Epl's Big 4 or Big (3+4)

EPL over the years has been said to be dominated by the BIG 4 i.e. Man utd, Arsenal, Chelsea & Liverpool, although I’m not sure why Liverpool gets to be a part of this group. Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I denying their history and the ’12′ top 4 finishes in the EPL, but in the premier league they have not exactly been ‘The team to beat’. The team under Benitez could have become but for his rotation policy.

Let me put the record straight (as the commentators say in FIFA 12 if one plays as Man Utd). The Premier League has been all about Man Utd. Winning 12 out of the 20 seasons, having never finished lower than 3rd and by overtaking Liverpool after winning 19 titles have ‘officially’ become the most successful English team.

For me it was always the big two with Man Utd & Arsenal. But God knows what has happened to Arsenal after their ‘Invincibles’ season; It’s sad to see this great rivalry becoming diluted. The 8-2 triumph would never have happened to the Arsenal of the Viera/Bergkamp era.

Sir Alex has been ‘the man’ of the EPL but the one who changed the dynamics of the league has been Mr Abramovich with his unlimited oil money. Chelsea, who were just about getting into Champions league positions, with the ‘Special One’ at the helm challenged the might of the top 2 and became consecutive league winners. Their challenge since has been answered loud and clear by the true grit of Man Utd.

Tottenham and ManCity have lately, along with Newcastle (last year), joined this group to take the number from 4 to 7. ManCity’s success is more donation based on the lines of Chelsea with the money from Thailand under Mr.Shinawatra and then from the Abu Dhabi United Group making it a superpower. Of course, that amount of money can buy the title for any team so I wont speak any further about ManCity and their title win last year. But let me just add that even after buying their way to the title, they could only finish level on points with (what critics like to call) one of the most lackluster Manutd teams of all time.

Tottenham, on the other hand, started to ‘build a winning team’ in the days of Martin Jol. Harry Redknapp has certainly bought and sold the right players over the seasons to make the current team one of the best ‘assembled’ teams and AvB looks to continue that. Newcastle surprised everyone by their football and their 5th place finish was one of the highlights of the season for me.

But will this year be the same?? Will it be a Big 7 that everyone will talk about. I personally think it will Big 3 + 4. Manutd, ManCity and Chelsea to fight for the title and the rest 4 to fight for the remaining Champions league place and respect. Chelsea with their newly bought midfield seems the team to beat this time around, but no one can count out the heavily loaded ManCity and it would be incredibly stupid to think Sir Alex and the RedDevils (with the new recruits) will just let the title slip up from their grasp two years in a row. I sincerely hope the rest 4 will improve on their last season and push for the title and make this season even better and interesting and more importantly, even more unpredictable than the last.

I am sorry to have choosen to leave Everton out from the list inspite of their champions league qualification a few years back and finishing above liverpool last year as I dont think David Moyes can do still better with this team. In my opinion it’s the best the present squad and David Moyes could have hoped and the challenge for them will be sustaining this position.