From the year 2004-05 the Premier League has only known two champions: Manchester United and Chelsea, who currently holds the title. This Saturday 14th a new season begins with two serious contenders for the Bleus and Red Devils: Manchester City, and Arsenal. The Citizens have made a strong investment for the second year in a row, and hope that this season will be their time to shine. On the other hand, Arsenal thinks that its young team is now mature enough to bring the trophy back to Highbury.
After having to stand all the rumors about their captain going back home, Arsenal fans are very glad to hear the Cesc Fabregas will be their leader again this season. French coach Arsene Wegner was able to convince the Spaniard about his role in the team and how important his continuance was for the accomplishment of titles. Wegner's youngsters have matured and he thinks that this will be their year, despite the team being young, they have a lot of first class games on their backs. If injuries don't interfere with their game, like it happened last season, their winning chances are real.
In contrast with Arsenal, who has a philosophy of buying young talented players for no multimillionaire prices, Manchester City doesn't want to wait all those years until their players grow up and gain experience. This is the reason why so much money has been spent in the last and present season in players who are already prepared to win a title. The anxiety to win shows no remorse when adding zeros to the checks in order to get the players they want. Last season they finished in fifth place, and looking at its roster, not improving that position would be a total failure. The objective is to at least qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and to do so they have to finish among the top four.
Manchester United is after its 19th title in this competition, and no consolidated players have arrived this season so far, only young players with a prominent future like Chris Smalling and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. Ferguson's trust will be placed in the experience of its roster and the continuity of his philosophy. Hopefully for them, Chicharito will be a good companion for Wayne Rooney in the offensive of the team, because Berbatov didn't fulfill the expectations last season, and the team significantly suffered the absence of a striker last season when Rooney was injured.
The defending champion suffered the departure of four great players: Deco, Ballack, Carvalho, and Joe Cole, but this shouldn't an obstacle on their race to revalidate the title. The team has a lot of experienced players to overcome this situation, plus two really good arrivals: Israeli Yossi Benayoun and Brazilian Ramires. Michael Essien is back and ready for the season after his injury, and for Salomon Kalou "having him on the team is a bonus" because they know "how important he can be to the whole season".
Other teams like Liverpool or Tottenham are expected to have a good performance this season and challenge the top teams in the league, but it is going to be harder for them to fight for the title as they have more limitations. Tottenham's goal might be more focused in qualifying for the European competitions, while Liverpool hopes to put an end to 20 years without a Premier League title, but they don't look as prepared to be considered one of the favorites.
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