8th. Swansea City
I kind of get the impression that Swansea City are a lot of peoples favourite team aside from the team they support. They play great football and are very easy to watch. They also have one of the best performers of last season, Michu. I know I certainly love to watch Swansea and like to see them do well. Swansea finished 9th last season but Im certain they would have finished slightly higher than that if it wasnt for their League Cup hangover. Thanks to that League Cup win, Swansea will be competing in the Europa League this season. We saw last season with Newcastle that the demands of the Europa League can really effect your league position. Manager Michael Laudrup is clearly aware of that and was determined to strengthen his squad and he has been able to do so. Theyve brought in eight new players thus far.
The signing of Wilfried Bony will probably be the most important. Despite scoring 18 league goals last season, Michu isnt really a natural striker. For large spells of last year Michu was forced to play right up top. The signing of Bony will allow Michu to play just in behind him and will also help share the burden of scoring goals. Key player: Michu Transfers in so far:
Jernade Meade from Arsenal on a free transfer.
Wilfried Bony from Vitesse Arnhem for £12 million.
Jonjo Shelvey from Liverpool for £5 million.
Alejandro Pozuelo from Real Betis for £425,000.
Alexander Gogic from Olympiakos on a free transfer.
Gregor Zabret from NK Domzale on a free transfer.
Jordi Amat from Espanyol for £2.5 million.
Jose Alberto Canas from Real Betis on a free transfer. Possible team to face Manchester United in their first fixture: GK: Vorm RB: Rangel CB: Williams CB: Chico LB: Davies CM: Britton CM: Ki AM: Michu RW: Routledge LW: Hernandez ST: Bony