I was just thinking what the effect of the transfer window will be on the league. Normally, teams that are doing poorly start shipping players in and out by October and November to improve their fortunes. However, this season, this won't be possible. Does that mean Arsenal and the other top clubs with large rosters have a big advantage?
IMHO the advantage goes to whomever can keep their players healthy. If the top 5 clubs incur a large ammount of lengthy injuries they won't be able to buy replacements, which could allow a smaller club with quality players (say Blackburn) to creep up on them if they stay healthy.
I think the transfer window is a waste of time. We had a perfectly good working system and an edict from FIFA or UEFA or whoever has ridden roughshod over it. As Wenger said, a lot of interest is generated by who clubs may sign as the season progresses. God forbid the powers that be would tackle more pressing problems such as reducing the number of teams in the league so that chances in european and international football were enhanced. It looks like they'll bow to the pressure from the clubs and not scrap the second group phase of the champions league too. And all the talk is of the top teams not being able to buy in players if they have a bad start. What happens if a small club has financial problems when the transfer window is closed? If they have a valuable player who they can't sell, it could spell disaster for them. As with all these things it's shades of grey, but this will hurt smaller clubs in a precarious financial position more than the big clubs who may have a fight on their hands from a middle tier Premiership outfit. And we know that the big clubs would be able to stay near the top until January when they can buy up a bunch of players again to give themselves an extra push.