With the arrival of superstar managers and players to the League coupled with the fact that most Premier League clubs have spent heavily this summer, the 2016/17 season is set to be one of the most keenly contested ever.
Leicester Start Defence of The Title On A Shaky Note.
The 5000-1 favourites last season surprised many when despite the odds, won the premier league title. Their manager, Claudio Ranieri, who was ridiculed because of his last job as Greece manager was tipped to get Leicester relegated after they just survived relegation the previous season under Nigel Pearson.
But he put his critics to shame and now the rest is history.
A new season is here now and Leicester have strengthened their squad but have however, lost arguably their most important player in N'Golo Kante who moved to Chelsea and was in action for Chelsea as they defeated West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
Their opponents last weekend was Hull City who are in a shambles at the moment. Their manager Steve Bruce resigned after leading the team back to the Premier League the first time of asking. When they faced Leicester last weekend, they had only 13 fit senior players. Care taker boss, Mike Phelan, didn't bother to make any substitutions during the match.
But instead of allowing the gloom in the boardroom to affect them, the players led by Captain, Curties Davies, were in inspirational form and shocked the Premier League defending champions with a 2-1 win.
As any title winning manager knows, it is more difficult to retain a title than to win one. Ranieri has an uphill task in retaining the title if he actually believes he can. The big boys have strengthened and have attempted to poach his best players. So far, Riyadh Mahrez is still a target for Arsenal. Jamie Vardy though, has extended his contract after Arsenal also tried to sign him.
Kante's absence was felt against Hull and the new recruits have to quickly step up their game. The trusted senior players and spine of the team, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth,Vardy and Mahrez have to quickly discover their form if they don't want to play catch up or worse, battle relegation...
Guardiola Starts Reign With Hard Fought Victory
Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach, Pep Guardiola, kicked off his reign as Manchester City boss with a last gasp victory over Sunderland as they laboured to a win with help from Sunderland defender, new signing Paddy McNair who put the ball behind his own net.
David Moyes was looking to stamp his influence on Sunderland and they typically provided gutsy performance which suggests that they might yet surprise some teams during the course of the season. Jermaine Defoe remains as dangerous as ever and who knows, his former boss Sam Allardyce might yet extend an England invitation if his current form continues.
Guardiola would need time for his philosophy to take root at City. There will be bumpy roads along the way but he remains most bookies and pundits favourite to win the title.
Then there is the situation of the future of some senior players. Joe Hart was on the bench in the game against Sunderland while Willy Caballero was given the nod and now rumours are rife that Joe Hart might eventually be sold if Guardiola is able to sign Barcelona's Claudio Bravo. Yaya Toure was not even in the match day squad so also Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala.
The Game Of The Weekend Lives Up To The Hype
The big game of the weekend was the fixture between Arsenal and Liverpool which was filled with great entertainment, wonderful goals and drama.
Walcott missed a penalty, then found the back of the net shortly after. Phillipe Coutinho scored a contender for goal of the weekend with his excellent free kick to draw Liverpool level while Liverpool in the second half raced to a 4-1 lead With Sadio Mane scoring on his debut with a wonderful individual goal.
Then there was the Arsenal fight back which ended with Liverpool managing to hold on for a 4-3 win instead of strolling to victory.
Arsenal need to be commended for their fight back when all seemed to be lost and when it appeared they were in danger of another capitulation Arsenal fans are very familiar with. Liverpool without the injury prone Daniel Sturridge showed great attacking ability and if this game is used as a reference point, then expect Liverpool to score many goals this season under the charismatic Jurgen Klopp.
For Arsenal, the same old questions remain. The question of spending big and solving the striker situation remains unanswered. We should remember though, that in the last 4 seasons Arsenal have lost 3 of the opening fixtures at the Emirates but have still ended up in the top 4. If anything, expect the Gunners again to end up in the top 4.
Sparing A Thought For The Dream Team
Nigeria takes on Germany in the semi finals of the Olympics soccer event in midweek. Since it is unlikely the team will be able to stop the Germans from scoring, this is hoping the team will be clinical when the opportunities come and out score the German machine.
This is wishing Samson Siasia and John Obi Mikel the best of luck. They are going to need it.
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