Time to stop trading on past glories
You know the one: state of the art techno-wizardry allows Henry to be teleported back to some of the most iconic scenes in Premier League history.
So there he is joining Fergie and Brian Kidd on their euphoric pitch invasion; stepping over a diving Klinsmann (“German humour”), consoling Keegan as he slumps over the hoardings; kicking the ball back out of the goal after Cantona’s God-like chip; theatrically looking the other way when Keano calls out Vieira in the tunnel; extending the palm to Rooney after his most spectacular of overhead kicks; eerily meeting himself as the ‘Invincibles’ reign supreme; and in the stands with demented Manchester City fans after that blue moon AguerOOOOH moment.
You get the picture and, in truth, it’s a sublime one: the wow factor on the pitch matched by wow factor in the special effects suite. “That is why, my friends,” Henry purrs at the end, “this is the best league in the world.”
Very nice — but might I suggest that this hoary old claim would carry rather more weight if it wasn’t being delivered from on high in Stamford Bridge as his avatar looks down on Chelsea lifting the title back in May, this the only scene from the last campaign apparently deemed worthy of inclusion alongside all those great moments which had gone before. And even this one is clearly here not for any intrinsic memorability — other than for true Blues, of course — but simply to tick the box of bringing the Sky Sports/Premier League love-in up to date as it hits the, um, milestone 23-year mark.
All of which — though it was hardly the advertisers’ intention — tends to support the widely-held view that last season’s Premier League season was a very far from vintage affair, Chelsea’s title never really looking seriously under threat as Jose Mourinho’s side prevailed with a mix of pragmatism and panache that none of the other putative contenders could match.
So my single biggest wish for the season ahead is that, whichever side comes out on top in May, we are not short-changed on the entertainment front, that new glories are added, ideally in abundance, to the old ones. Because while no-one with any real understanding of the game seriously buys into the hype about “the greatest league in the world”, the Premier League can legitimately claim to be, at least in dramatic spasms, the most exciting — a very different thing, as even England’s biggest and best clubs tend to discover when they step outside their comfort zone for a little misadventure in the Eurozone.
But that’s a story for another day. For now, on the day of Premier League’s big kick-off, we can only hope that the answers this season provides prove at least as tantalising as the questions which precede it.
Like: can one man between the sticks really make all the difference for Arsenal? Is Bastian Schweinsteiger past his sell-by date? Can Falcao rediscover his mojo under Mourinho? New contract or not, how long before Manuel Pellegrini discovers the limits of his paymasters’ patience? And, ditto, with bells on, Brendan Rodgers?
Chelsea, as defending champions, are the team to beat, of course. And I don’t think they will be, or at least not often enough to deprive them of a two-in-a-row come May. Diego Costa was the missing link for the Blues last season, his straight-from-the-starting-blocks goal spree a huge factor in setting the team on its way to a thoroughly deserved title. At the other end of the season, and even though deprived of Costa’s goals through injury, Mourinho prioritised steel over style to ensure his team wouldn’t relax its grip on the title. The textbook stuff of champions, from start to finish.
Going into this season, Costa’s recurring injury woes are certainly a legitimate concern but Hazard, Willian, Matic, Terry and Courtois form an incomparable core in Premier League terms while, as a fascinating subplot, the possiblity that Mourinho might succeed where van Gaal failed in revitalising Radamel Falcao would add the spice of managerial bragging rights to the triumph of back-to-back titles, generating the kind of professional/personal double which, you suspect, would please the Special One no end.
As a neutral, I would love if Arsenal finally ended their title drought. Arsene Wenger has been a hugely positive influence on the Premier League, his philosophy of football a life-long commitment to the notion that there’s a way of playing which brings out all the best qualities inherent in the world’s greatest sport. Yet, winning the title has proved beyond the Gunners for 11 years, leaving the manager legitimately open to the criticism that he has too often emphasised style at the expense of subtance.
The arrival of Petr Cech might be a direct rebuttal of that perception but I’m not convinced that leading from the back — and some additional clean sheets — will be enough to bridge the final and greatest divide. The Gunners can, as so often before, wonderfully decorate the Premier League but, in my opinion, still lack an inspirational, warrior presence in the middle and, until that’s rectified, it’ll continue to be a case of close but no cigar.
don’t expect Manchester City to do better than third, not because they lack quality — in fact, they are the closest rivals to Chelsea when it comes to bulging reserves of stellar individual talent — but because, unlike the Blues, there are too many times when they don’t even add up to the sum of their parts, never mind more than. Getting Raheem Sterling will damage Liverpool more than it will enhance City’s title prospects, his arrival only adding to a sense of uncertainty about how Manuel Pellegrini can get the best out of squad in which even a sometimes inspirational figure like Yaya Toure has more than a whiff of high maintenance about him.
You can’t dismiss outright the title credentials of a side which can call on the best striker in the Premier League in Sergio Aguero and one of the English game’s finest ever imports in David Silva but, as a collective, City have too many psychological shortcomings to warrant the status of favourites.
And so to probably the most fascinating of the season’s plots — Louis van Gaal’s bid to mould a Manchester United side in his own image. Thus far, the Dutchman’s reign at Old Trafford has been a story of reality not matching reputation, with the team which ended last year’s season of transition not a whole lot closer to regaining Fergie’s fabled perch than the team which had begun it.
With Van Gaal’s radical surgery continuing on into the new campaign, it will take a good number of competitive games before we know if his new-look side can hope to recapture the successes of yesteryear. But the problem is that, as ever at Old Trafford, patience will be in such short supply that it will almost seem as if the whole project rests on today’s high noon opener against Spurs — probably the only side in the top six with credible hopes of gate-crashing the top four.
A huge issue for United is whether Bastian Schweinstieger still has the legs to match his heart, while the central defensive problem remains intractable. Another big signing could yet radically change the picture but, for now, I see United just about securing fourth and, to do even just that, being hugely reliant on Wayne Rooney playing something close to the peak of his powers.
In fifth and sixth places, I expect a repeat of last season, with Spurs finishing ahead of Liverpool again. Indeed, the Reds could even be vulnerable to being overtaken by a dark horse — Stoke, anyone?
Christian Benteke and Danny Ings are admirable signings but can anyone seriously claim that Liverpool are better now than they were two seasons ago when Luis Suarez was at his incomparable best and Steven Gerrard, at least until the bitterest end, was serving up one last inspirational campaign in red?
As always there are more questions than answers. Let’s just hope that the traditional heightened anticipation going into day one turns out not to be misplaced, that from top to bottom the Premier League rewards us with a season which any time-traveller from the future will be happy to revisit. And not just because he gets handsomely paid for the gig.
