Pires back in the EPL

Former Arsenal winger, Robert Pires, will join the Villans this week after being let go by his Spanish side Villarreal earlier this season. The 37 year old winger is clearly on the down slope of his career but can still bring some veteran leadership to the Birmingham side. After having trained with his former side Arsenal he has found himself a new footballing home. A couple of aspects of this move struck me:

• Had Wenger not stuck to his - no long term contract for players over 30 policy - could the Gunners have benefited from the veteran French international the past few seasons? I will say yes. I realize that Pires was not the player that Wenger first brought to north London from OM as a 26 year old. Pires became a vital cog in the Arsenal machine and I will contend that had he not injured a knee in 2002 he would have given Les Bleus great cover for Zidane during the World Cup and Les Bleus would have made a run in South Korea/Japan. Having said that, I also think Arsenal would have benefited from having the veteran for the past 4 seasons. Would he have been an uncontested starter? No. But spot starting and being leveraged off the bench would have given Wenger a valuable, trusted and solid option in the midfield.
• The apparent "snubbing" of the MLS and the Philadelphia Union, is ironic on many levels. First because Pires claims to have turned down the MLS side because the city was not beautiful enough....and now he is going to Birmingham. However who can blame him? Rather than moving to a Tier 2 domestic league (at best) he is heading back to one of the most popular domestic football leagues in the world and playing for a solid team with aspirations for Champions League football and beyond. I realize that players such as Henry and Marquez sought the MLS, but in the case of Titi he clearly wanted to enjoy life in America and specifically New York City. I would doubt that Henry or Marquez made the moves because they wanted to play in a more competitive league than La Liga or the EPL...then again according to Alexi Lalas the MLS would do more than hold their own in the EPL.

I think Houllier will leverage Pires as would have Wenger had he stayed at Arsenal - spot starting duty, option off the bench and selective games off (Carling Cup, early FA Cup games). He will be a welcome return to the EPL, I just wish he had never left.

Premier League starting up...4 tops again

It appears that the summer vacation and time off for the footie teams is shorter and shorter...I guess all the better for us soccer starved fans! To many out there, the true soccer season starts tomorrow with the beginning of the English Premier League (btw I like the old badge up top)...the other big leagues, Italy and Spain, start later in the summer.

So the first question, will the "big 4" remain the same? Answer...and I have been thinking about this all summer...will be yes. Second question, will all the big spending at Manchester City mean they will threaten for the title. Answer...no. Third question, will Everton or Aston Villa threaten the top 4. Answer...maybe. And finally, will Benetiz and SAF continue their war of words. Answer...ABSOLUTELY! Ok let us look at the the top 5 and some other observations before the season opener tomorrow.

#5 Aston Villa. The Villians threatened to oust Arsenal last season from the top 4 late into the year, only to lose their steam. Probably the most English of all teams they are managed by one of the Premierships best managers in Martin ONeil. The loss of Barry will be difficult to overcome, but with the likes of Agbonlahor, Carew, Freidel, Sidwell, Young etc they have enough talent to maintain aspirations of being in the top 5. I also think that Heskey will prove important in this campaign, while not the striker some thought he might become, if he can chip in double digit goals and bring some veteran leadership to the side they will perform well enough to knock on the door of the big 4.

#4 Liverpool. Ok I have never made it a secret that I think Benetiz is an overrated blowhard. And had the Reds not had 15 minutes of craziness in Athens to win the Champions League, the Spaniard would be back in his home land looking for work. I think losing Garcia will be more difficult to over come than Benetiz thinks. I realize that Benetiz brought in Aquilani from Italy to replace Garcia, but not sure how he will acclimate himself to England. I think that he still has not addressed the goal scoring issue, can Torres and Gerrard still be expected to score the bulk of the goals for the Reds? If Mascherano ends up leaving as the rumors claim, then the Reds will be in real trouble.

#3 Manchester United. Whoooaaaaa you might say, the Red Devils, winners of 3 straight titles...fall to 3rd???? Um yes. Why? You cannot lose arguably the best player in the world in Ronaldo as well as one of the games top 10 strikers and expect to win a 4th straight title. Van de Sar is out for the first part of the season. Hargreaves, yes remember him, appears closer to being forced into retirement. Giggs and Scholes are one year older. Owen? Just because you gave him the #7 shirt does not mean he is the next Best, Cantona, Beckham or Ronaldo. Michael Owen has not been the same for a very long time. Not sure if the change of scenery will make him the young prodigy we saw score one of the greatest goals in the 1998 World Cup. I think that Manchester United are in a transition season and they will drop in the table.

#2 Arsenal. I have given the Gunners a lot of thought recently. For a while I thought they would be out of the top 4...and then I will admit I read Bobby's blog on Fox Soccer and it changed my mind. Now I am not ready to crown the Gunners league winners but I think they will improve on last season and that clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United will drop. A full season of Arshavin a healthy Eduardo the lack of headache from Adebayour are the keys. Of course this ranking will change if Cesc leaves for Barca. Also, Wenger still needs to bring in some defensive and midfield help before the end of the month. In addition, Rosicky needs to come back close to 100%, Nasri needs to come back, Diaby needs to find some health potion...again a lot of other ifs, but no reason to believe most cannot come to fruition.

#1 Chelsea. Not much suspense here...but the Blues have the talent, manager, and deep pockets to regain the title. They were able to keep Terry and Drogba during the off season. Malouda looks like the Malouda from Lyon. Anelka could have a new contract to make him happy. Finally Ancelotti should bring some stability to the management role. Oh and let us not forget Shevchenko is back from ACMilan. I have a feeling the Ukrainian striker will have a nice season for the Blues. He will give some good depth up front and be a solid substitute during the season. Of course if there are any needs during the winter transfer window, we all know that Abramovich will not hesitate to splash out the cash. The Blues are too deep and talented not to regain the title this season. The one question mark is in goal, if Cech plays the way we know he can then no worries....if he plays the way he did for part of last season, they could be in trouble.

Other teams to watch -

Manchester City - How can you not keep a keen eye to the other team in Manchester. After dropping A LOT of cash this transfer season, they have, on paper, the talent to challenge anyone. However I question if there was any strategy behind the acquisitions or just...buy who you can to make us look like a contender spending. Adebayour...ok. But how will he fit with Santa Cruz and Tevez? Who will defend? Is Toure the Toure of old or the one we saw the past few months for Arsenal? The Citizens should still do better than last season, I think that Ireland will be shown as one of the best playmakers with the offensive additions he will be able to leverage.

Everton - David Moyes always has his team ready to play. Fellaini, Arteta, Cahill and a rejuvenated Saha are a solid foundation for the club. They will once again be one of the best teams in the second tier of the Premiership

Cannot believe the season starts tomorrow, I do not see anyone breaking into the top 4, but I do think that clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United will come back to the pack which should make for an interesting Premiership season.

Arsenal drop 2 points

Ugh, after being up 2-0 Arsenal once again find a way to not close out a game. The Gunners looked good after going up 2-0, although Villa had their chances hitting the post and watching Sagna make an acrobatic save off the line. What really frustrated me was Gallas' foul for the penalty kick, granted Gallas had a good game, except for that situation and it was not a necessary tackle. Agbonlahor was the only Villa player and Toure was tracking back covering the middle of the penalty box. Gallas could have just forced Agbonlahor to the end line, maybe he remembered what happened to him in the first match when the young Brit out paced Gallas to the ball to score a wonderful goal. Maybe Gallas felt he had to tackle the striker otherwise he would be outpaced.

The second goal is what is really frustrating, in injury time a deep ball into the box...and Arsenal were out numbered in the box. Ugh. How is that possible when you are in injury time and have a 1 goal lead on the road. Once again Arsenal do not know how to kill off a game. Very frustrating. Once again I think the issue of not have some veteran leadership and more importantly not having some toughness on the pitch is what is cursing Arsenal. Come on Wenger get some of both during the transfer window...otherwise the UEFA cup might be in the Gunners future.