The battle for the 2015/16 Premier League title is well and truly under way, and already we’ve seen fan protests over ticket prices, a new messiah and Diego Costa being suspended. Some things never change, but one this is certain: come May 15th, we’ll have a Premier League champion. It’s time to cast an eye over the pre-season English Premier League title contenders and see how their challenges are shaping up with just over a quarter of the season played.
Manchester City
Photo: @DeBruyneKev | Twitter
There was another massive spend in the transfer window from Manuel Pellegrini’s side after its limp title defence last season stressed the need for new blood. Newcomer Raheem Sterling’s most notable contribution has been a hat-trick against Bournemouth, while Kevin de Bruyne has mixed goals with assists in his second stint in England. Although City began in imperious form, winning their first five games while conceding no goals and destroying Chelsea 3-0, they have slowed recently, shipping defeats to West Ham and Spurs, while the recent Manchester derby suggested that once again, without David Silva and Sergio Aguero, City are a rather blunt attacking force. Nonetheless, they currently sit at the top of the table and with a home game against Norwich and a trip to Aston Villa coming up, the smart money says they’ll be there for a while.
Manchester United
Photo: @ManUtd | Twitter
In Ed Woodward there is a figure who can be relied upon to always get his man...most of the time. And actually, when he does get his man, he usually pays three times his market value. Manchester United’s bid to spend more money than anyone else ever aside, Louis Van Gaal finally has a team more or less populated by players he brought to the club, and a team who have by hook or by crook bought into his philosophy. United lie fourth, level on points with West Ham, and after a chastening defeat at Arsenal, alongside a general consensus that they are playing boring football, one might be tempted to say that they’re not doing too badly. However, with Wayne Rooney badly out of form, a midfield of Schweinsteiger and Carrick lacking the legs to compete and a loss of faith in Memphis Depay, there’s always the feeling that the next crisis is never too far away.
Arsenal
Photo: @Arsenal | Twitter
At the beginning of the transfer window, this was to be Arsenal’s year. They’d finally sorted out the goalkeeper and bought Petr Cech, now it was just a question of getting that world-class striker and fabled defensive midfielder and the league would be won at a canter. Fast forward to the end of the transfer window, and Arsenal had bought...Petr Cech. A calamitous opening day defeat at home to West Ham along with the revelation that Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck would be sidelined with injury yet again spread an air of despondency around the club’s stillborn title challenge, an atmosphere that would reach its nadir in Champions League defeats to Olympiakos and Dynamo Kiev. But from these inauspicious ashes rose Arsenal the phoenix, who are now able to count on a fully match-fit Alexis and an inspired Mesut Ozil, and have been surging up the table. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of the team’s newfound ability to grind out results is the establishment of the Coquelin-Cazorla axis in the middle of the park. Coq-zorla (as the duo have been nicknamed) sounds like something Mrs. Wenger might keep in her underwear drawer, but the close control and gossamer touch of one is paired with the energetic tackle of the other; a combination that gives Arsenal a real platform to dominate games. A dream week with victories over Watford and Everton sandwiching a famous 2-0 win over Bayern Munich saw Arsenal briefly top the table, and if they can withstand the latest raft of injuries, we might be seeing red ribbons in May after all.
Chelsea
When you find out Chelsea is hot garbage. Photo: @goal_intl | Twitter
Where do we start? A club who couldn’t recruit, a manager barely in control of himself, and a team whose current league results read Pld 10 W 3 D 2 L 5. Chelsea have set records in their mediocrity, including a worst-ever start to a Premier League season, with 11 points after 10 games and a joint worst-ever title defence. Red cards, injuries, and suspensions have cost Chelsea key personnel like Nemanja Matic, Thibaut Courtois and Diego Costa, while last year’s PFA and FWA Player of the Year Eden Hazard has looked a shadow of his former self. Mourinho’s antics are beginning to seem counter-productive as the team lacks strong leadership and speculation begins to mount over his job. Chelsea simply haven’t been at the races so far this season, and while it is too early yet to write them off completely, it is worth noting that in the 2013/14 season that David Moyes’ Manchester Utd team finished 7th in the Premier League, they had six more points than Chelsea do now.
