Premier League Review

What We’ve Learned

Christian Ledek | Sports writer | @sea_led

The Barclays Premier League is underway and almost nothing is going as what was scripted by the preseason pundits.  Teams who were supposed to be challenging for the title have not gotten off to good starts and teams which were supposed to be in the middle of the table or fighting relegation are surging. It’s only four games into the season, but it’s never too early to start the banter.

Manchester City is off to an ideal start this season. Somewhat surprising because their manager Manuel Pellegrini was almost fired after a second-place campaign in the 2014-2015 season, even though they had won the league the year before.  The likes of Yaya Torre, Sergio Aguero and David Silva have City playing perfect so far taking 12 points out of 12, winning their first four games of the season. Vincent Kompany looks like a man on a mission to atone for his dismal season last year already scoring two goals at center back.  The additions of Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne to an already potent midfield make City look like the favorites to win the league.

Going into the 2015-2016 season, a lot of pundits and experts were picking Arsenal to win the league.  They had a good campaign finishing third the previous year, and the signing of goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea was meant to bolster an already solid defense.  The Gunners stumbled out of the gate though, losing 2-0 at home to West Ham United.  Since then, they’ve won at Crystal Palace, tied at home against Liverpool, and beat Newcastle at St. James Park. Can Arsenal handle the pressure of being favorites to win it all? The jury is still out on that.

Chelsea won the 2014-2015 title under the management of Jose Mourinho, his second season in his second stint with the club.  However, they look nothing like champions at the start of this year taking only 4 points out of a possible 12. Their tough defense of last year is gone. John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic look nothing like themselves so far this season, conceding easy goals. Cesc Fabregas looks disinterested. Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are off to slow starts. Jose needs to right the ship fast if he wants to entertain thoughts of repeating as champions.

Manchester United was very busy in the summer transfer window. They signed Memphis Depay from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, Bastian Schweinsteiger from German-giant Bayern Munich, and Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton. They should compliment players like Juan Mata and captain Wayne Rooney when going forward in attack. Can manager Louis van Gaal take United back to Premier League glory? Time will tell.

What about the rest of the field? Liverpool is dealing with the loss of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City and their talisman Daniel Sturridge won’t be healthy until November. It’ll be interesting to see if they can tread water until then.

Swansea City appears to have the best free signing of the summer transfer window in Andre Ayew from Marseille. He is linking up well with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bafetimbi Gomis. The Swans are no easy foe, look for them to finish the year in the top half of the table.

Leicester City was picked by just about everyone to be one of the teams that would be relegated in the 2015-2016 campaign. They’ve yet to lose so far in four games, winning two and drawing two behind the goal scoring prowess of Riyad Mahrez. Who had them in third place after four games at the beginning of the season? No one.

There are these story lines and many, many more to look out for this season. Check out the Barclays Premier League as it returns to action on September 12.