Who is writing this stuff?

It was the most surreal 90 seconds of football I’ve ever seen. Down 2 goals to 1 in extra time against Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City was getting anxious. The best team that (oil) money can buy, including a bench that is paid 6 times more than what some clubs pay their entire teams, desperately needed 2 goals to end a 44 year title drought. Without those two precious goals, the noisy neighbors would have climbed into a self-made grave faster than Joaquin Phoenix’s career. Losing to a newly promoted team at home, title within grasp, is the kind of incompetence the media salivates over.

Enter: Edin Dzeko, header, 92^nd minute

Goosebumps. Manchester City didn’t believe that they could win this, did they? But the belief was obvious in their play, primadonnas transformed in Maradonas, attacking every ball with the abandon of Diego Maradona crossed with Tony Montana. That led to this surreal movement down the pitch:

And Manchester City’s first title since 1968. What can fans of the most popular sport on the planet expect from the Barclay’s Premier League this year?

New players

As usual, the summer transfer market reads like a Christmas wish list. Sergio Aguero, scorer of that crucial 3^rd goal for Manchester City at the Etihad, was one of the new toys in the 2011-2012 season. Now Aguero will play Woody to the Buzz Lightyear presence of Premier League neophytes Edin Hazard (£32 million, Chelsea), Oscar (£25 million, Chelsea), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal, £12 million), Lukas Podoloski (Arsenal, £11.9 million), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal, £16.5 million),  Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa, £3 million), Fabio Borini (Liverpool, £10 million), Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United, £17 million), Vurnon Anita (Newcastle, £6.6 million), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham, £9.5 million) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (Tottenham, £8 million).

Same face/different place

Additionally, it wouldn’t be the BPL without some familiar faces playing in unfamiliar jerseys. Fans are the biggest casualty of the transfer market as they endured the departure of Luka Modric from Tottenham to Chelsea, Everton’s Jack Rodwell decision to wear Manchester City blue, Joe Allen looking for greener pastures as he leaves Swansea City for Liverpool and a strangely consistent storyline for Arsenal fans, the departure of their captain. This time, former-captain Robin van Persie bids Arsene and Co. adieu and jumps ship to join Manchester United. Gunner fans would be near catatonic if they hadn’t seen the departure of Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in recent years.

This season promises outstanding team performances, otherworldly individual efforts and world-class football that is a staple of the Premier League fan’s diet. But the uncertainty, drama and possibility that the history books will be rewritten by a mere 90 seconds on the pitch are what fans truly crave. Where will you be during extra time of the last Premier League match on May 19^th 2013? I hope you’re waking up early like me, wondering “who is writing this stuff?”