Division 4 Season 8 preview

Welcome to the Division 4 season 8 review, Here I will look at all the teams and their chances this season.

The favourites have to be AS Monaco, their strikeforce wouldn’t look out of place in Division 1, Solid in midfield and quality in goal. The only question marks would be over their defence though I’m quite sure they are confident of outscoring the opposition. Last season’s 4th place finish is sure to be improved on. 

Espanyol will be the main challengers under the new management of Lee Reynolds, a good sound squad with some promising youngsters to boot. Missing out on the play offs last season was a blow but they should push on this season.  

Marseille under the leadership of wheeler dealer Walter Gogh should be competing at the top end of the table, sneaked into the play offs on the last day and will be looking to be around the major players. A lack of a top cf could be the thing that stops them but their squad is well rounded. 

A surprising shout now but I expect Celta Vigo to hit the ground running after their promotion from Division 5 last season, Maybe one last hurrah for an ageing squad but quality is there for all to see. Expecting big showings from Cech and Arnautovic.

Aston Villa will surely be better this season than last, a 10th place finish. Nick Justice has a very talented young squad, average age of just 23 and players are sure to get better with age.  Son and Semedo will lead the young guns and the play offs must be the target.

Another surprise now and another promoted side I fancy to shake thing up are Fc Basel. Promoted via the play offs and with Aspas leading the line they will cause problems. Again experience could tell but a solid spine to the team should end up winning more than they lose.

Levante were so inconsistent last season but I fully expect them to be challenging the play offs this time round. Dario Saviano has plenty of reasons to be confident of a good season and holding on to Fred will surely be the key to a good season. A strong Brazilian core to this squad.

Olympiacos are another who found consistency a problem last season, Dale Bowers will be hoping his players learn from experience and challenge at the right end. His squad has plenty of players approaching the tail end of their career and will be hoping to finish on a high. Tevez and Vela will cause problems.

Fk Partizan manager Mark Gardiner will be hoping his young guns can push on this season. A fantastic array of young talent pushing to make a breakthrough in the first team. Ndidi, Kluivert, Locatelli and Vinicius Junior the stars of his youth team, If they push on as expected a top half finish is a certainty.

Rounding off the top half I feel will be Crystal Palace, The Linder has real quality in his midfield with Lanzini and Townsend sure to provide plenty of chances the big question is whether the ageing Defoe and Ibisevic will get enough goals. Josh King could be the break out player for Palace.

For the first time in this preview we come across a team dropping in to this division. Boca Juniors are that team. Schurrle will carry the hopes of Golden Bear’s side and his performances will dictate how the Argentinians season goes. Lazaro is the great young hope but I fear bottom half for them. 

Torino could be the big fallers from last season. The departure of Gino could prove big shoes for Tom Parfitt to climb into. An ageing side who may struggle to match last seasons 5th place. Zabaleta, Negredo and Fuchs will need big seasons.

Atalanta managed by T100 specialist in failure myself are going to be unlucky 13th or lucky if you consider we only survived last day of the season last year. I believe however my side is in a lot better shape now, Nani and Guerrero should get enough goals for us to compete and my side is solid in all other positions, injuries and suspensions could dictate the season however and any lengthy spells out for big name players and I will struggle. 

Swansea fresh from finishing bottom of division 3 are set to disappoint again. Joe Jordan has a battle to turn the ship around. Peres and Linetty aside the first team lacks real quality. Joe must be hoping a few of his youngsters can step up.

Newly promoted Cologne should avoid the drop, Neil Frankland’s side have star quality in goal with the spaniard Arrizabalaga, and enough strength in defensive positions in Vogt and Heintz. However at the other end of the pitch they may struggle a bit. Safety though and that will be a good season.

Another newly promoted side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk(try saying that pissed) should also survive and Son of Pluto will surely be delighted with that. Their squad lacks real depth but should just have enough about them to survive. Falque will surely carry the hopes of Dnipro on his shoulders.

Stoke will probably be surprised I have them in the bottom 4, they have quality in the side Kondogbia, Mallo, Castro and Robertson amongst them but their squad looks very thin in terms or real depth. Any Injuries to major players and I fear they could drop. This is the one prediction I could get very wrong though. 

Az Alkmaar are one of two sides I feel may double drop. Acuna is the great hope with the dutch side but again I feel the squad lacks depth of real quality. 

Dinamo Zagreb struggled last season and that may continue. Only two players currently rated 88 or more Sane and Eysseric will be expected to lead the side. A lot of questions remain about the quality of the remaining players, they need a few to step up and prove valuable or they will drop this time around.

Mr Ipswich has landed in T100 and surely has one of the most difficult tasks at hand. His Cruzeiro side lack any quality of note and successive relegations is one the cards. If Cruzeiro survive Mr Ipswich is my shout for manager of the year and the season hasn’t started yet. Felipe is the only player rated over 87 and is going to need all his leadership skills to lead this merry bunch of men to safety. 

There you go then, these are just my predictions and I’ll leave it all up to my fellow managers to prove me wrong. Don’t take any offence by my predictions(as some of you may already know from previous blog piece and my addiction with Gambling I’m not very good with my predictions as a rule but 250 days today gamble free and more importantly mentally in a much better place)

Good Luck to all managers in all Divisions.