Chelsea begin the defense of their Premier League title today at home to new boys West Brom having spent a “mere” £5 million (US$7.8 million) in pre-season.
When Baggies boss Roberto di Matteo was a Chelsea player that was still a sizeable sum of money and there is something grimly amusing about the London club, who have enjoyed success on the back of Russian owner Roman Abramovich’s billions, being outspent in the transfer market.
However, with Yossi Benayoun the lone new arrival at Stamford Bridge, that has certainly been the case with Manchester City spending a colossal £85 million.
City’s spending is likely to continue with the prospect of the likes of James Milner still coming to Eastlands before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
Whether spending quite so much money will give City the “instant” success their owners seek remains to be seen in a league where their local rivals Manchester United are still a formidable force.
Chelsea look like an ageing team, but modern training methods are fast forcing a re-evaluation of what older players can do and Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti said: “The players will be better this season because they have one year more experience, like me.”
“I’m not older. I’m more experienced. I am a better manager now. I had more doubt last year when I started,” he said.
Chelsea ended United’s three-year grip on the Premier League trophy last term and in the process denied Sir Alex Ferguson’s team a record 19th English title as the monopoly of the “Big Four” came under threat.
“Things definitely changed last season — it was a different league altogether,” Ferguson said. “The top four found it difficult and dropped points in games they wouldn’t have expected to. That’s an indication of the improvement made by other teams and I think there’ll be a bit of a dogfight for the top four places this season.”
“We all have to be aware of the threats from the likes of [Aston] Villa, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City,” he said.
City start the season away to Tottenham, who pipped them for fourth spot and a lucrative Champions League place last term, today with World Cup-winning Spain winger David Silva and Yaya Toure, brother of Kolo, among the new arrivals.
Liverpool begin the season at home to Arsenal tomorrow in what could be a pivotal season for both clubs.
Last time out, Liverpool dropped from runners-up to seventh amidst a background of boardroom uncertainty. Doubts over the future ownership of the club remain, but new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has at least managed to keep the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres on board, while Joe Cole has joined from Chelsea.
Arsenal continued to win plaudits for the quality of their soccer, but there were signs of frustration among some Gunners’ supporters last season with the club not having won a major trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s long-serving manager, has repeatedly forecast a brilliant future for a largely youthful team. However, at some point the future has to become the present and an optimistic Wenger said: “We finished third last season, so we have two stairs to climb and I am confident we can do it.”
In other opening round matches, Aston Villa will try to put the resignation of former manager Martin O’Neill behind them when they face West Ham, while today also sees Blackburn against Everton, Bolton playing Fulham, newboys Blackpool up against Wigan and Wolves playing Stoke.
Manchester United play promoted Newcastle on Monday.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB