Source: SKY_Sports
Alan Mc's picks
The Premier League season is just around the corner - and once again Soccer Saturday will guide you through all of the twists and turns.
Jeff Stelling and the boys will be on your screens every Saturday to talk you through one of the most intriguing seasons in the history of the Premier League and there are plenty of questions to be answered.
Will Manchester United hold onto their title in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo or will there be another name on the Premier League trophy in May? Can Manchester City gatecrash the top four or will we see a surprise name in contention for the Champions League spots?
Who will be scrapping it out at the bottom? Which player will bag the most goals? Which summer transfer deals will provide the best value and which signings will we be laughing at by the end of the campaign?
We asked the stars of Soccer Saturday to gaze into their crystal balls and give us their views on what we can expect in 2009/10 - as well as letting us know what they've been up to on their summer holidays.
Alan McInally is the latest to step up to the plate and you can read his thoughts below...
CHAMPIONS - Chelsea I think Chelsea will win it. Without Cristiano Ronaldo and the jack-in-the-box Carlos Tevez to inject some energy, I think the pressure on Wayne Rooney is too much.
Ronaldo guaranteed Manchester United at least an extra 11 or 12 points last season purely by producing something fantastic at 0-0 or 1-1, or by finishing the game inside 20 minutes. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was the best player in the world, so it's hard to lose that player. I don't think Antonio Valencia was bought as a replacement, I think United just liked him anyway.
Karim Benzema was first priority for Ferguson, that was a massive blow when he went to Real Madrid - Fergie thought he was coming to Old Trafford. Obviously Rooney can go through the centre but then you've got Dimitar Berbatov, who Ferguson has barely
mentioned all summer. If he isn't still there in January, I don't think I'll be very surprised.
So I say Chelsea, they're stronger in the middle of the park and will be consistent all season, whereas United are pretty much relying on Rooney for 30 goals.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOTS - Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal This Alberto Aquilani that Liverpool have signed is a good good player, but when it comes to Liverpool I always think Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. If those two weren't fit for 35 or 36 games together, Liverpool couldn't win the league. End of. Don't get me wrong, Aquilani can be as good - if not better - than Alonso, but he's going to need time to adjust to playing at Wigan and Blackburn etc. Coming from Italy, the football is completely different. One £20 million player from Roma, plus Gerrard and Torres does not win you a Premier League. No chance. Ryan Babel hasn't done it for me yet, Dirk Kuyt works his tail off but he won't get you 25 goals, and defensively you're asking Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger to do the job of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, which I don't think they can do. I don't think Liverpool have the strong squad that they're making out.
Arsenal will be fourth but defensively they're not good enough.
Arsene Wenger is second only to Sir Alex Ferguson for me, the football Arsenal play makes them most people's second team, I'd love to sit down and chat football with Arsene Wenger. But Arsenal aren't bad enough to win the league if you know what I mean.
FIFTH - Man City I don't know if I can take Man City seriously. I wouldn't have given you £2 million for Adebayor, yet they spent £25 million. He's obviously talented, and then you've got Barry, Tevez etc, but I just can't take them seriously right now. What should be said is that fifth is bottom requirement for City, and they'll spend more in January. There's more pressure on Mark Hughes than any other manager, if he doesn't have Champions League football in 24 months I guarantee you he has no chance of remaining manager. That's if they're patient! If there's no sign of it by March he might be out. I'll back City for fifth purely because they cannot expect to finish any lower given the money they've spent.
SURPRISE PACKAGE - Blackburn I think Blackburn under Sam Allardyce will do better this year. I think he'll inject that mentality that he had at Bolton into Blackburn, because Bolton used to be a regular surprise package finishing 8th, 9th, 10th ever year. I think that'll happen with Blackburn, and I think Newcastle were hasty in getting rid of him. If Newcastle had kept Big Sam, they wouldn't have gone down. Blackburn don't have great money so they won't be challenging for Europe, but I think they'll be 8th, 9th, 10th this season.
GOING DOWN - Burnley, Hull, Birmingham Burnley, Hull and Birmingham. If Hull hadn't had such a good start last year they would have gone down. I thought Alec McLeish did brilliant to get Birmingham up, but I just think Bolton and Sunderland will have enough, Wigan and Stoke likewise, and Pompey have the greater spending power under this new regime if things are looking gloomy in January. Pompey still have Sylvain Distin, Sol Campbell and David James, which is solid, and I think January may be a big month in keeping Pompey up.
GOLDEN BOOT - Nicolas Anelka I've had a bet on Nicolas Anelka. I'm not having Torres, I'm not having Rooney, everybody's talking about Drogba but I think Anelka will be getting plenty of chances this season. He won it last year didn't he? That'll do for me.
BEST BUY - Peter Crouch What about big Crouchie at Spurs. Him and Jermaine Defoe like each other, and Harry Redknapp isn't usually too far away from being right. The likes of Luka Modric will get him a lot of chances - big Crouchie is a good buy. On a different note, I'll tell you someone who will go for decent money over the next 12 months: Chris McCann at Burnley. He's a really good player, someone will offer for £4-5 million for him.
BONKERS BUY - Emmanuel Adebayor I would say Leroy Lita to Middlesbrough but that's not in The Premier League! Let's just say Emmanuel Adebayor to Man City because he'll throw his toys out the pram.
HOW HAS YOUR PRE-SEASON TRAINING GONE? I'm in the best shape of my life. I haven't done a 6 or 12-miler this year but I've been playing plenty of golf. My pre-season consisted of New York, Spain, Italy, Loch Lomond, the Wembley tournament and some local matches. That was my pres-season. Now I'm looking forward to taking money off Charlie Nich, Stelling, Le Tiss, Merse, Cottee and Thompson every Saturday in the sweep. That'll pay for next summer's holiday.
