Premier League: Issues to address this season

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  • The new Premier League season is nearly upon us and if Leicester City pulled off a miracle to win the title last season, they’ll need an even bigger one to defend it this time around.

    Here’s some concerns that teams need to look into this season.

    Can Leicester defend their title?

    It is three months since Leicester City won the Premier League. The sentence is worthy of repetition because it still leads to disbelief.

    The Foxes benefitted from much of the league’s elite being in total dissaray but they still only lost three games all season, bettering nine of the last 10 champions.

    To expect that again is almost as outrageous as suggesting they were anything other than relegation battlers at this stage 12 months ago. Claudio Ranieri’s platoon remains – minus the many legs of N’Golo Kante – but the dangers come in many forms: managing the Champions League, integrating new signings, ensuring the players he’s retained from last season maintain their hunger and a league significantly strengthened; at least at the top.

    Ranieri possesses the sort of temperament to maintain an air of calm, no matter how the season is going, while their transfer work has been positive in helping deal with the influx of new matches that must be prepared for. The fact remains, however, everyone around them is stronger and to get anywhere near their feats of last term they will have to go up another level.

    What affect will Mourinho have Old Trafford?

    Already the arrival of the Portuguese hero/villain – depending on your persuasion – has had a seismic effect with the arrivals of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (arguably the three best players in Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga last season) and the returning of the club to its rightful position as the most disliked in English football.

    It’s a moniker United fans revel in, as the famous banner at Old Trafford reading, ‘Hated, adored, never ignored’ had begun to look out of place during the anemic reigns of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal which had started to reduce the club to a laughing stock, or worse, an irrelevance.

    Mourinho is a man who collects league titles like he does adversaries: eight in his last 12 seasons but he has certainly lost some of his stardust following last season’s chaos at Chelsea.

    It is the second club Mourinho has left, amid tales of dressing room discontent, and how he reshapes a United squad left criminally imbalanced takes more than just cash and big names. Wayne Rooney’s role, which could directly affect the effectiveness of Pogba, needs careful management as do the likesof Michael Carrick, Daley Blind and Juan Mata – popular figures in the squad who, long-term, certainly don’t feature in his plans.

    History tells us he’s likely to succeed, but the past also reveals how combustible he can be.

    How quickly can Guardiola reshape City?

    Pep Guardiola is a manager who wants complete control, an aspect of his personality that didn’t always sit right with certain members of the board at Bayern Munich and even Barcelona in his later days.

    For now, at least, at City he will be given both time and money to turn around a talented but flawed group of players into the powerhouse they’ve been promising for so long.

    It won’t be easy, though. Doubts remain whether Joe Hart is the right goalkeeper for his style of play.

    Defensively, Vincent Kompany’s injury problems present a problem in that the Belgian, when fit, is indispensible but played just 12 league games last season. Does he redesign his back-four around John Stones, or wait for Kompany?

    Guardiola appears to think he can smooth the rough edges out of Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala but that change won’t be immediate, while City’s ageing full-backs lack the pace and drive of a David Alaba or Dani Alves. In midfield he has a wealth of talent but no central partner for Fernandinho, until Ilkay Gundogan is passed fit; while the emphasis on Sergio Aguero to score the bulk of their goals remains.

    He’ll surely get there eventually; but how quickly will determine City’s league position come May 21.

    How adaptable is Conte?

    There is no doubting Antonio Conte is a fine manager; as his rejuvenation of Juventus was spectacular while his ability to draw the most out of a limited Italy side admirable.

    But the rapid shift from Italian football to the English game won’t give him much time to get settled; especially at a club like Chelsea where a dressing room revolt is only around the corner.

    Certainly the Blues squad remains very strong but there are some serious holes that need filling, primarily in defence, so often the calling card of the best Chelsea teams in the Roman Abramovich era. Thankfully, they have a manager who’s stock-in-trade has been, amongst other things, building and organising a defensive unit.

    Conte has traditionally been an advocate of a back-three – a defensive system often frowned upon in England, but has also experimented with a 4-2-4 in pre-season. A lack of European football will give him a little more flexibility and time to think in between games – something Conte does better than most.

    Has Spurs’ moment passed?

    It seems strange to think that the Premier League’s youngest squad may have missed their best opportunity to win the title, but that is the scenario potentially facing Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs.

    They will be a season older and a season wiser but with City, United and Chelsea all looking decidely more imposing it will take a mammoth effort to match such a charge.

    They remain a very good team back to front, with Victor Wanyama beefing up a midfield that often looked more pretty than powerful. Vincent Janssen will be assigned at reducing Harry Kane’s goalscoring workload, especially with the physical demands Pochettino puts on his players.

    What is paramount is how they start the season; given they won just three of their opening nine games last term.

    Will Wenger go out kicking and screaming?

    All signs point to this being Arsene Wenger’s final campaign in charge – minimal summer investment coupled with the fact he’s out of contract in 10 months. The Frenchman has also been talking of potential retirement, albeit not directly relating to Arsenal. Either way, this could be the end of an era in north London and how they finish could, in part, define Wenger’s legacy.

    For all his success, latter campaigns have seen cliches become fact, with the Gunners consistently under-equipped mentally and in terms of personnel to mount a consistent title challenge.

    Liverpool v Arsenal - Premier League

    They somehow finished runnersup in May but, other than pipping Spurs to the position, it was a hollow success given how little pres-sure they put on Leicester.

    There is plenty to get excited about in this squad – Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey off the back of Euro 2016 plus the continuation of Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin’s development – but ultimately the problems of last season don’t appear to have been solved. Olivier Giroud remains their only No9 and they’re simply not good enough in central defence.

    Wenger may depart with the same old questions ringing around the Emirates stands.

    How are Klopp’s Liverpool?

    League finishes of sixth and eigth have left Liverpool on the outside looking in and their status in English football is perhaps best represented by their work in the transfer market this summer. Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joel Matip are undoubtedly good players but not the world class talent that once flooded towards Anfield.

    Their trump card is the bespectacled man on the touchline whose fast-paced brand of football has now had 10 months to get tuned-up, and the Reds will surely record some noteworthy results.

    Jurgen Klopp can only do so much, especially in a Premier League bursting with so much quality, and individually 1-11 Liverpool’s team doesn’t quite look able to compete with the league’s elite.

    Much can change between now and August 31 and one or two eye- catching additions could change the complexion of the starting XI but an awful lot rests on Klopp’s tactical brain and the hi-octane risk/reward football he preaches.

    Who’s joining Hull in the Championship?

    Hull are a disaster area and probably the least well-prepared team in top flight history.

    Currently their first-team squad stands at nine, while no replacement for Steve Bruce looks forthcoming with the manager who led them to promotion resigning on July 22. Added to that, there has been zero investment in the player squad as the club are in the middle of protracted takeover talks. Even the most diehard fan would forecast anything other than rock bottom at this moment.

    The relegation battle in a wider sense could be just as tightly-fought and unpredictable as the battle atthe top with Burnley’s squad limited; Swansea selling all their best players not named Gylfi Sigurdsson; Aitor Karanka’s position as Middlesbrough manager inconsistent, to say the least; Crystal Palace now more than 12 months into a search for a decent striker; David Moyes trying to build a team at Sunderland inside a month; West Brom lacking in the final third and Watford more exciting in the transfer market than on the pitch.

    ROTHERHAM, ENGLAND - JULY 23: The Sunderland manager, David Moyes waves to the fans after a Pre-Season Friendly match between Rotherham United and Sunderland at AESSEAL New York Stadium on July 23, 2016 in Rotherham, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

    ROTHERHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 23: The Sunderland manager, David Moyes waves to the fans after a Pre-Season Friendly match between Rotherham United and Sunderland at AESSEAL New York Stadium on July 23, 2016 in Rotherham, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

    Maybe there is hope for Hull, after all.

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