By Deep Blue
August 12 2005

Hello and welcome Ladies and Gentleman to another annual fight for Europe. The stage is set and our challengers face 38 gruelling bouts to determine who gets 5th place, runner up also gets a respectable 6th place finish Why not 1st place I hear you wonder, how can you win by finishing 5th? The answer is simple, competing above 5th place are 4 big hitters (Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool) in a weight class above the rest (Liverpool only just out of reach) and their reward for this is places in the Heavyweight Champions League. Although some of the challengers competing for the much coveted 5th place may step up a weight division in the years to follow, the prize for now is a place in the Uefa Cup.

So who are these likely challengers? What makes them likely to be in the mix? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Let’s look at the contender’s one at a time:

In the Red and Blue corner - Aston Villa

A solid contender, with experience and well coached. Gone has the fast strikes and hard straight left. This has been replaced by a longer reach and a consistent jab..

Once again O'Leary is heard to be bemoaning his lack of squad depth and once again I think this will be the team’s downfall. If they can field their best 11 they will be a handful for all the top team’s but with injury prone players how often is that going to happen? The lack of quality depth will see them drop many points throughout the season, but they will always perform well against the big boys.
Sorensen is an able goalkeeper and in front of him is, when fit, a decent back line. Laursen will look to maybe even play this year an Melberg is a decent and reliable partner. A nice mix of options for wingbacks (Barry, Samual, Cruz, Delaney) gives them options and an attacking element down the flacks.
The centre of the midfield contains options of grafters (Djemba-Djemba, McCann) but with some creative flair and attacking options (Hendry, Davis) and the arrival of Berger now means they not only have a balanced midfield, with him on the left and Solano on the right, but also gives them two great crossers of the ball and dead ball specialists. A few good youngsters such as whitingham back this midfield up.
A front line of Angel and Phillips, promises goals, but question marks are over both their heads as to if they can repeat past goal scoring exploits. Back up of young prospect Moore is hardly inspiring however.

I feel the loss of the pace from Vassel upfront and the work rate and thundering shots from Hitzsperger will be greatly missed this year. O’Leary has them working hard for each other and playing nice football sometimes, but the season will take its toll on them and they need to improve their defensive displays, esp set pieces to compete seriously.
The two key additions have been good, but for such a small squad, they needed far more to be competitive. They will probably find themselves near the bottom of the chasing pack, dropping points when the squad becomes stretched. They will however be a threat to all the teams and when fully fit and on form, they are a match for anyone.

“Man USA win the heavy weight division…”

In the White corner - Bolton

This contender’s style is unorthodox and not pretty, but hard to go up against. This aging fighter has picked up experience throughout it many years and looks to make one last comeback before retirement. Will use his strength and height to his advantage whenever possible and always happy to slug out boring contests and win on points. Has elements that are unpopular with the crowd.

What can you say about Sam Allardyce Trotters, a bunch of misfits and no marks whose careers are on their lowest ebb. He picks them up for little or nothing and polishes the rough diamonds back up again to a semblance of former glories and puts them all together into a cosmopolitan line up, which just seems to pick up points.
Not a pretty side to watch and a nightmare to play against, Sam relies on a team work ethic and a reliance of big bruising forwards winning headers. Flair is provided in the now fading talent of Jay Jay Okocha. Pace and threat down the flack come from the surprise packet and Liverpool target (apparently) Stelios Giannakopoulos and fans favourite Diouf.
Borgetti is a great addition to the forward line and will be an able replacement for Davis as the large target man winning headers.

Don’t expect exciting football but do expect a reliance on set pieces to grind out results, week in and week out. I would say they lack the overall quality (plus the fact the squad is getting older) that will allow them to really push for a top six slot, but never count Big Sam out, they will always be there or there a bouts and a pain to play against to boot.

In the Red corner - Charlton

An underdog, a hard worker, who is persistent but lacks a killer blow. Quick out of the corner and strong over the first rounds, has always failed to have the stamina to keep it up till the final bell. Perhaps getting a little stale and ring weary.

Again an unspectacular side, but well drilled and know how to squeeze the points out of a game. From experience you can expect them to do very well up to around xmas and the slowly crumble from there on and drop down the table. Curbishley seems to be losing the faith of his fans as his side has become more and more stale over recent years. The new signings are not going to take them up a level (although I rate Ambrose and Bent is a great championship player, but can make the step up?) and to be honest I don’t think it is possible for them to, they will always be sniffing around a European spot but never quite make it. Murphy and on loan Smertin should make a decent central pairing but even if they provide service up to Jeffers and Bent are they going to be able to use it?

Kiely is a decent keeper and the defence fairly tight, but the team lacks the real quality and depth that is required to truly challenge.

This season I think they will fair worst than last and finish in the bottom half of the chasing pack.

In the Blue corner - Everton

Tough, ugly and boring. Can this contender deliver another sucker punch this time around and defy all odds and finish up taking out one of the big boys in the heavy weight decision again?

Credit to Moyes and his battlers. After selling Rooney and having a squad, that on paper, is championship level. Almost every pundit in the land and most people if they are honest considered they were in for a relegation dogfight. How wrong were we? A multitude of 1 nil wins and frankly diabolical to watch football they were high up the league. Then the sold Graveson, every pundit in the land predicted a fall from grace, again how wrong were we? Despite a rubbish run of results they still ground out enough points to stay ahead of their local rivals Liverpool and clinch that lucrative Champs League slot. All was rosy.
An un inspiring close season saw them pick up such football luminaries as Phil Neville (work horse and versatile), Simon Davies (never recaptured the form that attracted man U at spurs) and Per Kroldrup (solid defender). More importantly they made the Arteta (creative spark to the team) signing permanent and pinned down Cahill (goal machine from midfield) to a long term contract.
Kilbane was a surprise last year and a real asset to the system Everton play. Expect the same tough, boring matches from last year and with Beattie fit, it is like having a new player who, with good service will score many a goal.
The midfield is energetic and competitive and although I expect to see less 1 nil victories than last year they will still do well. They were also lucky last year on the injury front and if this year that luck changes, they will be in trouble.
It looks as though their European exploits may end before they really began, but in terms for the season it is a good thing, as it will be less of a strain on the thin squad.

These are a hard team to predict but I think, come the end of the season they will be near the top of the chasing pack.

In the Light Blue corner - Manchester City

A switch from flair to toe to toe slug outs has reaped dividends for this competitor, but will he be able to replace that lost magic.

Well done Pearce, you have instilled a bit of you own spirit in this side destined for the plunge and ended up rocketing toward Europe. It is an old scenario though; new manager takes over half way through the season, works magic and the team climbs up the table. Unfortunately the old scenario ends in the following season as the teams true colours show and end up doing far worse than under the previous manager.
Not always however, Moyes and to an extent Coleman have maintained the performance in the successive seasons (to varying levels of success) and I think Pearce has what it take to do the same. He hasn’t done himself any favours in losing SWP but its not like he had much choice in that matter. A solid defence in front of James, who is not consistent but still good, will be mean this year and not concede many. At the other end Vassel and Cole are a nice combination of pace and guile and even a Fowler in the shadow of his former self is still a good player. Add to that the ever improving BWP and you can also see them getting goals, that is of course, assuming their weak and uncreative midfield doesn’t get overrun.
With such crippling debts, Pearce will have to wheeler deal to get players in to plug the obvious gaps in the squad (money promised from the SWP sale but I doubt it). This will miss SWP and his match winning displays dreadfully this year.

I suspect they will battle hard all year but not really improve on last seasons finish and in fact probably finish lower this season.

“Big men, big challengers for the European slots, also nice shorts…”

In the Red corner - Middlesbrough

This un-pretty fighter seems to grow in stature each year, becoming stronger and more dangerous as time goes by, but how far will his uninspiring tactics take him?

Another team looking to bore the team to death, but unlike the others employing this tactic it isn’t through squad restraints, this is the financially backed master plan and it pains me to say has paid off. Despite fan unrest at the style of play, they can all be happy with the results at the end of the day. Comfortably making, improving on last season and winning a trophy make McClaren a standout for their most successful manager ever.

The style of play is suffocating, high work rate and men behind the ball. Be hard to score against and rely on set pieces and breaks to nick the odd goal. This works well with poor sides but with a team oozing talent it can be quite had to beat. Another season of spending has seen Yakubu arrive and with him a guaranteed 15-20 goals, for two seasons he has finished only behind Henry in the scoring charts, here he will get much better service. Mendieta’s return to fitness is as a new signing in itself, he will add a dimension to their play (long perfectly weighted passes) that will suit the style of play well for quick breaks, he will be very important this year.

Middlesbrough have a fairly solid squad as it is (albeit with an aging defence-imo their major weakness) and it is well supplemented with the glut of talented (and trophy winning at youth level) youngster coming through. Last year Downing emerged, but word has it that there are more where he came from of equal quality (James Morrison being the most heavily touted), if they can pick premiership minuets this term and learn from the pro’s around them they could all become key players in future seasons.

Despite their tactics being hard to watch, they are effective and for me, Middlesbrough will be the ones to beat. They look stronger each season and this one will be no different, they will grind away and collect the points however poor the game. They wont be popular, but I doubt the fans will care, its winning that counts apparently….

Brooding in the Black and White corner - Newcastle

Despite huge support, this competitor always seems to fail to deliver and give the performance his fans deserve; he has failed to win anything in living memory and has switched from the entertaining all out attacking displays to a much more negative and battling approach in search for glory, time will tell if its worth the sacrifice…

There is not much that hasn’t already been said about this rocky horror show of a club in the press, over recent years. Sheppard seems intent on ripping this club to pieces and in bringing in Souness he appears he has found the right man for the job. On paper they do have some decent players but the squad, like a piece of paper is incredibly thin and it is this that could be their downfall.

Signings such as Parker and Emre are top notch, if you can afford the wages. But there is no point adding quality to the side already over run and then removing players from places that are thread bare. Ok so Souness shouldn't’t have to put up with Bellamy or more to the point wasn’t able to handle him. Fair enough. Ok Kluivert was a flop, an expensive one, get rid, ok. No problem with Souness there, but to then not get any one else in? and spend money on midfield and freeze out Jenas!! Madness. Despite the class running through the team it is only a thin Black and White line that wont last a premiership season of bumps and bruises. As it stands there only out and out striker is 35 and past his best, the legend that is Shearer will score goals but can no longer carry the team. The midfield looks strong centrally but lacks quality width (youngsters like Milner and N'Zogbia look ok, but should not be starting games in the prem regularly). In defence I like the look of Taylor, a real star in the making, but a filthy player (Bowyer has taught him well), Boumsong is a liability and every good thing he does he counters with an error. Carr is adequate but not the player he was pre injury but the left back cover is laughable. Given as always is class

As Given himself said if you sell 6 players and bring in two you will struggle (paraphrasing of course), to add to that it was a small squad anyway and you have the makings of a crisis this season. If they don’t add maybe 5 + players in key positions (and as it stands they still have time to do so..) they will probably finish bottom of this challenging group. Although when they can put out a fully fit 11 they will be more than a match for all but the top teams, so a bit more luck this season, esp with injuries and they may find themselves higher.

“I would say lets get ready to rumble but the appears to be no crowd, is this Ashburton?..”

In the Lilly White corner and home favourite - Spurs

This sporting star reminds me of Tim Henman, every year he gets built up, only to fail in the semis. Could this time be different? He is looking young, mean and frankly in the best shape he’s been for a decade. Quick hands (finally) and a mean streak injected into an already solid base. Could this be his year, he is certainly the pundits tip this year?

At the end of last season it was clear we needed more bite in midfield and some pace on the wings, have all our Christmas’ come at once? We have a deep squad, which is the youngest in the premiership and can handle squad rotation and injuries and keep us fresh all year. This is a side packed with internationals and class. In Davids we have a world class player. There is a solid base in defence with Robbo in goal and a multitude of options in front we look solid and were very mean last year. Our midfield is packed and provides to option of switching tactics between 442 and 433. And our strike force is packed with options also. It isn’t obviously all rosy however, last year our away form was diabolical (Davids should help here) and there where grumblings of discontent about rotation in the squad. Too many points were lost in derby’s and to bottom 5 clubs. Jol's record in charge however is exemplary and if he can improve and utilise the additions to the squad (added pace in Routledge and tenacity and experience in Davids, Tainio and Stalteri) adequately we should rectify those problems. It looks likely that there will be further changes to the squad but nothing drastic or negative, all likely outcomes point to a further strengthening of the squad.

If Davids can live up to his billing and Jol can keep the large squad happy, Spurs will find themselves comfortably near the top of the chasing pack, exciting times for the fans indeed. Every single pundit predicts no less than 6th and I am not inclined to disagree.

The added Wildcard in the Blue and White corner - Blackburn

“Oh no not him, what’s he doing in this bunch..” this contender maybe the underdog and a dirty competitor but that’s what makes him dangerous…

Ok so another “anti football team” and a dirty one to boot (what else do you expect with a squad containing Savage and Dickov and now Bellamy and Kuqui) and lacking real quality, but this team will bite, scratch and battle their way up the league this season. With a high team work ethic they will make I hard for other teams to play and score against. With Bellamy upfront they will always pose a threat upfront and in Savage and Emerton they have energy in midfield. This could be Gamst Pederson season to shine. Friedel will always make it hard to score past and make them even tighter at the back.

These are a wildcard but I wouldn't’t be surprised to find them high up the table come the end of the season with a good shout for nicking a European squad.

In summary

It's clear that this should be one interesting match up and I can see these competitors slugging it out to the final bell with the possibility of a few being KO’ed by Christmas. This is still a very open fight and hard to call. It is sad to say however that the majority of the competitors rely on stifling tactics to get to the top, each to there own I s’pose, but I hope the winner does it with style, grace and eye to entertain, I hope the winner will be wearing Lilywhite…