London in the summertime. The season is about to commence. Roberto Di Matteo, Champions League conqueror, is plotting his first full season at Chelsea. Arsène Wenger is trying to ride out the storm of Robin van Persie's departure and pins his hopes on some fresh international arrivals and an apparently fully fit Abou Diaby. André Villas-Boas is starting afresh under a different kind of scrutiny - still sceptical from outside but hopeful from within - at Tottenham Hotspur. Sam Allardyce is back on the Premier League beat, ready to ruffle some feathers. Mark Hughes has bought in bulk at Queens Park Rangers. Harry Redknapp, in between London appointments, is cracking jokes about how Sandra wishes she could get him out the house. And the idea that Rafael Benítez would rock up at Stamford Bridge is risible enough to make John Terry eat his own shorts. Oh.
It is hardly a shock that so much can shift in the football landscape over a few months. But perhaps the most surprising change of all is the quiet reinvention of Villas-Boas. He looked wiser, happier, more comfortable in his dugout as he greeted Harry Redknapp at the weekend. Some people tried to build up a head of steam about this particular meeting, but it was no sweat for Villas-Boas. The goalless draw might not have been perfect, but overall, the ride at White Hart Lane at the moment is smooth. Content. There is so much less tension around the Portuguese these days. Who would have predicted, back in the summertime, that he would be the London manager arguably under the least pressure come the cold and unforgiving January slog?
This time last year, when Redknapp was in situ at White Hart Lane, there was a similar sense of optimism. The Spurs faithful lulled themselves into the kind of excitement they cannot help diving into, even though experience has taught them to tread carefully. The business of what happens next for Villas-Boas is an issue that feels loaded with significance for Spurs. Can he inspire a counterpoint to the discord that accompanied the second half of the season under Redknapp?
Exactly one year ago the table had a familiar feel to it. The two Manchester clubs were tussling at the head, while three London contenders were tucked in behind occupying positions three, four and five. Tottenham were in such composed form the question of which camp they were really in – the title race or the grapple for the Champions League position – was debated. In pursuit, Chelsea and Arsenal had endured their problems but history suggested they had the knowhow to haul themselves back onto Europe's top table.
This term, although Everton's encouraging first half to the season cannot be ignored, the high flyers from West Brom and Swansea bring a breath of fresh air, and Liverpool are showing signs of improvement, the odds remain strongest on the top four positions being divvied up in similar fashion: a Manchester champion and a Manchester runner-up, while the London teams scrabble for third and fourth.
If it is even half as absorbing as the way events unfolded last season, it will be worth watching closely. Spurs cannot easily forget how from a position of strength the team's implosion, and Redknapp's uncertain future, contributed to each other's deflation. Chelsea went on their unforgettable European odyssey, and picked up the FA Cup, but couldn't clamber higher than an uncomfortable sixth in the Premier League. Arsenal somehow pulled themselves together to finish an unlikely third. The final twist came as Chelsea's greatest night bumped Tottenham into the Europa League.
Now, despite the peculiar atmosphere clouding Chelsea's Benítez era, the squad has more than enough quality to lead the chasing pack. Two home games in the next few days could help them to consolidate, with a game in hand against Southampton preceeding the visit of Arsenal on Sunday.
It is Wenger's team who, again, look under the most strain at this stage. This month presents them with a daunting set of fixtures – their schedule is bloated by extra midweek business with an FA Cup replay against Swansea on Wednesday night, and a re-organised Premier League fixture against West Ham a week later. Sandwiched in between is that trip to Stamford Bridge. Last season that was a fixture that brought them hope, as they won a helter skelter contest 5-3. Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick that day.
Wenger remains bullish about Arsenal's prospects of another of those top four finishes he values as a trophy. "We are in there. Of course we are," he said in the aftermath of the wounds that were partly self inflicted against Manchester City. Arsenal need a lift, but Wenger remains reluctant to look to the transfer market to provide it. He is adamant that he can find all the answers from within. Perhaps he can, but it looks like a substantial gamble. After all, banking on his team to re-qualify by winning the Champions League would be an even longer shot than Chelsea's last season.
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