As the astute followers of my football leanings have surmised, my interest in soccer dried up a bit during the 2006-2007 season. This was largely due to the fact that i found myself unable to defend the assorted s@$#heads who run the show at Stamford Bridge these days. This disillusionment with "my" team has left me disinterested in English footie in general. However, i'll recount what thoughts i have had concerning the summer transfer market and forecasts for the future.

Chelsea gets outspent?!?! There's multiple ways to evaluate the observation that after four years of paying silly money for the world's top footballing names, Chelsea has gotten seriously outspent this summer. One would be that the club is content with their squad and its ability to compete for trophies, and wants to spend the offseason building chemistry among the existing players rather than forcing more new faces into the squad. This seems pretty unlikely considering that last year we surrendered the Premiership title and relative to the previous two years generally underperformed. Our signings of last summer can only be considered failures, particularly our high profile imports. Michael Ballack was in general freakin' awful, and if reports are true that Real Madrid are willing to buy him, we should laugh all the way to the bank. Andriy Shevchenko has undeniable skill, but i can't help but think he's not cut out for the English game and will not magically transform into a top Premiership scorer after a year in the country. Our other 2006 signings were not any better. Khalid Boulahrouz, well, we'll just forget that ever happened. Ashley Cole was probably our best buy and i can't remember anything he did last season. So why, given our lackluster previous crop of signings and failed bid for third successive title, would Roman Abramovich change his M.O.? Another possibility is that the Russian billionaire is tired of throwing money away on his London hobby. This theory is supported by the fact that our first signings of the summer were free transfers. The only person we've actually paid money for so far is Lyon and France winger Florent Malouda.

Whatever the reason for our sudden thriftiness, it is worrisome that two of our prime Premiership rivals, current champions Manchester United and pretenders-to-the-throne Liverpool, have made some impressive buys while we've been quiet. In addition to adding holding midfielder and longtime target Owen Hargreaves, United have paid top dollar for promising youngsters Nani and Anderson, and just closed the long-running Carlos Tevez saga with a two-year loan deal for the brilliant Argentinean striker. The scousers meanwhile have picked up Andriy Shevchenko's countryman, namesake, and Ukrainian strike partner Andriy Voronin and made the blockbuster move of the summer for Spanish hitman Fernando Torres. They've also added a smattering of role players, including budding Dutch forward Ryan Babel and experienced Premiership midfielder Yossi Benayoun. That leaves the London contingent of the big four, Chelsea and Arsenal, on the short end of the stick. I can take solace in the precedent that Chelsea's megaspending didn't immediately translate into titles ... i suspect this outcome may in particular afflict Liverpool ... but developments are worrying nonetheless.

The big four become three? Arsenal present perhaps the most interesting case study of the offseason. With the shock departure of David Dein from the Gunners' front office, storm clouds were forming over Arsenal, and the tempest came to a head with the sale of talisman Thierry Henry to Barcelona. For the relatively meager sum of £16m. Manager Arsene Wenger has had an undeniable knack for releasing players after their peak, with Patrick Vieira being an excellent example. But reports that Wenger might soon be on his way out as well encouraged speculation that Henry's exit wasn't motivated by football. Arsenal's squad hemorrhage continued, with long-serving support player Freddie Ljungberg departing as well as young striker Jeremie Aliadiere and Spanish malcontent Jose Antonio Reyes. The Gunners haven't made any particularly impressive buys to shore up the team, and one must wonder whether, despite the party line being touted by Wenger, Arsenal's disappointing run of form since losing the Champions League crown in 2005 will snowball.

The first Chelski defections? Arjen Robben may be the first high profile departure following the Abramovich revolution, with his unhappiness in London well documented and Real Madrid reported to be chomping at the bit to get him to Spain. It's a bit disappointing to release a player who electrified the league upon his debut in 2004-2005, but it's certainly a loss with which Chelsea could cope. Robben has had persistent injury problems, and to my knowledge has played uninterrupted first team football for perhaps two months at a stretch. His tendency to abandon the pass on try to beat 6 defenders in the final third of the pitch is maddening, and he shows no signs of undergoing the sort of maturation Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed at United. If Madrid are willing to pay a rumored £27m fee for Ballack and Robben, i say go for it. Abramovich can use that money to resign the essential Frank Lampard if, as it appears, he's unwilling to do so out of his own pocket.

Drogba		Shevchenko
Lampard
Malouda		J. Cole
Makelele
A. Cole	Terry	Carvalho	Ferreira
Cech

A stab at the lineup. Using current players, i envision a starting 11 along the lines of that shown at left. The good news is that we have depth at most (but not all) positions, with our typical glut of midfielders providing plenty of cover in the center of the pitch. Michael Essien, Jon Obi Mikel, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Arjen Robben all could play valuable roles in support, with Essien in particular having a strong case for a starting spot given his excellent performance last season. In defense however, we're dangerously thin with Haim the only expressed central defender available on the bench. Poor Essien may again be called on to fill in along the back line, which to be frank is such a waste of his talents. Moreover, with Didier Drogba currently out injured and Andriy Shevchenko not providing any convincing evidence that he can reclaim his AC Milan form, i worry over who will produce up front. Salomon Kalou has shown some promise but is clearly not at a point where he'll routinely get on the score sheet. And i really don't want to hang our hopes on whether free transfer Claudio Pizarro performs beyond his purchase price.

The Blue's ho-hum £115m squad. It's difficult to assess Chelsea's footballing merits without devolving into a series of gripes, but i'll make an attempt. Much lip service has been paid this summer towards the evolution of Chelsea into a stylish attacking team, moving away from the workmanlike, mechanical approach José Mourinho has used to win five trophies in the last three years. Can we organize a penetrating and flowing attack with ball control-style strikers like Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko? Can Robben be reintegrated into our offensive philosophy? Can we ease our reliance on Frank Lampard's scoring? Can Ballack do something useful? I have my doubts. Our most high-profile summer signing Florent Malouda has impressed on the wing in preseason, but Mateja Kezman dazzled in the U.S. summer tour three years ago, so who knows how he'll pan out once the games mean something. Bayern Munich import Claudio Pizarro is a big question mark ... he could stake a claim for a starting striker spot or replicate the aforementioned Kezman experience. My principal hope for the Blues' attack is that Joe Cole can stay healthy and demonstrate to the league how much he has grown in the last three years. However, to be honest i can't produce an attacking lineup from Shevchenko, Drogba, Kalou, Pizarro, Lampard, Cole, Malouda, Ballack, Essien, and Mikel that would make me feel like we could outscore Rooney, Tevez, Giggs, Ronaldo, and Scholes. We'll win plenty of games with our depth, to be sure, but in absolute terms i can't make a decent argument that we are the strongest team in England, unlike in years past.

In defense, our problem last year was primarily injuries. This season isn't off to a particularly bright start in that department with news that skipper John Terry is out for a month with a knee injury, and midfield stonewall Claude Makelele is out awhile as well. Ricardo Carvalho is a worthy deputy, but the biggest defensive upgrade we've made this summer has been the signing of Tal Ben Haim from Bolton. I have no idea who he impressed at Stamford Bridge. We may yet capture Brazilian wing backs Alex and Daniel Alves, but in their absence our defense will be rounded out by some combination of Wayne Bridge, Paulo Ferreira, Ashley Cole, and Glen Johnson. None make me feel we have a Roberto Carlos-like attacking option coming forward from the defense, and none reassure me that we can shut down marauding wingers. If we can convince Sevilla to let him go, Alves would be an excellent attacking upgrade. I however am still regretting the loss of rock-solid center back William Gallas before last season.

Soothsaying. United win the league comfortably. Liverpool snatch the second automatic Champions League spot from Chelsea. And to go out on a limb and make a real outlandish prediction, Newcastle pips Arsenal for the fourth Champions League place. New favorites Barcelona win a Liga Primera/Champions League double, defeating United in Moscow in the European final. And by October i'm more excited for Sunday NFL than Saturday Premiership.