Summer Preparations: What An EPL Season to Look Forward to!

Whilst Manchester United won both the Champions League and the Premier League last season, they were not the run-away winners in either competition.

Chelsea ran United so close last season, and remember, Arsenal led the league for the longest period of time last season.

United were not as consistent as they would have liked. A poor start, along with surprising defeats against Man City, West Ham and Bolton, were not signs of champions.

Despite that, it would be difficult to argue against them being the best team last season. Would things be slightly different this season?

Man United are on the verge of a brilliant signing in Berbatov, a striker who just looks destined to be a United player with his skills and swagger. He looks to be the ONLY big signing that United are going to make this summer.

But what a signing it will be. If they can keep Ronaldo, they will have to get his mentality right. At times, he plays for himself rather than plays for the team.

There is no doubt that he is a great player, but his mentality has got to change. If not, I think Fergie will chuck him away, because he won't allow that in the club.

Scholes, Giggs and Neville's contributions to the club is undoubtedly unmatchable. However, the three of them will really have to fight to get into the starting line-up. The pace in the EPL is harsh on older players like them. Don't be surprised if they are used as bit-part players.

Chelsea have signed two excellent players in Bosingwa and Deco. The two Portuguese players are both excellent technically.

Deco will give Chelsea a lot more creativity and flair, which is what they have always lacked in midfield, and Bosingwa should finally sort out the right back problems that Chelsea have had.

Robinho is a question mark; I personally do not see the point of it since he is not physically competent for the EPL, and he lacks the team ethic to play for a team like Chelsea. Well, maybe Big Phil can prove me wrong.

What I do know, however, is that Chelsea is going to be there or there-abouts, simply because they have the toughest mentality out of all four teams. They can always swim against the flow and cast doubters wrong. They will not lose games without a fight.

Despite a poor end to the season, Arsenal were (being an Arsenal fan) a revelation for the EPL last season. This is because they were so written off last season that it was unimaginable to see them do so well at the start and winning at places that fans expected the opposite, such as West Ham, Bolton, Everton away.

Last summer, I was talking to friends about predictions, and I said to them Arsenal had the best team spirit at that time, because I saw how much they wanted to win trophies in the Emirates and Amsterdam tournaments, how they fought for each other. Unfortunately, a chain of events led to the bonding and morale being disturbed, which is why the team struggled.

It is hard to predict whether Nasri and Ramsey can give Arsenal much this season. Both are young, one is foreign and in need of time to adapt. Ramsey is inexperienced and probably won't be in the first team much this season. So Wenger is yet to make a signing which is going to immediately improve the team.

Wenger did say he is in the market for one more midfielder, which is surprising, since the team's weakest area is obviously the defence. It was the area which lost us crucial games last season.

However, perhaps he is trying to fill the void left by Gilberto, Flamini and Hleb. What I think is that he does not believe in Denilson, Diaby and Ramsey being able to step up this season.

Liverpool have been the most active out of the top four in the summer in terms of transfers. Mendy, Dossena, Degan, Pacheco, Cavalieri are all unheard of to be honest, I doubt many have seen them play.

Now what Rafa is planning is pretty mysterious to be honest. They have strengthened mostly in defence so far, which is the area that they have always been solid in. They want to bring in Robbie Keane and Gareth Barry too, and both are likely to sign.

Liverpool will always lack something in their locker, and that is the consistency required to win a league. They have not had that for a while.

If Torres or Gerrard gets injured, alarm bells will start ringing. They have got to start stringing wins together instead of winning every other fixture.

So, the predicted starting XI for the big four should be something like this. Bracketed players are potential signings.

Man United

GK: Van der Sar

RB: Neville  CB: Ferdinand  CB: Vidic  LB: Evra

RM: Hargreaves  CM: Carrick  CM: Anderson  LM: Ronaldo

FW: Rooney  FW: Tevez (Berbatov)

N.B Scholes and Giggs are not included, because I am sure they will not play regularly due to their age and fitness.

Chelsea

GK: Cech

RB: Bosingwa  CB: Terry  CB: Carvalho  LB: Cole

DM: Essien

CM: Lampard  CM: Ballack

AM: Deco

FW: Drogba  FW: Anelka (Robinho)

Arsenal

GK: Almunia

RB: Sagna  CB: Toure  CB: Gallas  LB: Clichy

RM: Walcott  CM: Fabregas  CM: Diaby  LM: Rosicky

FW: v. Persie  FW: Adebayor

Liverpool

GK: Reina

RB: Finnan  CB: Carragher  CB: Agger  LB: Arbeloa

DM: Mascherano

CM: Alonso (Barry)  CM: Gerrard

FW: Kuyt (Keane)  FW: Torres  FW: Babel

These are obviously my own opinions and predictions only. I am only going to cover the top four, here since I honestly have not looked too deeply at other teams in the league.

Are you feeling the buzz already? Well, I am seriously looking forward to the opening day. I want to hear some predictions from you guys!