A fresh Season - soccer analysis for 2012-2013

A new season is here and teams are raring to go!

After an action packed summer, Euro 2012 and big transfer coups, lets look at what we can expect from the top* teams across Europe.

Premier:League:

Manchester United - 

Major Action - The RVP coup and the capture of Shinji Kagawa

Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney in a training session

Image courtesy: manutd.com

What to expect - RVP and Wazza at their peak are sure to be most lethal strike force in the world. Europe awaits an explosion this season!!!

Chelsea -

Major Action - Capture of Hazard, Marin and Oscar

Eden Hazard unveiled by Chelsea

Image courtesy: chelseafc.com

What to expect - A busy summer for the Blues promises a bright future for the team, albeit if Di Matteo can find the right mix of first team regulars.

Arsenal -

Major Action - Loss of RVP and the signing of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla. Song may go too!

Arsenal trio-signings (clockwise from top) - Giroud, Podolski and Cazorla
Image courtesy:  Arsenal.com

What to expect - the loss of RVP will leave a big hole and only time will tell if the new recruits can make good for it! Not much can be expected though and Tottenham and Liverpool will look to take this chance to break into the top four.

Manchester City -

Major Action - None

Carlos Tevez
Image courtesy: mcfc.com

What to expect - City have had a quite summer after only signing Rodwell so far. Oh yes, Tevez is as good as a new signing too!

La Liga:

Real Madrid -

Major Action - Expected to sign Modric

Luka Modric
Image courtesy: Tottenhamhotspur.com

What to expect - The Spanish players in Real will hope to emulate their form for the national team. Murinho has a fantastic squad in place already and the signing of Modric will only make the team stronger. Serious contenders for the Champions League crown.

Barcelona -

Major Action - Departure of Pep Guardiola and capture of Jordi Alba. Song expected to sign too.

Jordi Alba

Image courtesy: fcbarcelona.com

What to expect - The departure of the talismanic coach may be a little too much for the team. Also the ageing (and replacement) of veterans Puyol and Xavi is another concern. The defense needs to be strengthened further. real may again be a big thorn.

Valencia -

Major Action - Loss of Jordi Alba and signing of Fernando Gago

Gago

Image courtesy:  Fernandogago.org

What to expect - The explosive full back was a crucial part of the team and will be difficult to replace. Otherwise a decent team. Should make it to the top four again.

Malga -

Major Action - Loss of Cazorla

What to expect - The financial problems of the team has created problems. Not much can be expected.

Bundesliga:

Borussia Dortmund -

Major Action - Loss of Shinji Kagawa and capture of Marco Reus

Maro Reus

Image courtesy:  bvb.de

What to expect - The team are a force in Germany but yet need to find their feet in Europe. Reus is a promising signing and should help Dortmund in their week area - Goal scoring in Europe. Should give Bayern a run for their money again.

Bayern Munich -

Major Action - Signing of Mandzukic. Expected signing of Martinez.

Javi Martinez

Image courtesy:  wikimedia.org

What to expect - Bayern need to find their feet again after enduring a trophyless season. With a very potent attack, Martinez should be a very good addition for the leaky Bayer defense, which was one of the primary causes of the trophyless season.

Borussia Mönchengladbach -

Major Action - Loss of Reus and signing of Luuk de Jong.

Javi Martinez
Image courtesy:  Mönchengladbach.com

What to expect - Consistency and perseverance help Gladbach last season. The loss of Reus though should be a bad blow.

Schalke 04 -

Major Action - Loss of Raul

What to expect - With the like of Huntelaar and youngsters like Holtby, Schalke have a decent team and should stand a respectable chance to secure a top four finish again.

Seria A:

Juventus -

Major Action - Capture of Lucio and Pogba

Paul Pogba
Image courtesy: Juventus.com

What to expect - Juventus were a force in Italy last season. With the weakening of AC Milan, they will hope to defend the League title. A sccessful Euro 2012 campaign will only boost the morale their of key players like Pirlo and Marchisio.

AC Milan -

Major Action - Loss of Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic

What to expect - The loss of the duo leaves not a hole but a crater in the team. Looks like the team will endure a difficult season.

Udinese -

Major Action - None

What to expect - Many hoped in Italy for Lazio to qualify for the Champions league due to their stupendous performances in Europe. Udinese should face similar heat Lazio this season too.

League 1:

PSG -

Major Action - Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura and Marco Verrati

Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic
Image courtesy: PSG

What to expect - Les Parisians have spent Big in the summer. Genuine contenders for the League title. Should expect to go some distance in the Champions League too.

Montpellier -

Major Action - Loss of star striker Giroud to Arsenal

What to expect - The League 1 Champions will look to emulate their impressive form of last season, but with the financial might of PSG, it would be difficult to defend the crown.

Lille -

Major Action - Loss of Eden Hazard and return of Joe Cole to Liverpool. Signed Kalou.

What to expect - Their wizard, French Player of the year and creator in chief has departed and that leaves a hole in the Lille that would be difficult to fill in. Lille still remain a club to be beaten and should finish in the top three.

Seems like there is lots of action in store, especially on the European stage in the Champions League.

Enjoy the new season!!!



*Top clubs here refers to only Champions League qualifying clubs, for simplicity sake.

Pepe Guardiola quits Barcelona

A tumultuous week for Barcelona it seems.
First a loss to Real Madrid, then ouster from the Champions League at the hands of a struggling Chelsea and now the Manager/Coach departing. All certainly are major blows for the Catalans.

Photo courtesy: http://www.fcbarcelona.com/

A couple of questions that immediately pop in everyone's mind:

1. Who replaces him?

2. Where will he go from here?

The immediate answer to the first one is Tito Vilanova.
But can the assistant coach fill in the void left in by the head coach?
That only time can tell. (Di Matteo is only one example to prove that.)
Athletic Bilbao main man Bielsa was touted as a replacement for Pep for his tactical and attacking approach to the game, but for now, we will have to wait and see if Mr. Rosell needs to approach Bielsa any time soon!

To answer the second question is rather difficult. The coach himself says that he will walk away from football for sometime and perhaps return later. But his immense success at Barcelona means plenty of clubs await with open arms in each top country.

In Italy both the Milanese clubs have been struggling for quite some time now to find the perfect coach. It had been rumored earlier too that Inter were in private talks with Guardiola to hand him the hot seat and that Guardiola too had expressed interest in taking over the helm.

In England, Chelsea are performing surprisingly well under interim coach Di Matteo, but Abramovich will be on the alert to land in someone of the status and caliber of Joseph Gurdiola.
Besides Chelsea, even Manchester United will be keen to track the developments as Sir Alex Ferguson's age has been a worry for many a pundits.

In France, the newly rich PSG have installed Ancelotti, but if they fail to lift the League 1 title this season than Ancelotti's days will surely be numbered and the club owners would definitely try to turn all the stones in the way upside down to get Pep.

That said,
Another big question that cannot be answered is obviously the fate of Barcelona without Guardiola.
From the exterior it seems that he has left a good enough squad that can still compete for major trophies, but a little deeper analysis will show how the mix of an ageing squad (Xavi, Puyol, Villa, Iniesta, etc) and the lack of enough firepower besides Messi can pull down Barcelona from the heights it has scaled in recent years.

Pep had a chance to achieve at Barcelona what Sir Alex Ferguson did at United. Build and rebuild great squads. It surely couldn't have been better than Barcelona with its enviable and probably the best youth set up in Europe!
He must surely have better ideas for himself!

For now we can only say Good Luck to him and the Clubs, Barca for one and the all the ones awaiting to grasp the opportunity for the rest.

Top billings - Feb 25 - 26, 2012

After a super Midweek filled with exciting Champions League and Europa League action, the domestic leagues will now be back in action.

Top billing of the week - AC Milan vs Juventus

The battle between the Serie A heavyweights will be intense as the two teams continue to battle for the top spot. Pirlo, the ex Milan man, will undoubtedly draw a lot of attention from the Milan faithfuls as he returns to San Siro!
Fixture: 7.45pm GMT, Saturday
Other good Fixture: Napoli vs Internazionale


Top Billing in La Liga - Atletico Madrid - Barcelona!
Barcelona are off pace this season and this game will be no easy encounter.
Fixture: 8.30pm GMT, Sunday
Other good Fixtures: Valencia vs Sevilla

Top Billing in Premier League - Arsenal vs Tottenham
After tumbling out of the FA cup and a being thrashed 4 - 0 in the Champions League tie at San Siro, Arsenal will look to put their troubles behind them and try to narrow the wide gap in the League between them and the third placed Spurs.
Fixture: 1.30pm GMT, Saturday
Note: The game between Liverpool and Everton has been postponed as the Reds take on Cardiff City in the Carling Cup Final on Sunday, 26th February, 2012 at Wembley.


Top Billing in Bundesliga - Bayern Munich vs Schalke
With just a point difference between the Bavarians and Schalke, this game will be a game changer for both the teams.
Fixture: 2.30pm GMT, Sunday
Other good Fixtures: Dortmund vs Hannover

Top Billing in League 1 - Lyon vs PSG
The last time the two teams met this season in their League 1 encounter, the game ended in a 1 -1 draw.
Fixture: 8pm GMT, Saturday
Other good Fixtures: Montpellier vs Bordeaux!

A super weekend with Big ties in Italy, England, France and Germany!

Review - Dec 26 - 27, 2011

Plenty of Action on Boxing Day!

Five star United, again!
After last weeks 5 - 0 thrashing of Fulham, United continue the scoring spree. This time Berba scores a hat-trick while Park and Valencia too get on the score sheet to put Wigan to the blade in an entertaining 5 - 0 victory.

At the Hawthorns, Manchester City find it difficult to break the deadlock and salvage only a single point versus West Brom.

While this draw puts United joint top with City in the rankings table, the Citizens would surely now feel more heat with only the goal difference keeping them ahead of United.

Elsewhere Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all draw their matches.

Chelsea draw 1 - 1 with Fulham - Scorers - Mata and Dempsey

Arsenal draw 1 - 1 with Wolves - Scorers - Grevinho and Fletcher

Liverpool draw 1 - 1 with Blackburn Rovers - Scorers - Adam (own goal) and Maxi

Bale fires a brace and the only goals in Tottenham's 2- 0 rout of Norwich City. The flying winger keeps imposing his authority and remains a major threat for opposing teams.

The next set of action on the New Years weekend!