International relations

Posted by Jon Champion on 03/09/2009

So, the opening exchanges of the Premier League have whetted the appetite nicely, and now comes the opportunity to draw breath and take stock as the focus switches to the international scene. You would think that club managers would welcome a week's break, especially after the closure of the transfer window, but ask any of them what's occupying their thoughts right now and the answer will be the same - the threat of injuries.

Mr. Average Premier League Manager can just about get his head around the validity of World Cup qualifiers, but games like England v Slovenia send him into meltdown. The concept of an international friendly is anathema to anyone who's job is to coax and cajole the best out of high-maintenance footballers over a club season that could involve sixty matches. When Fabio Capello was in charge of Milan he saw the conflict of interest from a different perspective; all he now cares about is finding the personnel to reach South Africa and then challenge when England get there.

As an assiduous watcher of Premier League games, Capello - like the rest of us - has no doubt been enjoying a fascinating opening to the season. What has he, and indeed what have we learnt so far?

Arsenal appear stronger than touted; the younger players have trained on and Arsene Wenger's "project" seems on course. Liverpool have had a turbulent start with one good performance, one adequate display and two moribund outings, failing to quell the questions over the reliance on Gerrard and Torres and a perceived lack of depth in the squad. The jury is still out on Manchester United post Ronaldo. Manchester City look capable of threatening the top four, Tottenham likewise, but the clearest signal of all has come from west London. Anyone who saw ESPN's coverage of last weekend's dismissal of Burnley cannot fail to have been impressed by Chelsea's fluency of thought and deed. This time last year, Big Phil Scolari was being lauded as the man who had given Chelsea an extra dimension. Twelve months on, Carlo Ancelotti seems a safer bet to lift them back to former heights.

My main reservation concerns the age of the team. Six of the starters against Burnley were over 30 whilst the average age was 29 years and 290 days. Thereagain, no club is more associated with pensioners than Chelsea!

Further down the table is beginning to assume some sort of vague shape, but it is still dangerously early to be making any firm judgments. The next few weeks will tell us much, starting with ESPN's next live Premier League game, Tottenham against Manchester United on Saturday, 12 September. Matches don't come much more attractive than Challengers versus Champions, and we'll take a closer look at the game in this column next week, but for now the focus is on the World Cup, and even a Premier League manager might acknowledge the importance of that.

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Posted by Tim on 04/09/2009

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