When you look at the 'Big Four' they all have different approaches in trying to achieve success; Manchester United have a mix of a good youth policy and buying top young players so their current first team has youth and experience, British and foreign players, and credit to ferguson, he does try and give young home grown talent a chance; Chelsea do not appear to have any youth academy prospects being brought through, although pre-Abramovich they did: they also try to buy top talent which is no surprise given the amount of money their owner has, and the only player in their first team that has come through the Chelsea ranks is John Terry i think - I believe their biggest problem is the changing of managers so often; Arsenal are, and always have been, hampered by the board's wage policy, and Wenger has truly been a magician in both unearthing young talent and keeping them happy and at the club once they become stars, but I feel that could be starting to unravel now, and i wonder how long Wenger will be manager, despite their better than expected performance in the league last season, as he has shown signs of the strain in recent months; Liverpool's approach has changed drastically since the glory days of the 70's and 80's, although they still bring through youngsters, but increasingly they are trying to buy in talent - I am surprised Benitez is still in the job because I feel he has tried, unsuccessfully, to impose a strict rotation policy on the squad, as well as some of the most bizarre substitutions I have ever seen, and also spent a lot of money on some very good players without getting the trophies and in particular the Premier League.
This has been said before in the last few seasons, but I really believe that the Big Four will get either broken into, or be expanded to a Big Five or Six this season, despite the potential challengers all having problems - Spurs look like starting the season with no strikers, Man City have both a new manager and another host of new players to blend in, Everton seem to be losing players without replacing them, Blackburn also have a new and untested manager at this level and have already lost or are about to lose several players, Aston Villa may or may not be losing their captain and have already lost Mellberg, which leaves Portsmouth who currently look the best chance of 5th or higher, assuming their manager isn't put away!
I am obviously hoping that my team can be dark horses this season but then like my dreams they fade and die....
