Kevin Leonard's Premier League preview - 2010/11

The Football Front’s senior writer, Kevin Leonard, gives us a preview of the Premier League, ahead of its big kick off this weekend.

Ladies and gentleman, it is back. The Premier League is back! The 20 best teams in the country (or the 19 best this season with one from Wales) all playing each other over 9 months of grueling passion, misery, suspense, ecstasy and excitement. It’s brilliant to have it back.

Naturally we all want to know exactly what will happen, who will finish where and ultimately who is going to be champions. This is why I am here, to give you the answers you so richly crave.

Let's start with addressing everyone’s favourite part of the Premier League, who is going down!

Relegation candidates (20^th – 15^th):

Other than Wigan’s first season in the Premier League they have never finished in the top half. The last two campaigns have finished with the Latics in 16^th and spending most of the season flirting with relegation. Having just sold Charles N’Zogbia to Aston Villa, one would think they will be in danger again.

Blackburn, we were led to believe have a coup of wealth at their disposal. Yet after selling Phil Jones to Manchester United their only arrivals so far have been David Goodwille and Myles Anderson. The later is a 20 year old defender whom Blackburn recruited from Leyton Orient on a free transfer. Based on this, unless some more talent is added to the ranks, even the most optimistic of fans could not see anything but relegation contention again this season. These two blue and white clubs, in my humble yet questionable opinion, I expect to drift from the rest and make up the base of the Premier league table.

Above them, in what we hope is an exciting fight to avoid the third relegation spot are a cluster of teams that could easily finish mid table as well. I would expect Wolves to be in the reckoning given whenever they are in the Premiership that’s where they always are. Survival may be a little more comfortable this season with the addition of Roger Johnson from Birmingham.

Bolton are a side that have been over hyped recently, after allegedly playing “good football” under Owen Coyle. When in actual fact they were third in the table of long balls played last season and still average fairly low possession statistics. For all the compliments they have received under Coyle’s management he did only manage a 14^th place finish in 2010/11. They could be one of the surprise strugglers indeed.

Norwich and QPR both who have just been promoted from the Championship will more than likely struggle and spend most of the campaign from about 20^th to 13^th. QPR now have the scoring capabilities of “England International” Jay Bothroyd, and with Abdel Taarabt more likely to stay with the London club, one should expect the title winning squad from last season to be good enough to avoid the drop.

Norwich however do not have a playmaker like Taarabt and they also do not have the available funds QPR will have in January should things look ominous. They do have a very well educated manager in Paul Lambert who earned his coaching qualifications in Germany. Which should make him a little more competent tactically than the likes of Ian Holloway. Whilst I can’t see the Canaries looking doomed early on, I can see happening in May.

Mid table (14^th -9^th):

Given Newcastle’s love for repeatedly pushing the self destruct button it has hard to see top half success for them this season. Twitter rants from Joey Barton and Josè Enrique show that the club is once again in turmoil. The free sale of Barton is pending on any club simply making an offer, Enrique is expected to leave soon after. Not to forget Kevin Nolan has already been sold to West Ham. The club's highest profile arrival so far has been Demba Ba.

Sunderland were one of the worst teams in the league in the second half of last season. The black cats lost 10 of their final 14 games and looked a hopeless cause without Darren Bent. They will now also be without Danny Welbeck but the arrival of former Man Utd boys John O’Shea and Wes Brown should make them a tough side to score against this season. Without a prolific striker or particularly exciting midfielders, mid table seems were they will end up.

The midlands trio of Aston Villa, Stoke and West Brom are expected to be with Newcastle and Sunderland. Nothing there spells relegation but at the same time nothing suggests a finish in the European spots.

Swansea may be the surprise package of the season. Brendan Rodgers worked under Josè Mourinho at Chelsea and has implicated the tactics of that Chelsea side into his own project with Swansea City. A very well put together 4-3-3 system which resulted in them having the best defence at home in the Championship last season. The fans will play an important role at the Liberty Stadium, as national pride will come into play with Swansea being the first Welsh team to play in the Premiership. The 19 English sides will face a tough test in every one of Swansea’s home games. Away from home they will lose their fair share coming up against quality not experienced before but don’t be surprised to see them comfortably in mid table throughout the season.

Wanted/Unwanted Europa League contention (8^th-6^th):

Tottenham, Everton and Fulham are just good enough to be ahead of the rest in the midtable positions. Everton have been as quiet as a ninja in the transfer market, they have not brought anyone but they also have not let anybody important go. Arteta, Cahill, Howard, Bilyaletdinov, Beckford and Hetinga are all still present. Whilst they may start off badly as Everton usually do, they always seem to find consistency and finish higher than what we expect them to.

Fulham will come as a surprise to a few people I think. They have a manager who was wrongly dismissed by Spurs back in 2007. An interesting tale of the season may just be him battling with his old employers to pip them to a Europa League spot.

Daniel Levy has been a little over ambitious in the transfer window, making bid for the likes of Juan Mata who is currently captain of a side already in the Champions League. One must wonder why he would trade that in to get to where he already is.

Champions League Contenders (5^th-3^rd):

Chelsea could disappoint a few people this season. They do have a very good new manager in Andres Villas Boas who won virtually everything with FC Porto last season. Villas Boas’ Porto also became league champions of Portugal without losing a single game. My scepticism comes from a somewhat ageing squad. Drogba, Lampard, Cole, Malouda, Anelka and Terry are all into their 30s now.

Chelsea did finish in second last season but let us not forget last season the champions finished with the lowest points total of any since 1967, to finish second does not suggest they will go onwards and upwards this campaign. The blues did spend a lot of time outside the top 4 during 2010/11 as well. While Liverpool and the Manchester clubs get stronger with the signings they have made, Chelsea remains inactive so far.

On the subject of Liverpool, we may see them even amount a title challenge for a while this season. Ultimately winning the league may be a stretch too far but the reds are shaping into a very impressive outfit.

Luis Suarez is one of the best strikers in the World, not a bad goalkeeper either. He scored goals with Ajax, Uruguay and already in his short Anfield career. Suarez, Carroll and Kuyt up front backed up by Meireles and Gerrard in midfield promises at the very least Liverpool will score a lot of goals this coming season. Those goals should be enough to get them back into the Champions League.

Arsenal are a little difficult to gage, a lot depends on where Nasri and Fabregas are playing come September 1^st. Should they stay, we can at least be sure Arsenal will maintain a place in the Champions League. If the Gunners are to have realistic title ambitions, central defenders and goalkeepers must be added. In terms of the goalkeeping issue, they perhaps do not require one to replace Szczesny but they are simply an injury away from having Almunia or Fabianski in goal again.

Arsenal always seem to be just a few players away from being up there with the title contenders but it seems the same story for them as it is for Chelsea. Liverpool and the Manchester Clubs appear to be improving whilst Arsenal remain just good enough to finish higher than Tottenham but not good enough to go onto the next level.

I think this is where we will see the season’s most compelling battle. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will eventually come to a situation where it will be any two of these three to finish in the Champions League spots.

The Top (1^st & 2^nd):

The Previous paragraph of course means, again in my humble opinion, that Manchester City will be challenging for the title. We all knew it had to happen someday, may as well be now! The eventual sale of Tevez will not hinder the big spenders at all if Sergio Aguero plays anything like we know he can. Aguero is a strong striker with pace and excellent finishing that has frightened La Liga defences ever since he arrived in Spain.

The addition of Gael Clichy is a clever one, given his time at Arsenal we know he will deliver excellent crossing from the left hand side. The young Serbian Savic also appears to be a good, slightly dirty, defender based on what I saw live at the Dublin Super Cup.

These players will ensure that Champions League football will not be too much of a strain on the squad. The quality from last season is still great too, the likes of David Silva, Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure, Vincent Komany, Joe Hart etc should see City at the very least challenge their neighbours for the Premiership crown.

Last but by some opinions least we come to Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson may be a lot of things but one thing he is not is stupid. He knows exactly what Manchester United were last season. He knows that the same points total will not win him the league this coming season. He has wasted no time in replacing Edwin Van Der Sar with David De Gea. Ashley Young is at last at a big club, no disrespect Watford or Aston Villa, and he will finally become the World Class player he has the potential to be.

Rumour has it Manchester United have had their bid for Wesley Sneijder accepted by Inter, should they convince him to sign they will certainly have a replacement for Paul Scholes. A better player in fact Man Utd fans! The speculation over Sneijder and the addition of Young along with the sale of Brown and O’Shea may actually mean United will be an attractive team to watch this season.

Last season they did finish as Champions but aside from their own fans nobody enjoyed watching them. Hopefully at least if they do win the league again we can look at them from a neutral point of view and enjoy it somewhat.

League Prediction:

1) Manchester City

2) Manchester United

3) Liverpool

4) Arsenal

5) Chelsea

6) Fulham

7) Tottenham

8) Everton

9) Swansea

10) West Brom

11) Stoke

12) Aston Villa

13) Sunderland

14) Newcastle

15) QPR

16) Wolves

17) Bolton

18) Norwich

19) Wigan

20) Blackburn

You can follow Kevin on his Twitter - @megatronSTALIN, Kevin regularly writes for Forza Italian Football too.

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Kevin Leonard's Copa America 2011 Review

The Football Front’s senior writer, Kevin Leonard reviews this year’s Copa America.

Some nations were unlucky this summer. Some had goalkeepers that couldn’t handle a simple shot fired at them, while some teams couldn’t finish a game with 11 men and some had the World’s best player and just couldn’t seem to beat Bolivia.

This tournament will be remembered for it’s upsets rather than the traditional exciting South American football which we are accustom to. However, the tournament was still very enjoyable, but perhaps it was not worth staying up until dawn at times. But that is the kind of guy I am. I watch South American football until 5 in the morning so YOU don’t have to.

Here is the 11 that mainly stood out:

Goalkeeper: Justo Villar (Paraguay)

Defence: Maxi Perreira (Uruguay), Antolìn Alcaraz (Paraguay), Oswaldo Vizcorrondo (Venezuela), Alvaro Perreira (Uruguay).

Midfield: Luis Manuel Seijas (Venezuela), Fernando Gago (Argentina), William Chiroque (Peru)

Forwards: Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Jose Pablo Guerrero (Peru), Juan Manuel Vargas (Peru)

Some of you may recall Paraguay in the World Cup a year ago. In particular the LONG match against the Japanese. Paraguay's dull dish water tactics worked so well for them in South Africa. So it's no surprise they decided to stick with similar tactics in this year's Copa Amercia. In return, they managed to reach a Cup final without winning a game which was both abysmal and spectacular at the same time.

Personally I don’t put this feat down to any tactical genius from Paraguay's manager Gerardo Martino but credit it more to Villar and Alcaraz. Villar produced many memorable saves, none more so than his close range parry against Brazil in the quarter final. While Alcaraz makes the team because he was far more potent in front of goal than any of his strikers were! The Wigan defender scored a nice Premiership style scrappy goal in the amazing match featuring Paraguay and Venezuela. (They drew 3-3)

The Venezuelans have gone from whipping boys to 4^th best in South America in the space of 5 years. They’re two central midfielders Seijas and Rincon could have held hands throughout the entire tournament as they kept so close together. They made the team into a defensive dynamo, emulating everyone’s favourite National team Greece. Rincon would have made the 11 of the Copa XI had he managed not to get sent off twice.

Vizcorrondo stood out for both his outrageous curly hair and excellent defending in the centre of the Venezuelan defence. He got himself on the score sheet too with a wonderful headed goal against Chile.

The host nation Argentina were largely sub standard as a team, with the 3-0 win over Costa Rica as an exception. Although, Fernando Gago stood out and reminded us of the kind of player he is. A player truly wasted on Real Madrid’s bench and would be a superb buy for any top European club.

The other zero to hero nation of the tournament was Peru. They were both terrible and fantastic depending on which side of the pitch the ball was on. Whilst the right lived up to traditional Peruvian standards, their left hand side was devastating to the opposition. Vargas, their best known player. captained the side and galloped up the left wing to create and score the goals that help Peru advance to the semi finals. Once there, after Suarez’s double, a Uruguay win looked so certain that Vargas decided to elbow an opponent in the face directly in front of the referee. At this stage of the Copa red cards had become a skill rather than an offence to be fair.

Not many games had 3 goals in them so it is no doubt a testament to the under rated talent of Jose Guerrero that he managed 3 in one game. His 3 goals made Peru the 3^rd place winners. Perhaps its a title which is condescendingly over looked in most tournaments but Peru won’t care too much about that.

The other player who scored in that match was William Chiroque. A player who richly deserved a goal for his performances throughout the competition.

It's clear the entire Uruguayan team could have easily been named as the best 11. Players I didn’t list like captain Diego Lugano fought valiantly in every match. While, Diego Forlan has become the third generation of his family to win the Copa America. The tournament also saw him become Uruguay’s joint all time top scorer.

Uruguay perhaps participated in the best game of the Copa in the quarter finals against Argentina. Certainly out of all the 11 red cards of the competition Diego Perez’s was the funniest. Perez committed a yellow card offence by hauling a player down, later in the game he scored his first international goal and did the exact same thing he was booked for in the first place. All in the space of 39 minutes, a period of time which summed him and Uruguay up perfectly.

Uruguay can also can claim to have the funniest quote of Copa 2011. Sebastian Abreu said aftter Diego Lugano won the fair play award. “To give him [Lugano] the fair play award is like giving the Nobel peace prize to Bin Laden.”

The Uruguayans have shown that physical football can be mixed with skill, technique and humour. The Perreira full backs (no relation) and Luis Suarez personified this approach with their performances and in particular their work ethic.

But we can’t go praising the likes or Uruguay, Peru and Venezuela without having a good chuckle at Argentina and Brazil. The hosts, Argentina struggled to get draws against Bolivia and Colombia and after what should have been a turning point 3-0 victory over Costa Rica, they failed to beat a Uruguayan side who were down to 10 men from the 39^th minute onwards.

Sergio Batista never really found the best formula to get the best out Argentina’s immense individual talents but thankfully for him it is no longer his concern.

The Argentine FA have now sacked him.

Brazil were by no means embarrassed at the 2011 Copa. Their own opening day draw with Venezuela was the result of a very dedicated and well organised Venezuelan side, who were quite happy with a 0-0.

The quarter final penalty shoot out with Paraguay caused a few blushes. 4 Brazilian penalties were saved. Brazil made England look like penalty shoot out masters. Brazil can honestly say they have done it all in World football. Perhaps those FIFA World rankings were accurate after all?

On a final note, it is fair to say this Copa was not the most aesthetically pleasing. There was not a collection of amazing volleys or mesmerising matches. But the gap between top and bottom has decreased. Peru and Venezuela were both in the bottom 3 of the qualification table for the last World Cup. While 2 years on they are 3^rd and 4^th respectively in the Copa. They have improved while Argentina and Brazil appear to be on a downward slope.

With Brazil already qualified for the 2014 World Cup, as hosts, this means there is a massive chance for Peru and Venezuela to make a strong crack at the 2014 World Cup.

South America just got very interesting.

You can follow Kevin on his Twitter - @megatronSTALIN, Kevin regularly writes for Away Goals too.

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Kevin Leonard’s All Star 5 aside Premier League team – The Usual Fullbacks

Here is The Football Front's new feature of the ‘5 a side all star Premier League team.’ Imagine a five aside team. A team that could consist of Premier League players, from the past and present. We have asked fans, bloggers and writers to talk us through their fantasy Premier League five aside teams.

The Football Front's own Kevin Leonard kicks things off with his hilarious selection.

Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to witness the assembly of the greatest 5 a side team the world has ever seen. This is a team formed metaphorically speaking in the very depths of hell where the most barbaric of history’s villains dare not to venture.

Realistically speaking they met in a group therapy session on how to deal with anger management issues.

The goalkeeper of these Inglorious Bastards is the German Jen Lehmann. He stood between the sticks for his country as well as Arsenal, Stutgartt and Borrussia Dortmund. Jens was in the group therapy session because his anger problems led him to take a Stutgartt fan’s glasses after he was sent off. The fan, to be fair, had angrily asked the German; why are you so difficult? Jens felt because his anger caused him to steal and effectively blind a man it was time to go into group therapy.

The defender on this team is none other than the angry Aussie Lucas Neill. Once of West Ham and Blackburn, now of Galatasary says it all really. Lucas’s tendency to become infuriated constantly with officials and team mates got out of hand in an International match. Neill played an overly strong pass in the direction of an innocent bird. The bird, known as flappy, was on the pitch trying to enjoy the game when the ball from Niell came flying his way. Flappy will never fly again. By order of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund, not the wrestling organisation) Lucas Neill had to attend this anger management session.

Central midfielders are among the most ill tempered people on the planet and it was no surprise that two of them were at this group therapy meeting. Joey Barton and Roy Keane were certainly scarier than most other patients the psychologist had treated in his career. Barton put the proverbial shits up the shrink because of his time in jail due to an assault on a Manchester City team mate Ousmane Dabo.

While Roy Keane terrified the Doctor for a number of reasons. 1: He looks like Iranian President Mahamoud Ahmadinejad. 2: He broke Haland’s leg in two. 3: His low pitched, calm voice makes him sound like the Cork equivalent of Michael Corleone.

The striker and captain of the 5 aside team is perhaps the most responsible man on the team, Duncan Ferguson. The Scary striker admitted himself to the anger management programme for reasons of heroism. When two burglars broke into his home in Liverpool, he turned into a loud mad Scottish Hulk and pummelled their faces so hard he broke his own fist. Drunken Duncan as some call him, or others simply call him a hero. Even though he was well within his rights to assault the two uninvited guests. He still thought it best for the World if he learned to calm himself by attending group therapy.

Duncan himself formed the side as an idea for him and his buddies to channel their rage into a more productive manner. This may not be a five a side team rich in skill but it certainly will not lack passion!

NOTE: All of these players didnt go to the same therapy group, they went to local anger therapy groups.

You can follow Kevin on his Twitter - @megatronSTALIN, Kevin regularly writes for Away Goals too.

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Why more English players should play abroad‏

Kevin Leonard explains his thoughts on why more English players should ply their trade abroad.

It is not often today or at any point in history that an Englishman will venture abroad for anything else other than a barmy drunken holiday or to invade a foreign land, take it over and tell the terrified locals to speak English from now on. And let's be honest, there isn't much difference between those two activities especially in the case of Gaza's transfer to Lazio. However, so far in this transfer window two young English players have transferred to two former European Cup winning clubs in Germany. Michael Mancienne has swapped the blue shirt of Chelsea and London's eloquent West End for the black and blue shirt and ice bars of Hamburg. Where as 18 year old Dale Jennings has some how landed a transfer from Tranmere Rovers to the German giants Bayern Munich, odd times indeed. It seems the transfer window had taken on a nostalgic feel to them with rumours of Scottish strikers like Kenny Miller joining Italian clubs and Irish strikers allegedly heading to Arsenal. But two young English talents signing for the elite of the Bundesliga does not represent any bygone era at all.

We are ‘well and truly in the twilight zone’ to quote a bygone Belgian rock band.

Besides the mysterious nature of these German shopping habits, we as English men and women (half of me actually) will inevitably ask the question; is this good for English football?

The egotistical nature of the TV presentations of the Premier League often leave the claim "best league in the World" ringing in our ear. Naturally most English fans believe this, which is fine. However when it is uttered from the mouths of pundits who don't actually watch any other league in the World one most question their claim. The fact is other leagues are very very good as well. The Bundesliga is perhaps one of the fastest improving leagues in Europe at the moment.

This is an environment which will excel the development of Michael Mancienne and Dale Jennings. It will give them an alternative view of the game in comparison to the one they would have viewed and experienced in England.

A lot of these clever pundits were very quick to belittle the Bundesliga, when Schalke were beaten by Manchester United in last seasons Champions League. Where as others like me have a slightly longer memory and can all too vividly recall 11 Bundesliga players humiliating 11 Premier league players in South Africa 12 months ago.

I would dare to say that this could be the catalyst of a new era of English football. That wonderful memory I mentioned can also recall football from further back than South Africa 2010. In fact it can recall a time before 2008 where the Spanish national team were not very good. Plenty of players that now make up Spain's first choice 11 were present in the years where La Liga sides would consistently perform well in European club competitions with an abundance of Spanish players. Yet Spain would fail on the international stage. The Spanish national side’s first choice 11 pre Euro 2008 was 100% La Liga players. The players were mostly from the very best La Liga clubs such as; Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia etc.

What was slightly different at Euro 2008? Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres were not playing in La Liga. They were playing in the Premier League.

Another fact that some would claim makes the Premier league the ‘best league in the World’ is because it some how hardened up the Spaniards. This is not what happened. Believe it or not they do have tackles in Spain too. If you want to really talk about the physicality of both nations, us English don't wave red flags in an attempt to piss off a raging bull that would quite happily impale you onto it's horn and shake you until you were unable to wave a flag ever again.

What the English league gave those players was a different style, a different point of view on the game if you will. On the international stage you will of course encounter more contrasting styles than in club football. This variety gave the Spanish a little something extra and even though Alonso is now back in Spain and Fabregas soon will be too, they have that little experience of another footballing culture which has helped the Spanish win a World Cup.

If Manchester United's Owen Hardgreaves, was fit he would be picked in the England squad every time. His time with Bayern Munich made him a unique player, not necessarily better than some English central midfielders, but he has a discipline in the holding role that other English players just don't have. This is no doubt a direct result from playing in the German mindset which places great emphasis on tactical awareness and positioning rather than work ethic and passion. Brains over brawn you could say. Having viewed Michael Mancienne’s display for the Under 21 side against Spain last month, I would say he greatly needs a brain and to immerse himself in a more tactical thinking environment or at least one where he can learn to pass a ball.

The foreign journalists in attendance at the Under 21 European tournament remarked that England had changed somewhat, they felt that our problem was we tried to play too much football. England are making a transition into the modern game by placing the emphasis on technique now rather than power, hence the inclusion of Jack Wilshere at senior level. The problem is changing a countries ethos is not like flipping a switch. It takes time. With defenders like Rio Ferdinand and midfielders like Jack Wilshere England has shown they can produce players of a more intelligent and technical calibre. We just need to do this on a wider scale.

Two youngsters in Germany is a good start to a new approach. They are not just any German clubs mind you. Only three German clubs have won the European Cup and two of them are Bayern Munich and Hamburg.

Personally I would send every 16 year old we have over to Brazil and tell them to do whatever it is those Brazilian kids do all day long. Or just hire Pelè to shag 11 English women so we can raise a team of English/Brazilians in time for the 2030 World Cup.

A World Cup we'll hopefully be hosting, hint hint FIFA!

You can follow Kevin on his Twitter - @megatronSTALIN, Kevin regularly writes for Away Goals too.

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