So the Premier League season is over for another year, and with a long dry summer ahead of us we thought it’d be a good opportunity to look ahead and see what lies in future for the Premier League for the 2013/2014 season.
I’m going to go out on a limb on this one, and back Chelsea to win the Premier League.
Why Chelsea will win the Premier League next season
One of the great things, coming into this new Premier League season, is that none of the big guns has stability. Chelse a have ousted Rafael Benitez and bought in the Special One. Manchester City have ousted Roberto Mancini, and Manuel Pellegrini will be his replacement. Manchester United’s own legendary manager SAF has stepped out of the limelight, allowing David Moyes into the club. So the three top clubs in the league have had a change of manager, something that we’ve never seen in the league before (well, we’ve not even seen Man United without Ferguson so this is huge in itself).
We all know that in order to win the league a club needs stability – that’s been proved at Man United over the years, despite not having the best squad. City just about scrapped by when they won the league, but Mancini had at least been in the job. While Chelsea had their last success when Mourinho had been at the club for a few seasons.
So I’m guessing that Chelsea will win the league. My belief is that the club with the best players, and the best “impact” manager, will win. I don’t think any of the three new managers will have a bigger influence than the Special One himself, so I can see Chelsea just edging it this year around. Mourinho has of course been at the club before, he knows many of the players, he’s got a special relationship with the fans, and he knows what the owner wants.
If Rafa can nearly win the league, and wins the UEFA cup, whilst being hated by the majority of fans and only having a year at the club, imagine the impact that Mourinho will have at Stamford Bridge.
Roman Abramovich’s Influence
I’ve said before (honestly, if there’s no reference on this blog), that the reason Chelsea will never be continually successfull is because they have Roman Abramovich at the helm. The best thing Abramovich ever did was to bring in Mourinho, but the worst thing he ever did was falling out with him. The only man, it seems, capable of living in Stamford Bridge with the Russian billionaire above the shop is Mourinho. And, coming from the Santiago Bernabeau, returning to London will probably be like working as a cameraman for a woman’s volleyball tournament. Working under such poisonous circumstances such as those in Madrid have obviously taken their toll on Jose, who’s really struggled to implement his discipline on many of the big name players at Madrid. He famously fell out with Casillas, and then Ramos, and Pepe, and just about anybody else who fancied a go.
But returning to Chelsea, where he knows he’s loved, Jose will be able to relax and enjoy his job once again. His family will be able to settle in London, and his relationship with Abramovich so far seems to be back on track.
Abramovich was guilty of being the reason for so much of the Chelsea fan’s sufferings of the past few years, despite the occasional trophy haul. He’s famously hard to please, and with such a managerial turn around there seemed to be only one cure for the club – and that is the return of the Special One. Mourinho’s arrival will symbolise stability, with a familiar face hopefully able to talk-the-talk when it comes to assuring Abramovich of success in the future.
Roman Abramovich’s relationship with Jose Mourinho will be vital for the future of the club, and although it never became public as to why the two fell out, its likely that being two such strong headed and powerful characters falling-outs are likely to be inevitable. This is the risk that Chelsea have taken out, but one things for certain, and that is that Chelsea fans wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
