I believe that the top four are going to be the same this season as well, but I'd like to know how everyone think about the rest of the teams in the league. There are some teams who have the quality to beat anyone on their day, teams who compete in europe regulary. Who do you think has the potential to break into the top four in the near future ?
Tottenham : An ambitious club. They showed in the past couple of years that they have the quality to mount a challange for a champions league place. They have spent alot of money on new players and I think they are willing to spend even more to get into the champions league. With Ramos in charge, they have a manager who has the experience to compete with big boys and has already won plenty.
As a team, they still have some major weakness points. The midfield is just not good enough to challange the top four. They dont have a natural left winger in the entire squad and they lack depth and quality in defense. The strike-force they've got is arguebly the best in the league but the team behind it isnt good enough. Investing in a couple of top class midfielders and a centre back is a must.
Newcastle : a sleeping 'giant'. A magnificent stadium, a huge base of supporters and high, very high expectations. Many think with big Sam in charge, that they've got the right manager to take them forward. Is he the right manager ?
They have one of the best keeprs in the land. And I do rate the likes of Butt, Barton, Emre, Milner and Viduka highly. I believe their back four still needs time to settle before being judged. Baye and Faye are good defenders, so is Enrique. Steven Taylor hasnt improved as much as I think he should've. But the back four needs time. If they do that, and keep Owen fit then they can cause trouble to any team really. May I add that Nicky Butt has been absolutely brilliant for over a year. Class IS permanent.
Portsmouth : Slowly they are getting there. Harry has built a team of Athletes. Strong and agile eleven who are all quality players. A solid back five and some steel in midfield. Add the magical Kranjcer in the equation and you've got a really good team. I'm not sure that Benjani can carry on scoring like he has been and I dont know whats really going on with Nuggent, but signing a quality striker would push them even stronger up the table.
Blackburn : Mark Hughes is the 3rd best manager in the league behind Sir Alex and Wenger IMO. He's been building a side , a very good one, without spending much money. Quality all over the team. A very good keeper, a solid back four, a midfield with great variety and excellent strikers. If they can add a couple of quality defenders as back up then they would have a very healthy competition everywhere and it'll only make them stronger. I love watching them play. Fight and determination matched with quality, they play football the way it should be played.
Aston Villa : Martin O'neil has money to spend, and he spent it wisely on a few players. The likes of Young, Reo Coker, Petrov and Carew are certainly taking Villa up a level or two. A couple of players have done a brilliant job stepping up from the academy to premier league football. Agbonlahor's form has been excellent. Its frightening to know that he still has so much room to improve and yet he's a very good player already. Having Laursen back has made them even stronger. A top top defender, they just have to keep him fit.
Man City : A great manager with money to spend. Thats a scary thought. I dont want to talk about their current team, cause I think other than the back4 we'll be seeing many changes to it in the next year or so. Elano and Petrov have settled in well, and Hamann has found a new life, he's been very good this season.
Now, to my pick. Everton. If any team is going to break into the top four its them IMO. A very good manager, David Moyes has put in a great squad together. I really cant pick any fault in their team. Maybe they could do with an all around central midfielder, but other than that the team looks great. Howard, Neville, Yobo, Lescott and Baines make the back five. And its a very good back5. Arteta, Osman, Cahill are all quality midfielders. Great group of forwards as well. Everton are a very good team and the club is going in the right direction.
I thought about posting this in general football, but I wanted to discuss the teams in depth so I thought it fits here better. So who do you think are the newcomers ? And what would you add/change in the rest to make them top4 quality teams ?
