It’s a phenomenon known as 'new season syndrome' and it strikes annually around this time. All over the country men and women, young and old, rich and poor are falling prone to this debilitating disease. All they can think about is football, football and more football. And with good reason.

The Premier League has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent times. A period of dominance is never looked on well by anyone other than the team doing the dominating, and English football put up with 10 long years of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Manchester United hater. But competition can only be a good thing, and finally we are seeing some promising signs.

One of the most prominent of these is the record for the league itself in the past four seasons. Three different winners in four seasons is something that the Premiership had struggled to match for decades. First there was Arsenal, then Chelsea, and now United again. It just gives a feel for how close the competition is now.

'Forgetting Liverpool and Arsenal’s abject showing in the league last year, we have an unprecedented level of equality'


The 'Big Four' are on a par. Forgetting Liverpool and Arsenal’s abject showing in the league last year - both finished over 20 points behind the overall winners - we have an unprecedented level of equality. Forget the old two-horse title races of the past. Now we can finally compete with the spread of other European leagues and the idea of four or more teams snatching the coveted trophy is no longer totally alien to us.

The record between those teams in all competitions just goes to show the equality that abounds. Arsenal may have finished in fourth place last year, but they didn’t lose to either of the top two (indeed, they beat Manchester United home and away), and their record against Liverpool, whilst slightly less impressive, is nothing to scoff at.

Some of the greatest players in the world play in the Premiership, and not all for one club. It is something that few leagues (bar perhaps the Spanish, Italian and German) can match, and something that the Premier League should infinitely proud of.

At Arsenal, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas have a combined age probably less than that of a randomly-selected member of the Milan defence. Yet their precocious talent and excellent drive puts Arsenal in very good stead. They may have lost their talisman in Thierry Henry, but their greatest rival manager got it spot on. “They lost Henry in December,” Ferguson is quoted as saying, and if Arsenal could play some breathtaking football at the end of last season, then they can do it now without him. Also some of their young talent will finally start to break through into the first team and who can say how good players like Denilson will go on to become? It’s going to be a good year at the Emirates.

On the other side of London, Chelsea are waiting breathlessly, too. Missing out on the Premiership last year, it could be another trophy for the Blues. Their squad was amazing, and perhaps the only thing that let them down was a lack of depth - a situation they have now rectified. Didier Drogba finally came to the fore, and led his team almost to glory. We can expect more of the same from the brilliant Ivorian. And how long can Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack under-perform? The cream almost always rises to the top, and you sense that their time is here.

Liverpool, too, have matured. Steven Gerrard continues as perhaps the most accomplished and inspiring central midfielder in the world, at the very least in England, and the Anfield faithful can expect great things of their team. Two European Cup finals in three years goes to show how far the Reds have come in Rafa Benitez’s time in charge, and the underrated Peter Crouch may find his job up front made easier by the arrival of Fernando Torres.

And what of the Champions? Two years ago, people predicted a crisis at Old Trafford. Their old guard were past it, and the young players were too inexperienced and over-rated to make the jump up. How wrong they were.

Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have shown everyone that an old dog can be taught new tricks, and Cristiano Ronaldo has shown us all that a new dog can forget them. Finally shaking off the shackles of a showboat, he has added efficacy to his impressive list of skills, and is rightly one of the most feared wingers in the world. Wayne Rooney, too, has matured. He has calmed his temperamental nature, managing to steer clear of a red card for almost the entire season, and his gifted talent has finally begun to be unlocked.

Reinforcements for all the big clubs have been impressive, too. Manchester United and Liverpool have both splashed out upwards of £30m on players, some of whom are exceptionally bright prospects. Fernando Torres arrives from Spain with a glowing reputation, and Anderson is widely regarded as one of the few youngsters in the world with the potential to surpass Ronaldinho.

By signing Torres, Liverpool are sending a clear message to their rivals - they are prepared to spend to win. The prolific Spaniard will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility in the red half of Merseyside, but if any youngster in the world can do it, then he can. Andriy Voronin already looks a worthwhile acquisition, and whilst Ryan Babel may look a little risky a purchase, he could well go on to be a world beater.

In Manchester, they’ve been busy. Adding the exciting talents of Nani and Anderson have done nothing to calm down Red Devils fans eager for the new season to start, and the capture of Owen Hargreaves after an extremely long transfer saga will add some much needed bite in midfield. For all his talents, Michael Carrick is uncomfortable in the defensive midfielder role that was asked of him last season, and we may at last get to see his more attacking side.

Last but not least, with Carlos Tevez, the United attack may well be even more formidable. Despite not being totally suited to a lone striker role, Rooney still managed an impressive goal haul last term. Freeing him up with another forward will surely give opponents nightmares.

Arsene Wenger has not stood still, either, and in his inimitable fashion has conducted his business quickly and quietly. Snatching some promising youngsters from South America, and purchasing the potentially fantastic Eduardo da Silva for less than £10m, looks to be a good investment. The Frenchman has an eye for cheap talent who go on to be world beaters, and he is continuing that trend.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this transfer window has been Chelsea’s lack of spending. Note that I did not say lack of activity, because that would be entirely false. They have made four new first-team recruits, including the mercurial Florent Malouda. But most of those signings were free, and perhaps the men in blue are becoming a little more astute in the transfer market. You can hardly blame them for over-spending a little in their first few years of power, but it seems that Jose Mourinho is finally coming to grips with making great signings at very little cost.

All in all we have a lot to look forward to. The equality is there for all to see, and the sides which were fantastic last year have added without losing anything. They’ll be even stronger this year. Don’t be surprised if for the fourth year running an English team reaches the European Cup final and the season provides a four-horse title race.