A brand new day: Who will get the upper hand?

THERE’S a point to be made about several of the top clubs making managerial changes before the upcoming season; with both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and our neighbours Everton having replaced their manager since the season ended.

The questions are many, and one of them is: What impact, if any, could these changes have on the competitive balance between last season’s top seven clubs?

As of now, Liverpool FC aside, Spurs and Arsenal are the only two clubs who will have the advantage of managerial continuity – albeit on totally different levels, of course: André Villas-Boas has had one season in North London, while his colleague Arsène Wenger is now by far the longest serving manager in the league, having been in charge for Arsenal since 1996.

Continuity in itself isn’t necessarily exclusively positive though; a lot of damage can be made having the wrong manager in charge, and even more unhealthy with board unwilling to act or incapable of seeing it. I don’t think anyone can seriously claim this to be the case in Wenger’s case though

The top three from last season are all starting with clean slates now, and even though there’s no need for a big upheaval in either of the respective squads there will be changes and new methods to get used to.

Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge was hardly unexpected, and could signal a desire of injecting some stability into the club. In some ways it feels as if he’s returning home to settle down after having been away for a few years to explore the world.

If his relationship with Abramovich can stay friction free it could be what they need to establish themselves as the best team in the league. As ever though, the question is whether he intends to stick around or not; is he there to help the club build something or is he brought in as a short term fix to break up the Manchester dominance? Can it be both this time?
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Manuel Pellegrini has over the years steadily built himself a reputation as one of the finest managers around. His work at Villareal and recently Malaga has shown his ability to build good teams with relatively limited funds (in the former’s case); and while he didn’t win anything the one season he got as head coach of Real Madrid he certainly didn’t make a fool of himself there either, racking up a then club record of 96 points in the league – only beaten by Pep Guardiola’s brilliant Barca team.

Still, there are probably some who will point to his lack of trophies outside South America and have doubts about him being the right man to establish City as a powerhouse in Europe, and he will probably need some time to get to grips with English football.

The most intriguing appointment however has to be David Moyes at Manchester United. People point to the similarities between him and the retired Alex Ferguson, but what do they exactly have in common apart from their nationality and pragmatic approach to football?

Without a trophy behind his name to buy him time and some less than kind opening fixtures, the hot seat at Old Trafford soon could become a bit too hot for his liking – six year deal or not. I don’t see him having the same ability to squeeze points out of a squad as Ferguson had, and I think it could take him a bit of time and a couple of quality signings to get going.

So, how about Liverpool’s role in all of this? In terms of continuity the club is not starting a new fresh this season, which in this case is a good thing. A soothing thought, yet slightly unfamiliar. Brendan Rodgers and FSG started an ongoing project last summer that includes not only purely tactical changes, but also significant changes within the squad and also how the club operates in the transfer market. These ideas and methods have now been maturing for about a year or so, which should bode well for the first team as well as the whole club and put the team in a good position – which naturally increases expectations.

But how realistic is it for LFC to be able to take any advantage of this situation though? As fans we can most definitely be guilty of doing a fair bit of straw clutching at times, and with the distance between Liverpool and the top three or top four the last few years in mind I won’t see next season as a failure if we miss out on Champions League.

With Arsenal looking as if they’re finally about to get serious about spending money on quality players I can’t see us bridging that gap immediately, and with Tottenham also ahead in terms of having a settled squad I think both North London clubs could threaten the top three this season. With the right signings they may even be capable of mounting a title challenge.
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