably top of the pile.

Liverpool have 21 senior players including the likes of Stephen Darby and Jay Spearing, while N’gog and Pachecho are part of the U-21 list. I’m not at all convinced they have the depth to compete for the title. Anyway, with Liverpool it’s all down to Gerrad and Torres and this season won’t be much different.

Finally, the Tiny Totts have also taken up their quota of 25. Their junior squad also contains players like Bale, Dos Santos, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, and Sandro. In terms of numbers the Tinies are not so small but when we consider that these numbers include the likes of Bentley and Jenas, it does put their squad in perspective. I think Redknapp has collected plenty of players who are of his own ilk, just short of top level quality. What else can we expect from a f*ck*ng football manager who is not a wheeler-dealer

I think they have some depth but mostly in terms of numbers and not in terms of quality as we will see once their Champions League games start.

In conclusion, City have the most depth but Arsenal and United have the best equipped squads. Chelsea have a smaller but relatively stronger and well proven group. Liverpool look like they’ll struggle and the Tinies are in for a long grind. I do expect many different opinions on this so please feel free to share yours.

For the sake of quick reference you might find the following images useful. The first one has the senior squads of the six clubs I’ve considered and the second one has the list of junior players that I’ve compiled based on my discretion i.e. names I’ve heard of and not out on loan. I’ve not done much research on that so I might have missed someone but players like Traore, Cleverly, and Wellbeck have been left out on purpose. (The images are bigger and will be clearer if opened in a new window, limit on the blog width reduces the clarity.)

Maddy’s Note: The Irreverent Reporter ©^TM has lived up to his name and is irreverently off on holiday while the footballing world goes orgasmic over the transfer Window Deadline Day. Ably deputizing for him is Sample who has a few shocking revelations.

8am : Exclusive news!!! Sameer Samuel of Supreme Boys’ School has joined On Bes International School of Arts. The one time star forward of the science division in 8th grade will now be seen in the Onion colours soon!

8.01am : Exclusive news!!! Sameer Samuel comments on the extremely superb school bus service that On Bes offers and that he is proud to be an onion. Arsenal are in the race to sign up the youngster to develop him and send him to Tottenham to stink up the place like rotten onions.

8.01am : Sam Allardyce scouting in BRAZIL!!!!

8.02am : Oops!!! Some journalist thought that Allardyce had lost weight and shaved his head and was scouting in Corinthians. Apparently Ronaldo with two straws up his mouth and was chewing on a packet of gum on a dry day looks like a Walrus. Chewing on a packet of gum.

8.03am : Arsenal sign Silvestre from Werder Bremen when they realise that Werder and Tottenham are in the same group.

8.05am : Tony Pulis seen in Canada trying to sign Corky as his new Centre forward.

8:06am: Arsene Wenger comments saying he thinks Stoke’s new signing is Killer!

8:07am: Tony Pulis sues Arsenal for unfair comments.

8.10am : Barcelona offer Arsenal a renewed offer of 35million plus 2 cheese sandwiches for Fabregas.

8.11am : Arsenal refuse the offer and in turn offer Eboue for Messi plus 20million.

9am : Barcelona complain to UEFA of Arsenal’s rugby tactics in the transfer market.

10am : Platini asks for the use of technology in the transfer market then retracts the statement and the demands for technology again.

11am : Fulham receive new offer for Mark Schwarzer which is more than the original 2million. They offer 2.1million plus Fabianski.

12am : Fulham refuse offer saying that the new offer on sum total additions and subtractions is much less than the original offer and in fact bordering on a free.

1pm : Manchester City offer Sunderland 50 million for Titus Bramble.

1.30pm : Sunderland accepts the offer and even throw in a free bottle of scotch. Titus Bramble says that he moved for ‘European Football’.

2pm : Everything’s very quiet. Like a volcano about to erupt!!!

2.30pm : And errupted it has!!! EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!  Fabregas is seen in Spain. Is this the transfer everyone’s been talking about all summer???

3pm : Fabregas in Spain to practice with the squad for the upcoming qualifiers. Xavi,Pique, Messi and Puyol all comment on this saying this means that Fabregas still wants to play for Barcelona and that Arsenal have no class.

3.30 pm : Messi thrown out of Spanish training camp.

4pm : Xavi berates the Argentian president and the Spanish president saying that Messi has Spanish DNA and should play for Spain. He also tells Argentina that they have Messi but only on loan.

4.30 pm : Robbie Keane sent on loan to Indian club Mohan Bagan. He remains the captain of Tottenham Hotspur though.

5pm : The transfer window closes. Please get a life.

On the eve of what could be the biggest day yet for Swiss football, our first (of hopefully a series) Picture Blog takes a peek into the state of Harry’s mind before the game.

Credits: Sample

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