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Barclay’s Premier League 2013/14: predictions of top six places

11 September 2013 blogpastor 5 Comments

Last year, only Sunny got it right. Manchester United won the first place. I got two of my predictions right: Chelsea for third and Spurs for fifth. I was too biased. This time I will try to be more objective. None of the other predictions offered by other blog readers got anything right.

This year’s transfer window is shut. We know who are the players in each team.

There are a few reasons why its tough to make predictions this year. First, new managers in Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea. A good manager with good judgment and motivational skills can be worth as much as 10 points. Only Manuel Pellegrini is new to the English league teams and players. Jose Mourinho can update quickly. The Man U players will dither between doubt and faith, and the British media will relish putting Moyes in Ferguson’s shadow, Is Moyes good enough to lead them to silverware? We will see. Second, there are many new foreign players. If not additions to your team, reinforcements in your competitors’ teams. New players can make either a positive or negative difference. Tottenham has bought so many good players, they are almost a new team. Likewise Sunderland.

The teams with the most fearsome strikers are Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. They have the clinical finish, the experience and can change a game even in the last minutes of a game. It is already tough to make predictions in normal circumstances, but with these additional variables, it becomes less predictable than ever before.

However this uncertainty is what makes the BPL more fun than any other leagues! Having thought deeply for ten minutes (haha), here are my predictions:

1st place: Manchester City – the squad is scary and the engineer will be able to put the pieces together and foster greater harmony

2nd place: Arsenal – will play with authority and a mean defence, but if a January addition of a special striker can be done, may even be champions.

3rd place: Manchester United – most of the time Moyes will be under great pressure, players disturbed by doubts and a certain Rooney.

4th place: Chelsea – some too old, some too young, and I don’t like Mourinho’s narcissism.

5th place: Liverpool – I want them to beat Spurs.

6th place: Tottenham Hotspur – if they are hit by injuries, maybe Everton will be sixth.

Please add your predictions in the comment box. Love to hear your thoughts.

Blogpastor’s BPL 2012-13 football season predictions

4 September 2012 blogpastor 9 Comments

The transfers are almost done and all the teams in the English Premier League have played three matches. Now is a fair time to make some predictions of the teams that will make it to the top six. Here are my predictions:

Champions: Manchester City will retain their title. Depth of the squad is a very important indicator of championship potential. The number of matches played by a club in the premier league is legion, more than any European league. Wear and tear, fatigue and injuries is not uncommon. Man City has the best squad. Their forwards are all fearsome internationals. No other team has as much firepower, or should I say, petro-power in attack, midfield and defence. Now with Tevez looking like scary demon he was before, I expect them to be the biggest goal-scorers. I think they will go beyond the Group of Death but not to the semi final stage of the UEFA Championship.

Runners up would be Arsenal. This is a surprise pick, ya? I think with RVP this team had a chance at being champions. But without him, they should be satisfied, indeed elated if they could grab a close second. Their defence is growing in confidence and if they keep being mean and stingy, they will lose less points to lower ranking teams. I believe all four cylinders will be firing consistently within a month or two. I hope to see Abou Diaby do a Van Persie this year – be injury free for one whole season and be a Goliath in the midfield, even as Carzola plays the Davidic part.

Third will be Chelsea because the midfield has been completely revamped and they seem to be already playing telepathically and creatively. Drogba is gone; Lampard is aging; Terry gets injured more often; and Petr Czech no longer seem unbeatable: change is in the air, and this means they will lose points. But I expect the the Torres-Eden axis to be toxic and hazardous enough to get them to third.

Fourth will be Manchester United. Rooney and Ferguson are not in bed together and this is disastrous. Furthermore, Ferguson keeps praising Van Persie to goad Rooney but this tactic may backfire due to the distrust in their relationship. Will their purchase of injury-prone Van Persie from Arsenal, become a 24 million dollar mistake they will regret? Probably, expect an injury to restrict his time on the field. Their midfield was the strongest in the league whenever they were champions and now it does not look as formidable and creative. In addition, their defence has been as injury plagued as Arsenal’s two seasons ago. Is Man Utd being in fourth position shocking? Yes it is. Fourth position will be the unthinkable torpedo that will sink the career of Ferguson……….finally. The hairdryer will move up to the boardroom, and Pep Guardalio will replace him.

Fifth will be Tottenham Hotspurs. They should have kept Harry Redknapp. Now instead of a man motivator they got in AVB, a player destroyer. But they have good players so a fifth to them should be worth celebrating.

Liverpool fans should take comfort that the painful change the team is undergoing will land them a creditable sixth this season, so they will get into the Europa Cup games in the next season.

You should disagree with all of the above if you are a real fan. Yes my predictions is more fire than cold logic. Of course it has to be. We are talking about the BPL not accountancy. Like to hear your predictions in the comment box.

EPL football circus still fun

15 May 2012 blogpastor Leave a comment

Looks like my predictions at last has two on target and two misses. Man City and Man Utd were rightly placed first and second in my prediction. I expected Chelsea with Torres in form to be in the third place but it was not so. I expected Arsenal in fourth but they surprisingly came in third. Tottenham did better then expected, and Newcastle and Wigan and Swansea were the surprise packages.

This was truly the most exciting EPL season in decades. It was so surprising and unbelievable it almost seemed staged by Asian bookies or Middle Eastern oil money. The Queen Park Rangers taking the lead is fairy tale. Even more incredible the two goals in injury time! What if Barton had not been sent off? The drama on the faces of Man City and Utd fans over the game beamed live simultaneously are all good TV suspense and emo swings. Even the Arsenal’s 3rd place seemed oddly suspicious with the last moment replacement of experienced goalkeeper Ben Foster with his number 2. No wonder all the money and eyeballs are on EPL: it is still the most engrossing, watchable football circus in the world.

Good to know that Mr Air Asia managed to keep Queen’s Park Rangers up for another season.