Chelsea’s Didier Drogba starts the English Premier League season with another brace of goals. (AP Photo/Paul White)
What must England manager Fabio Capello have been thinking as he watched a Joe Hart masterclass against Tottenham, with the Manchester City goalkeeper demonstrating his prodigious talent with a wonderful display of shot stopping?
The 23-year-old was preferred in goal to last season’s incumbent Shay Given, and they might as well have renamed Tottenham’s atmospheric old ground “Joe Hart Lane” after the young goalkeeper’s heroics.
Hart was superb in the scoreless draw, but City’s failure to get on the scoresheet despite their summer spending spree raises questions of whether the Premier League will once again descend into a two-horse race.
Forget about the so-called big four: last season Arsenal finished a distant ten points behind second placed Manchester United, while basketcase Liverpool limped into seventh.
Neither the Gunners, nor the Reds look especially well equipped to flourish this time around, suggesting that the nouveau riche of Manchester City and Harry Redknapp’s old school English brigade may prove just as likely to provide a genuine challenge.
But if Chelsea’s 6-0 demolition of promoted side West Bromwich Albion is anything to go by, we could be in for another predictable Premier League campaign.
Didier Drogba was the familiar destroyer, as the Ivorian helped himself to a hat-trick thanks to some generous defending from the West Brom back four and a telling contribution from close friend Florent Malouda.
If Chelsea looked imperious then West Brom looked dreadful at the back, and plenty more teams will suffer the wrath of the Blues’ attacking force if they defend as Roberto Di Matteo’s outmatched Albion side did.
Perhaps Aston Villa can once again threaten to break the hegemony at the top of the English pyramid, although they will have to put behind them the shock departure of long-time manager Martin O’Neill.
His caretaker replacement Kevin MacDonald made the job look easy in Saturday’s 3-0 win over hapless West Ham, but whomever replaces O’Neill in the long term, they will have to do without Manchester City-bound midfielder James Milner.
It’s become something of a trend for cashed up City to snatch players from middling teams around them – this is a club Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott and Roque Santa Cruz call home, after all – and the penchant for stocking their squad at the expense of others has weakened those below them.
Meanwhile, the likes of Bolton, Wolves and West Ham could all struggle once again, although undoubtedly not many expected newcomers Blackpool to thrash Wigan Athletic in such comprehensive fashion, after the Seasiders belted a woeful Wigan side 4-0 on their travels.
Blackpool’s tiny home ground only houses 12,555 fans – although a temporary stand will bring that capacity to over 17,000 for the new season – as the north-western outfit enjoy their first campaign in the top flight since 1971.
Avoiding relegation is the mantra for Blackpool’s colourful man in charge Ian Holloway, but elsewhere fans of some of the top tier teams will hope that someone can break up the duopoly of Manchester United and Chelsea.
One has to go back to Arsene Wenger’s unbeaten Arsenal side of 2003-04 to uncover a different name on the Premier League trophy, and the world’s most watched competition is in danger of becoming a bore should United and Chelsea dominate once again.
It would take a brave soul to bet on the likes of Tottenham or Aston Villa to go storming up the table, but that’s arguably what the Premier League needs if it is to maintain its image as the world’s most popular football league.
Only time will tell just who will thrive in the 2010-11 Premier League campaign, so here’s hoping for an enjoyable ride the whole way through.
David V.
Guest
Mister Football words it well. We are not "stereotyping" when we can make factual observations on how fans tend to think. Because falling for these cliches without challenging them is what's hindering our progress as a football nation. It'll make the game here and our league like the old WWF.
Mister Football
Guest
No, I don't see it. If you have any doubts, dare to nominate a British manager to take over the Socceroos and see what you get back. But nominate a no name German, who has never lasted more than 18 months at any single club, well, that's all right!
chocolatecoatedballs
Guest
my prediction is chelsea man u arsenal man city totnam liverpool what say you all?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
*Sigh*, I shouldn't have to write this. It's akin to explaining the punchline of a joke. The irony is that you are both arguing that Australian football fans are subject to stereotyping and making broad brush stroke comments. In doing this you are stereotyping Australian football fans and making broad brush stroke comments. The double irony is that you are Australian football fans doing this, which creates a paradox. If you are doing this yourselves then you have proved your own point, the problem is your point is that such analysis fails to prove any points. [insert drum roll and cymbal clash here]
Colin N
Guest
So?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
probably less than know that Ba is the heartland of Fijian football. A bit left field there David.
Mister Football
Guest
No, I don't see the irony. I am supporting David V's opinion that many Australian soccer fans fall into a set way of thinking, with minimal analysis and evidence, that becomes almost unshakeable. For years now we've heard how we are modelling ourselves on the Dutch system. Are we? What is it exactly? In the World Cup final, it looked to me as if Holland had modelled itself on the Australian system! (not that there's anything wrong with that) Many on here are probably very willing to provide a catch-all derogatory descriptor of the Championship, as one example, but David V would be able to point out those teams who are very well managed and who attempt to play what we might broadly describe a "passing game" - but I suspect very few on this board would accept that, reaching a conclusion on minimal evidence, based purely on supposition and bias.
David V.
Guest
And that is as good an example as any. How many people know that Scottish club side Stirling Albion were the first club side from the UK to tour Japan?
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
That must be why I ended up with Shimizu S-Pulse...
David V.
Guest
But a breakthrough to the CL places can strengthen a club's standing to the point it may become a contender.
David V.
Guest
Beautifully said. We all follow our clubs for a myriad of reasons, but more often than not, cannot explain why because we don't choose to support our clubs wherever in the world they may be.
Colin N
Guest
It does, but concentrating on the Champions League only happens for the top teams when they are out of the title race. Manchester United didn't go, after they finished second on the last day of the season: "Great! We've finished second and we're in the Champions League."
Art Sapphire
Guest
Ben - the two are a match made in heaven.- the English soccer fan who reckons that there are too many "foreigners" in the Old Dart and the "foreigner" who hates soccer fans and is now convinced I am Foz. Only in Australia and on The Roar :)
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Mike,I am not so sure about the EPL "becoming a bore" For the fans of all the teams every season is a new journey. For some it is surviving,others it is to avoid relegation. For the likes of Chelsea and man U it is about winning the treble. These are all compelling narratives and with enough twists to keep everyone interested till the final game. I have followed Spurs for 50 years and have been disappointed many times. But you never give up on them and the first twenty minutes on Saturday whetted the appetite. Spurs could have been 3-0 after 20 minutes and I look forward to the rest of their season. I am sure the fans of Blackpool,West Ham,Birmingham et al would all be wishing their teams well. The beauty of the EPL is that it is not just about the top 2. Boring ,definitely not.
David V.
Guest
But to further on Mister Football's "group think"- is it because people simply don't "get" football, or because of a lack of balanced media that is neither Fox nor SBS?
Roger Rational
Guest
Yes, Albrighton looked quite good as well. Trevor Brooking seems to think that the England U17s are as good as anything in Europe, so perhaps we'll see more young talent emerging over the next couple of years.
David V.
Guest
But how many of those are English mate? Precious few compared to what I used to see. It would be better if clubs found what allowed good players to be produced so we can see a real "Golden Generation" instead of this fraud. At least Wilshire, Johnson, Henderson, Rodwell, etc give me some hope.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Do either of you see the irony in your comments?
Roger Rational
Guest
You know what, I reckon the EPL is levelling out. I think it was Richard Scudamore (the Chief Exec of the EPL) who recently made the point that the increase in overseas rights revenue (which amounts to about £5m extra per club) is much more useful for a smaller club than a bigger club. So now we see players like Zigic, who a year ago was being linked with Arsenal, signing for ...wait for it... Birmingham City. There are some absolutely cracking players outside the "Big 4". Meanwhile, Chelsea and Man Utd are, if anything, weaker than in any previous seasons - so I don't really see the logic for Mike's pessimism. So let's just be thankful that the egalitarian, TV money sharing EPL is so much more competitive and interesting than the selfish, TV money hoarding duopoly that is La Liga.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
the Champion's League does help the coffers somewhat though. Liverpool admitted as much.