EPL: The season so far

Arsenal’s fans joy was limited to the opening match of the BPL season as RVP came off the bench in the second half only to be a mere spectator on the pitch. And adding to his woes, United lost to an aggressive in offense and resilient in defense Everton side.

One could actually feel that Arsenal fans were more delighted with United’s loss rather being concerned over their team’s lackluster performance against Sunderland and Stoke City.

It was the Dutchman’s time to return the favor as Man Utd stamped their first win of the campaign against Fulham much to his delight, as he scored the opening goal of the season for them.

Arsenal have their own concerns to deal with, especially creativity, for which they are normally known, as the intricate passing game wasn’t to be seen in the first two games. Podolski, being one of the forwards, fetches the ball deep from his own half which allows opponents to steady themselves and Girourd still has to do some catching up in terms of the pace of the league.

Santi Carzola has already established himself as one of the deadly mid-fielders in the league. The Spaniard has the pace, the trickery and above all, reads the game better than his opposition.

I thought Arsenal’s defense was quite impressive, especially against the aerial dominance of the Stoke City. Steve Bould has definitely done justice to his job and fitted in well in Pat Rice’s shoes. Arsenal are the only team who are yet to concede a goal this season as they have managed three clean sheets in as many games. Mid-field too looks okay, especially with Carzola and Arteta marshaling the team and Wilshere yet to be back.

The new arrivals at any club take time to settle in and this was prominent against Sunderland and Stoke City. However, the away game against Liverpool turned the waves in favor of Arsene Wenger as both his new signings were on the score sheet with good link up play between them.

With the turn of events that have panned out so far for the Gunners and Man Utd, RVP unquestionably will be proud of his decision to not extend his contract and get the transfer to a club which is more determined to win the championship back from their arch rivals.

Like the Gunners, the Red Devils have done some good business in the transfer window too. The likes of Van Persie, Kagawa and Henriquez will definitely bolster the squad. Sir Alex claimed that his side will never lose the championship on the basis of point difference as long as he will be at the helm.

With Chicharito out of form last season and Berba out of favor, the goals were expected to come from Rooney and Welbeck. Welbeck did a decent job but he still has to prove himself as a world class striker as he does lack finishing. RVP’s inclusion seems to have sorted this problem out as he has already found the back of the net four times and turned the match on its head against the Saints by scoring a well timed hat-trick. Kagawa, who joined Man Utd from Dortmund at the start of the pre-season, has settled in well too. We all know that he’s a clever player, always makes himself available and for me, he will be the one for Man Utd who will link up the play between the mid-field and the strikers.

Let’s turn our attention to the Blues, shall we!

Roman Abramovich, after living his dream last season by putting his hands around the most coveted champion’s league trophy, has again spent quite heavily this summer. Chelsea have spent approximately £88 million on the likes of Hazard, Marin and Moses.

And one can see the results straightaway as they are topping the chart post three matches with nine on nine, especially Hazard running riots against the oppositions in the central mid-field area.

Lady Luck favored the Blues in the Champions League final last season against the mighty Bayern Munich side who dominated the game right from the outset. The game would have been won by the Germans if not for Drogba’s equalizing header in the 88^th min of the match and then Cech’s heroics in front of the goal in the shoot outs.

The club knows that they had a poor run in the domestic league and are lucky to play Champions League this season. One can blame the player’s unrest under Andrea Villa-Boas regime for that. But deep down, they must admit that they never played to their full potential, perhaps due to age catching up on a lot of senior players. AVB wanted to play a high back line, that’s how he won with Porto, but he realized it quite late that the likes of John Terry can not cope up with his new tactics, hence they leaked goals.

To add to the misery of the fans, Fernando Torres just made it worse. The £50 million worth striker just could not find the back of the net as often as he and the fans would have liked. We just have to wait and see how Victor Moses fares in the Chelsea shirt.

Roberto Di Matteo has done a huge favor to his CV by achieving what he achieved last season and to cement his position from a caretaker manager to contractual manager. The massive cash spent this summer has made a big statement in the BPL that the Blues will be the serious title contenders this season.

Though, all top clubs will lock horns with each other for the title but my money would still on the Citizens to defend their title. They look a complete squad. Their bench has more strength as opposed to any other side. Above all, Roberto Mancini will not let his players become complacent as we all know that the Italian will not rest on his laurels.