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Some difficult choices ahead for the Premier League’s elite… Part One

Published by Ian John on March 9, 2010

In addition to chasing silverware and transfer speculation, several of the top Premier League managers face some difficult choices in the coming months. Just what does each team have to consider for season 2010-2011?

CHELSEA : Manager Carlo Ancelotti is obviously safe in the job but the Italian will want to perhaps put his own imprint on this Chelsea team, that is still at its core, the same team Jose Mourinho left. The problem with that is that many of the key players, Terry, Lampard, Ballack, Anelka, Drogba, Deco, Ferreira, Belletti and Carvalho are all 30+. This isn’t just a couple of players that will soon need to be replaced (though Ancelotti is well known for giving players longer than average at his clubs, he was happy to have former team mates Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini play into their 40′s at Milan). However in the Premier League, far more so than Serie A, pace, fitness and the sheer weight of games means that this is not an easy league physically. Experience is vital, but Chelsea are rapidly reaching the stage where they need to start finding long term replacements for some of these key names. Will that be this season? I am not sure, but I think Ancelotti would be wise to at least begin the process.

MANCHESTER UNITED : No such worries for Sir Alex at Old Trafford, his squad is relatively young (Giggs, Scholes, Van Der Sar and Neville apart) but even Sir Alex isn’t immune to troublesome issues that need his attention. First up will be the futures of the perpetually injured. Has Michael Owen done enough to warrant a new contract at the club? What about Owen Hargreaves? Is Sir Alex willing to continue taking a risk on Rio Ferdinand’s dodgy back? Then of course there are the players who seem to want out of the club. Tomas Kuszczak has joined the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Anderson who have also been strongly linked with a move away from the club. They may not be huge problems, but they are ones that need addressing.

LIVERPOOL : The club with the most questions to answer. Who wants to be in control of the club? Where will the money come from? Will Rafa Benitez be manager next season? Will the much vaunted and often postponed new ground get under way? Can the club afford to turn down a huge offer from Manchester City for Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres? Or a similar offer from Barcelona for Javier Mascherano? What happened this season? What about the future of Alberto Aquilani? It is fair to say that every one of these questions is all linked in with the previous, like a house of cards that is about to fall. Liverpool need to do a great deal of soul searching over the coming months because this season, has been little short of a monumental disaster for the club both on and off the field.

ARSENAL : The two questions Arsene Wenger needs to consider over the coming months are simple. Firstly, does he sell Cesc Fabregas. It seems Barcelona and Real Madrid are ready to offer silly money for the Spaniard. Secondly, does he buy the top quality striker and goalkeeper the club needs in order to take them onto the same level as Chelsea and Manchester United in terms of squad depth. The problem with both issues is, of course finance. To keep Fabregas, Wenger will have to smash his much loved pay structure, the same is true if he wants to buy a top class striker (such as David Villa) and goalkeeper (say, for arguments sake, Gianluigi Buffon). Is the Frenchman prepared to do that and then face a raft of contract renegotiations with players who then want a better pay deal on his new scale? What are the implications of that financially for Arsenal?

MANCHESTER CITY : Roberto Mancini needs to consider a great many things in the next few months. With money seemingly limitless at the club its easy to assume the Italian will just spend big. However he needs to be a little more prudent. City already possess a huge squad with several ‘forgotten’ stars, such as Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo, Jo, Vladimir Weiss, Benjani and of course Robinho all out on long term loan. Their futures will need to be sorted as well as the futures of players like Craig Bellamy, Nedum Onuoha and Micah Richards who don’t seem to fit in with the Italian’s ideology for the club. Mancini faces a tough task in creating the space in his squad to bring in the players he wants and that may prove to be a tougher task than actually signing the players he needs in the first place.

Part two of the article to follow…

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