Club by Club Preview: Crystal Palace- Can The Run Go On?

Last Season: 11th
To think, most Crystal Palace fans were preparing themselves for relegation in the coming season this time last summer is almost amusing. With no Wilfried Zaha, Ian Holloway scrounging the dregs of the free agent list to put together a reasonable team and very little financial backing to raise the spirits at Selhurst Park, I was amongst those who tipped Palace for the drop. But, after Holloway's dismal start to the campaign, he was dismissed from his position at the club and Palace's fortunes began to change. Tony Pulis replaced Holloway in what was to be Pulis' second club in the Premier League. Well, let's just say, Pulis established his reputation as one of the best managers to keep a team up. The rapid improvement of Jason Puncheon's form was almost scary for sides around Palace. Having arrived when Palace were in deep trouble, Pulis ensured Palace were (not mathematically) safe by around the 30th game of the season. Bolasie, Puncheon, Speroni, Jedinak and Dann were 5 players key in turning around the season for Palace. The game that summed their season up was their 3-3 draw with Liverpool, down and out where many people had written them off but they struck back and managed to salvage a 3-3 draw against all the odds. The season couldn't have gone any better.

Club by Club Preview: Chelsea- Still That Little Horse?

Last Season: 3rd
Mourinho repeatedly expressed, throughout last season, that he wanted to be judged in the coming year, but people have been raising question marks over why the Chelsea side who added stars like Willian, Matic, Schurrle and Eto'o during the course of the season were unable to finish ahead of Liverpool last season. Mourinho will be quick to point out the fact that he had one of the youngest attacks in the league in response to these claims. Chelsea's inability to land Mourinho's ideal target, Wayne Rooney, would've been of huge frustration to the Portuguese manager who returned to Stamford Bridge that summer. The attack is, without question, where Chelsea fell down last season. Their inability to break down teams like West Ham, West Brom, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are inevitably what led to Chelsea being unable to match Manchester City. With the best defence in the league and the best record against fellow members of the top 7, it would seem a certainty that they would've ended up winners of the league, but that was not the case. Eden Hazard came in for criticism from "The Special One" during the first leg of their defeat to Atletico Madrid, in the Champions League semi final, due to an unwillingness to track back that led to a goal and the Belgian's season which looked reasonably impressive statistically underwhelmed me, as a man who expected a huge improvement from Hazard. Willian, who arrived from Shakhtar last summer for a hefty transfer fee seemed to settle into England very well and added a lot to Chelsea's attack, even though it wasn't enough. Oscar's huge downturn in form following the departure of Juan Mata and as he prepared for the World Cup was something of a concern to Chelsea fans, but there is a solid foundation to build on for the coming season.

Club By Club Preview: Burnley- Is The Premier League A Step Too Far?

Last Season: 2nd (In the Championship- Automatic Promotion)
Last year, as the people who do Championship equivalents to my previews sat down and looked at the 3 teams they expected to be joining the list of clubs that I'll be previewing the following season, very few were keen to predict Burnley making a return to the Premier League, a few years on from their disappointing time here last time. Filled with mediocre Championship players, the Burnley management team performed a miracle in bringing this team up past the big names of Nottingham Forest, Derby, Blackburn Rovers and Leeds in the league table. With Danny Ings, the scorer of 21 (league) goals and Sam Vokes, the scorer of 20 (league) goals, Burnley exceeded everybody's expectations. Achieving 93 points in the Championship is no mean feat and Burnley came up in second place in one of the most unpredictable leagues in all of World football. Their solid defence and with ex-Manchester United youngster, Tom Heaton, in between the sticks, Burnley was key in shocking the world and probably even themselves with this overachievement.

Club By Club Preview: Aston Villa- A Club in Turmoil?

Last Season: 15th
Last summer, any Villa fan who said that they were expecting another year down at the very bottom of the table would've been lying to you. Villa fans entered last summer full of optimism and hope that they could break into the top half of the table after the tidy signings of Libor Kozak, Jores Okore and more, expectation around Villa Park grew. They managed to retain Christian Benteke even as Spurs sniffed around the Belgian striker, however, the squad never truly reached it's potential in the Premier League. Their away record was very good for a team in the bottom half, but their record at home was something close to an embarrassment. The reliance on Christian Benteke continued through the season, but he was only capable of managing 11 goals in all competitions due to persistent injuries. Fabian Delph and Ron Vlaar truly excelled last season, but beyond that there were very few reasons to cheer for any Villa fans last season. The season was summed up on the final day as Villa were beaten, for the 20th time in the league, 3-0 by Spurs and proceeded to be booed off the pitch. Not a year to remember in the cups either as they didn't make it beyond the 3rd round in either. Just a dismal year to support Aston Villa.

Club by Club Preview: Arsenal- Is This Their Year?

Last Season: 4th
A very unusual season was had for Arsenal fans last year. Arsene Wenger finally managed to spend that money he's reportedly had open to him for a few summers as he splashed out on Real Madrid star Mesut Ozil. Having spent the most time at the top of the table last season, there would be room for optimism. However, they managed to finish 4th after such an impressive start. Some may say they were unfortunate with injuries, but Arsene Wenger had never truly addressed the problem of having squad players that weren't capable to fill in for starters, should the injuries occur. Surely, Arsenal fans will look at last season as an opportunity missed as one would think Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City were at their most vulnerable last year. Arsenal did manage to break their trophy drought in an unconvincing manner though, scraping past Hull City in the final. The heavy reliance on Aaron Ramsey was evident throughout the year (especially when he was injured) and Ramsey was the man to pop up with the eventual winner for the Gunners in the Cup final. Ramsey truly was Arsenal's star last season and he's going to be a strong cause of optimism also.

Club by Club Premier League Preview

The wait is almost over, get your Sky Sports subscription at the ready, spend hours preparing that Fantasy Football team, park away all them DVDs you planned to watch before summer ended, stop pulling out your hair over pointless transfer rumours, the Premier League is almost back. Now, I will try to publish 20 previews going through each individual club. Of course, as with every season, I will aim to remain as impartial as possible, but I do expect a lot of criticism for predictions and opinions (as always), but hey, those disagreements are what makes supporting a team interesting. And, unless you support Liverpool or Man City, I am willing to wish your team some luck in the coming season. It's sure to be one hell of a year, once again.

Group E- Straight Forward for France?

Wow! What a day of football we had yesterday. The quadruple header which gave us a look at both group C and D was absolutely thrilling for the footballing world. We started off with the match between Colombia and Greece. Many had expected this to be a tight affair, but Pablo Armero gave Colombia the lead after 5 minutes. The Greeks created very few chances in between the 5th minute goal from the ex-West Ham left back and Gutierrez's goal for the Colombians on the 58th minute. Greece, who looked devastated by the end of this match, couldn't hold out James Rodriguez in stoppage time and the Colombian Key Player from my Group C preview added a 3rd goal to embarrass the flat and edge less Greek team. They'll really need to up their performance for the 2nd match or else they'll suffer the fate I had predicted (4th in the group). We got a look at the Uruguayan side straight after the Colombians and well, I'm not sure anybody expected the Uruguayan defence to perform so poorly. I'd always claimed in the build up to this tournament (On Twitter) that Uruguay have been overestimated by the English media and my Tweet about Costa Rica which regarded them as the "Team to watch out for at the World Cup", this result was less of a surprise to me than most, but I was still left gobsmacked. This result just showed the beautiful side to our game. Costa Rica- who only managed a draw against Ireland, beat the Copa America holders by 3 goals to 1. Costa Rica's Olympiakos star from last season, who now returns to Arsenal following his loan spell, Joel Campbell, gave the Uruguayan defence nightmares. Defender Duarte, who added to Campbell's equaliser for Costa Rica, looked shaky defensively last night, but he took his goal incredibly well. Substitute Urena, who scored a minute after coming onto the pitch, made it 3-1 and Maxi Pereira lost his discipline and had a wild swipe at Campbell. This showing of frustration at the end of the match conveyed Uruguay's desperate need for their star Luis Suarez to return for the next 2 games. England vs Italy followed that crazy match and well, the very reason I avoided my Group D preview was Steven Gerrard. I didn't want to seem biased against him or any other of the Liverpool contingency present in the English squad, but last night, Gerrard was taught a midfield lesson by Juventus' Andrea Pirlo. England's lack of a 3rd midfielder in the side alongside Henderson and Gerrard meant that Pirlo roamed further forward than expected and left Verratti lying deep in the Italian midfield. And didn't Pirlo's new role work a treat? There was a clear plan to have Sterling tracking the wizard around midfield, but he never got a chance to even get close to the bearded Italian. Pirlo managed to complete a whopping 108 passes, he set up a chance for Balotelli, did a delectable dummy in the build up to the Italian goal and hit a free kick off the bar in the final moments that was so good it left Hart in amazement. The influence exerted on the game by the 35 year old is made more impressive when you account for the energy-sapping heat that existed last night. If Pirlo manages to play like this for the whole tournament, you can expect him to be the Player of the Tournament by the end. The Italian goals came from Marchisio and Balotelli, which ended up being the winner and England's goal came from Sturridge who really deserved the goal for his first half display. Room to be positive for England after last night's disappointment? Yes, of course. But, do they need to up their performance levels for second halves of games? Definitely. The number who went down or were struck with cramp was alarming for Hodgson and physio Gary Lewin (who injured his ankle celebrating Sturridge's goal- in an almost comical occurrence). The 2 a.m kick off between Japan and Ivory Coast was one that was worth staying up for. Keisuke Honda, who tipped the Japanese to win the World Cup, gave his side the lead, but Japan's confidence was torn away with a 2 minute double from Gervinho and Bony which gave Ivory Coast a victory which I certainly didn't predict. Serge Aurier impressed during this game and looks an ideal replacement for new Man City player Bacary Sagna at Arsenal. Are we ready for tonight's triple header? Well, I hope you are because it's going to be another brilliant night.

Group C- The Group of the Unknown

Last night typifies what every single person wants from football as they turn on their TV before every match. We had everything, starting with Mexico who surprised me with a lot of things. Firstly, the decision to drop Chicharito for the first game of the World Cup (Yes, I had him as their key man, I apologise) was not expected by me anyways, although a few journalists had claimed his position was in jeopardy. Secondly, the 5 at the back system didn't surprise me, but the implementation of it was surprisingly good. They pressed very high and Cameroon never actually got a chance to attack Mexico. But, what surprised me most was the incredible performance from Giovani Dos Santos. Although Dos Santos has been doing well in Spain recently, I had expected him to flop at this tournament. But, his performance last night was incredible and Mexico's 1-0 win didn't flatter them as they had 2 goals chalked off in controversial circumstances. As good as Mexico were in Group A, the first game of Group B will be the one that takes all the headlines. The Netherlands managed to get revenge on Spain for the 2010 World Cup final as they beat the holders 5-1. Having admitted in my Group B preview that Louis Van Gaal would come under scrutiny in his post at Manchester United very early on, should he fail at this World Cup, this result came as the most pleasant surprise. Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben stole the show in what was a terrific (in particular) second half display for the Dutch side. As good as the Netherlands were, let's not expect their win to be fully attributed to the heart and desire they showed following what was a diabolical performance from national captain Iker Casillas. One must wonder if the keeper will hold his reputation as being "charmed" after that. With David De Gea and Pepe Reina waiting for their chance, Casillas is under huge pressure to deliver in the next game. Chile vs Australia was far more predictable than the first game in Group B. However, the Australian manager, Postecoglou, will not feel too disheartened with the performance from his side. Chile took a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes, with goals through Alexis Sanchez (should have put him in your fantasy team people) and Jorge Valdivia, and the Australians were written off by many (including myself), however Tim Cahill showed (contrary to my beliefs in the Group B preview once again- yes, I had a bad day) that he's still got it from his days at Everton, as he scored a terrific header. But, as much as the Australians tried to get a second, the final goal from Wigan's Jean Beausejour came as little surprise to anyone. Group B is shaping up to be a terrific group, no pressure on the "minnows" in Group C, eh? 

Group B- A Quick Nation By Nation Preview

After 2 years off the scene, it was very nice to hear such complimentary words spoken about my Group A preview for this World Cup. What a start we had to the World Cup, with Croatia shaking up Brazil's plans to have a party on the pitch in the early stages of the match, as Marcelo was left hitting the ball into the back of his own net. But, Neymar Jr. was not going to have his first match at a World Cup spoiled, as he scored 2 goals to carry Brazil past the resilient Croatian side. Oscar added a late third in a scoreline which flattered the hosts, but the mark of a great side is their ability to win when not playing to their maximum potential. Unsavoury riots occurred around Brazil following the police's decision to use tear gas, to rid of protesters at the Government's decision to spend so much money on hosting the competition. Understandable complaints from the Brazilian public as we see areas of mass poverty still exist in this country. But, after today's game between Cameroon and Mexico, our attention will turn to Group B which many see as one of the "Groups of Death" and I'm here to give you a preview on the group.

World Cup: A Quick Nation By Nation Preview- Group A

4 years on from the annoying Vuvuzelas, Siphiwe Tshabalala lighting up the hearts of many people, England's disappointment (Again!!) and Spain adding to their 2008 European Championships title, we go home! Home to Brazil for this year's World Cup. And boy, do we expect a lot! We've had great controversy in Brazil surrounding the nations decision to host a World Cup when many people are suffering from severe poverty, but from this point on- a lot of Brazil will be enthralled to see what spectacle their nation manages to produce. We expect goals, penalties and ultimately: More disappointment for England. As an Irish man, a quick note must be made on our absence as I inform the world: We'll be back! Now, let's not dwell on Ireland and move into the "real countries" who actually qualified for the tournament.