In Visitors, I invite one person around each month to share perspectives on a sport, a sporting event, sporting aspects or any thing in between. Ahead of the EPL season 2006-07, Ravi Gurnani joins us to give an indepth preview. If you would like to contribute for a future edition of Visitors, do not hesitate to e-mail me.

Put away those national flags for now and bring out your jerseys and scarves. For those still hungover from World Cup disappointments, worry not, football redemption is round the corner. Depending on the club you support ofcourse.

The 4 horse race I anticipated last season didn’t quite materialise. However it should be much closer this time round.

Chelsea

Beginning with the champions, Chelsea. Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko and Ashley Cole, probably in the waiting. That is some quality. However, all the money in the world has not bought happiness at Chelsea. Witness Jose Mourinho’s continuous whining and William Gallas’ revolt. Out went Asier Del Horno, Damien Duff and Hernan Crespo. 2 league titles after, the holy grail for Abramovich is the Champions League. So I wouldn’t be surprised with a slip up or two in the process. Shevchenko’s goal in the Charity Shield last week should assure them of some clinical finishing upfront, something that they lacked last season. Also watch for some unhappy faces on the bench as a result of an overcrowded central midfield.

Manchester United

Let me make it clear that my support lies with Manchester United. Not the best of times for a club perpetually in transition since the glory days of 1999. Forget the new Roy Keane, we haven’t seen the new Nicky Butt yet! Michael Carrick’s signing should allay fears about the lack of quality in the midfield. Look beyond and the options are thin. Marcos Senna or Owen Hargreaves should add depth in the middle that they seriously lacked last season. van Nistelrooy’s departure will be a blow. Nobody has crossed Ferguson and survived at Old Trafford. Ideally another striker and midfielder would complete the jigsaw for United. Also the much hyped Rooney Ronaldo spat hasn’t materialised. Good riddance to that!

Arsenal

Emirates FC… err sorry Arsenal FC. The new stadium will give them the much needed financial boost. Their young squad continues to develop in the absence of veterans Patrick Vieira and now Sol Campbell under Thiery Henry’s leadership. Tomasz Rosicky is one of the players to watch for this season. If the WC was an indicator, he should ease the loss of Robert Pires. A striker to support Henry and defender at the back would complete the picture for them. Also the sooner A Cole and Spanish misfit Jose Reyes decide their futures the better for them. A title might be a season or two too soon for them.

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The FA Cup is one of my favourite tournaments. It is made for the underdog. It gives them enough room to cause an upset and have some truly special magical moments. There is the financial reward which goes with each win, of course - so important for development of smaller sides.

Today, then, most people who aren’t Liverpool fans, will be supporting West Ham and hoping for a memorable victory.

Liverpool start as big favourites. However, West Ham do have some dangerous players and a victory for them is not impossible. Watch it if you can.

Update: Liverpool wins in penalties in what was a memorable FA Cup final. The Gerrard goal in injury time to tie it up 3-3 and force extra time was a blinder. From there, Liverpool looked like scoring more often than the hammers in extra time. They couldn’t. That didn’t matter though as they overcame the West Ham challenge in the penalties quite easily.

The Hammers have a lot to be proud of, though. As a football fan, I couldn’t have had asked for a better final.

Blog FC asks:

Has success in Europe become too important, coming as it seems to at the cost of league respectability?

I don’t think league respectability is lost. It is very prestigious to win the English Premiership as is most domestic league titles. However, a team can face a situation where it secures a champions league spot or nearly secures it. However, the league champions are way ahead like a Barcelona in Spain. In this scenario, a team can find itself concentrating more on Europe. Often players are rested before a big European tie as well when domestic stakes are not that high. A perfectly understandable scenario.

Some thing like Mr. Wenger did a few days ago versus the Spurs does not come under this though. For why should he have not played his best players right from the start in such a crucial tie? And then he had the teremity to say “Every thing went against us.”

The second question Blog FC asks:

And given Liverpool’s dismal defense of its European title, should winning the title be reason enough for a club to be invited back, even if it doesn’t otherwise qualify for the event?

Definitely not. The Champions League spot has to be earned. The only way to earn them should be by performing within the given norms. System should not be changed for a huge variation in performance between league and Europe. If Spurs are ahead of Arsenal in the domestic league, they have earned their spot.

This debate is likely to heat up this year too, like last year ahead of the Champions League finals. My stand is firm on the issue.

Liverpool is likely to be the next big club to be bought by a multi-millionaire. So will it be the new Real Madrid or Manchester United? Or will it go the Chelsea way in terms of performances after the buy out which looks likely?

Will it be a 100% take over (that is buying all shares) or partial take over? Will Liverpool fans protest like Man U fans did? Who or which group of investors will turn trimphant in buying Liverpool? What will be the turns in the fortune of the club once the take over is complete?

A lot wil be spoken on this subject in the media in the next few weeks. Buy outs. They create a media frenzie, they do! For an initial report, check out what The Telegraph UK has to say.