With everyone slowly returning for pre-season this week, it seems like an ideal time to do another post. That afternoon at St. James' Park (for Gooners) seems a very long way away now, yet there are still 50 tedious days to get through before the big kick-off - and that's even with the conclusion of the Confederations Cup and relentless transfer gossip to try and keep us going.
The release of the fixtures just over a week ago gave us our first opportunity to dream about the season ahead. Each team's path of destiny has been mapped out and we can already start planning days off from work and studying. I've been doing a bit of studying myself with regards to what the schedule means for the Premier League teams in 2013/14.
I would say, firstly, however, that I do think analysing fixture lists is fairly pointless. Fixtures chop and change like nobody's business when the season gets going, and at the end of the day, everyone plays everyone twice. That didn't stop Sky Sports News making a massive hoo-hah about it - but it sure beats talking about the Ashes (bore off).
As an Arsenal fan, I'm very pleased with the list. Given when we are set to play the big 4 teams, we'll have enough time to get into our groove to be prepared for them, and assuming we manage to prolong our end-of-season form into the new one, we'll pick up a vast majority of the points available before fighting for the crucial ones. Plus, barring an awkward looking trio of trips to Spurs and Chelsea and the visit of Man. City, our run-in from there on in is relatively easy - if we're on form. And if (and that's a big if) we acquire the squad I think we are going to, they'll be the difference between winning and losing the title. Honest.
As for our title rivals (deadly serious), the outlook is pretty similar. Everyone seems to have a 'big' game within the first few weeks, while the remainder of the important head-to-heads are spaced out across the season - although the last 'big four' clash of the season is pencilled in for the end of March.
Everyone seems to be making a meal out of what a tough start David Moyes has at Manchester United, whilst forgetting that it's Manchester United we're talking about. United may be without their main man in the shape of Fergie, but unless it has something to do with added time, they will be going into every game this season on paper as favourites. Old Trafford will still be the fortress it is now. United will continue to score freely there (although hopefully not too many more 8-2s) and teams will continue to hate going there.
Their 'tough start' sees a fading Swansea team who I don't see having the year, or more precisely, 6 months they had last year, with a trip to Anfield that even I don't dread these days followed by the visit of Crystal Palace. Yes, they have Chelsea and City either side of them, but then they won't have them later on. It all evens itself out. Whatever happened to "it's not how you start"...?
Chelsea have United and Tottenham in their first six with Bayern Munich in August too - but no-one seems to have even mentioned that. City have a relatively easy start - they don't United until September, while their start looks arguably routine bar the potential tricky obstacle of a trip to Cardiff. But again - no hint of Pellegrini being eased into Premier League football with a nice start? Perhaps Moyes is an easy target for the press and other critics.
But as I said before, predicting and analysing the forthcoming season on the basis of the fixtures is just a load of old tosh. A good season can be predicted on the performances rather than the teams they play. But like I mentioned in my last post, we have lots to look forward to when the season finally starts - it's *only* 7 weeks away now.
The release of the fixtures just over a week ago gave us our first opportunity to dream about the season ahead. Each team's path of destiny has been mapped out and we can already start planning days off from work and studying. I've been doing a bit of studying myself with regards to what the schedule means for the Premier League teams in 2013/14.
I would say, firstly, however, that I do think analysing fixture lists is fairly pointless. Fixtures chop and change like nobody's business when the season gets going, and at the end of the day, everyone plays everyone twice. That didn't stop Sky Sports News making a massive hoo-hah about it - but it sure beats talking about the Ashes (bore off).
As an Arsenal fan, I'm very pleased with the list. Given when we are set to play the big 4 teams, we'll have enough time to get into our groove to be prepared for them, and assuming we manage to prolong our end-of-season form into the new one, we'll pick up a vast majority of the points available before fighting for the crucial ones. Plus, barring an awkward looking trio of trips to Spurs and Chelsea and the visit of Man. City, our run-in from there on in is relatively easy - if we're on form. And if (and that's a big if) we acquire the squad I think we are going to, they'll be the difference between winning and losing the title. Honest.
As for our title rivals (deadly serious), the outlook is pretty similar. Everyone seems to have a 'big' game within the first few weeks, while the remainder of the important head-to-heads are spaced out across the season - although the last 'big four' clash of the season is pencilled in for the end of March.
Everyone seems to be making a meal out of what a tough start David Moyes has at Manchester United, whilst forgetting that it's Manchester United we're talking about. United may be without their main man in the shape of Fergie, but unless it has something to do with added time, they will be going into every game this season on paper as favourites. Old Trafford will still be the fortress it is now. United will continue to score freely there (although hopefully not too many more 8-2s) and teams will continue to hate going there.
Their 'tough start' sees a fading Swansea team who I don't see having the year, or more precisely, 6 months they had last year, with a trip to Anfield that even I don't dread these days followed by the visit of Crystal Palace. Yes, they have Chelsea and City either side of them, but then they won't have them later on. It all evens itself out. Whatever happened to "it's not how you start"...?
Chelsea have United and Tottenham in their first six with Bayern Munich in August too - but no-one seems to have even mentioned that. City have a relatively easy start - they don't United until September, while their start looks arguably routine bar the potential tricky obstacle of a trip to Cardiff. But again - no hint of Pellegrini being eased into Premier League football with a nice start? Perhaps Moyes is an easy target for the press and other critics.
But as I said before, predicting and analysing the forthcoming season on the basis of the fixtures is just a load of old tosh. A good season can be predicted on the performances rather than the teams they play. But like I mentioned in my last post, we have lots to look forward to when the season finally starts - it's *only* 7 weeks away now.
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