Premier League: Title Challengers – Arsenal & Chelsea
This brief covers the key ideas, material and details about the title race between Chelsea and Arsenal for the 2013-14 Premier League season using the given information.
Chelsea: World Champions and High Hopes
Chelsea’s World Club Cup final win against PSG certainly raised the bar for the season ahead. Although their European final know-how is respected (“Chelsea in European finals, they are really, really good”), there is a sense that it was the way they won, and particularly the “absolutely incredible” first-half performance, that has given them a head of steam.
Key Points on Chelsea:
Recent Triumph: Chelsea are the “world champions”, having beaten PSG, a side many believe is “the best on the planet.” Such success has resulted in high hopes for them during the domestic season.
European Cutting Teeth: Their regular success at European finals is cited as a reason for their ability to handle the pressure.
Young squad & progression: So, despite the present prognosis, the analysis paints a long-term view of Chelsea’s title challenge. They are said to have had “one of the youngest average squads in the Premier League” last season. The team is on “an amazing trajectory” and “In 2-3 years, this Chelsea team are not going to be one of the best teams in Europe.” It means there is an emphasis on the signing of “young people” and growth.
Cole Palmer’s influence: One of those is Cole Palmer, picked out as a particularly impressive presence, back to his best again yesterday, winning the golden ball for the best player throughout the totournamentThe way he did it against PSG, “he completely tore him to shreds”, once again suggests he hcanbe a key player for Chelsea and make an England starting spot his own.
Though they still believe that Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are “just ahead of us” in terms of the immediate title, the same source is “expecting that we are going to have to push right on” for the league title. The longer-term prognosis is very strong, with no “reason why they can’t gun and win the Premier League” in a year or two.
Arsenal: Seeking the Missing Piece
There is a weight to the title hope if they continue to sign well, especially if one is a goal machine of substance. The alleged “final piece of the jigsaw” in the making is Victor Gyökeres.
Key Points on Arsenal:
Stickerr Shortage: Arsenal supporters were “getting a bit agitated about when a striker [is] going to come in.” The side makes “a lot of chances, but they weren’t putting them away.” This reveals the weakness of their squad.
Victor Gyökeres as the Solution: Victor Gyökeres is positioned to be the so-called “difference maker” with his “scary” numbers from last season for Sporting. The hope is that his presence will also inject fresh competition for Kai Havertz as well as a far more reliable goal threat.
Other notable signings: Other things I mentioned that were good include Zuba Mendy, Norgaard, Keeper, and perhaps Madaki , showing good depth of transfers.
Adaptation fears: Gyökeres has some “taste of English football” in the Championship with Coventry, but the “huge difference” to the Premier League is admitted to. His form in the Portuguese league and Champions League, where he was “unstoppable,” gives confidence that he can “hit the ground running.”
Risk Acknowledged: There is an acceptance that it would be a risk signing a new striker who will not settle immediately, following the cautionary tale of Darwin Núñez at Liverpool. But Gyökeres is excited to “achieve other things” outside of relegation battles and help take Arsenal to a point where they are “pushing close to win the league this year”.
Overall, bringing a clinical striker like Gyökeres with a few strategic recruits in will be pivotal for Arsenal to break away from being the title contenders to the potential winner, a remedy for their problem of creating chances but not converting them properly.
