Wednesday, 30 September 2015

El Ca$hico - The Premier League battle of riches

Since the turn of the century the English Premier League has become over run with teams trying to buy their way to success. Without a doubt the two teams with the most success are Manchester City and Chelsea, these two sides have been the most consistent sides at challenging for the title in the last four or five seasons due to the amount of money they have spent in creating the strongest squads in the league.


Coming into the 2015/2016 Premier League season, Chelsea and Manchester City have won one each out of the last two titles, and have been named as the two favourites for this campaign. El Ca$hico as the fixture has been came to be known was first the first big clash of the season, with the Manchester club running out comfortable 3-0 winners, confirming their challenge for the title. Early on in this season the holders Chelsea have struggled to put in the performances which made winning last seasons title so visibly easy, the question is can they get back on track to retain their title, or will Manchester City keep up their early season dominance and win the Premier League title. Today I will compare these two sides and state which side I feel will win the 2015/2016 Premier League title.


Starting with the title holders Chelsea, Jose Mourinho turned heads with his signings at the start of last season, bringing in the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, these two player topped the league in goals and assists and played a massive part in their title winning campaign. However at the start of this season, unlike all their title rivals who have spent big to improve their sides, Chelsea had failed to add to the team that won last years title, with the exception of Manchester United misfit Radamel Falcao. Until late on in the transfer window, Chelsea completed the signing of Spanish winger Pedro, who put in a man of the match performance on his debut, scoring the opening goal in the 3-2 win over West Brom. However, this transfer period can without a doubt be declared as a failure for Jose Mourinho's side, as they failed to secure Everton defender John Stones, a man they chased throughout the duration of the summer. The reason this failed signing is having such an impact on Chelsea's season is the drop in form of former England captain John Terry. The Chelsea skipper has been a first team regular since the early 2000's in the Chelsea back for, but at the age of 34, many suggest that he may be past his best days. Many individual mistakes, as well as his first red card in five years is a big factor in why the champions are left with only four points after their first four games, the second worst tally at this point of the season for defending champions in premier League history.


In the 2014/2015 season one thing that was pretty much assured when Chelsea played was that the Belgium winger Eden Hazard would put in a solid performance for the blue, and more often then not, would play a big hand in a Chelsea win. However at the start of this season, the PFA player of the year has struggled to carry on the form from last season as this has had a sizable impact of Chelsea's performances so far this time round. The Chelsea number 10 looks much more similar to the Hazard we saw when he first arrived in England, unfit and unable to deal with the physical demands of the Premier League. Now I'm in no doubt that the playmaker will return to his previous form sooner or later, but the question is whether he can have as much of an impact on Chelsea's results as he did last season. If Chelsea hope to retain their title, they may have to hope their star man returns to his previous great form as soon as possible.


Now onto the worlds richest club, Manchester City. Sheikh Mansour's side have won two out of the last four premier league titles, their first since 1968, finishing second in the other two seasons, they have also secured one FA Cup and one Capital One Cup. They have done this by being the highest spending side in the league year after year, spending over £1,000,000,000 since Shaikh bought the club in 2008, it makes City the second highest spending side in premier league history (behind Chelsea), and they have done this in much shorter time then their closest rivals. After spending much of the previous two decades jumping between the first and second tier of English football, its a welcomed change of pace for the City fans to see their side at the peak of English football. Manchester City have also recently broke the premier league transfer record, signing Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg for an estimated £55,000,000, the addition of the Belgium international took City's spending for this summer to £153,000,000. Its spending like this that has made City one of the must successful sides in the Premier League over recent years, and its spending like this which has made them one of the top contenders for this years title.


Manchester City have started the 2015/2016 season at top pace, winning all four of their opening four games, including a dominant victory over champions Chelsea. With consistency being the main reason City failed to defend their title last season, this start to the campaign will put smiles on many City fans faces. The addition of 2015 golden boy winner Raheem Sterling, along side the returning Sergio Aguero, the Spaniard David Silva in some of the best form of his career, and the return to form of Yaya Toure has seen Manchester City play some of the best football we've seen in the premier League in recent years, and they look like the out right favourites for the title early on. Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany came under plenty of criticism throughout last season for failing to live up to the high standards he had set for himself through the years. However at the start of this season the Belgium international seems to have returned to the great form which has played a big part in City's previous two title winning seasons. Alongside new boy Nicolás Otamendi, City's defence looks as strong as ever. Another knock to City's campaign last time out was the inconsistency  of number one goal keeper Joe Hart. The England number one spent periods of the season on the bench due to his inconsistency, and this had a major effect on results for the Manchester side. However Hart has started this season with four clean sheets out of four, and looks back to his best. These are all factors as to why City look to be the favourites this season.


Due to a combination of transfer window success, and early form I believe Manchester City will win the 2015/2016 Premier League title, and in crushing style too. I am going to  make a prediction that the title will be secured before the 1st of May! However nothing is certain in football, particularly in England, we will never know for sure until the final whistle for this season is blown.






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