Will Cazorla, Kagawa, Hazard etc. show their physical side!

With the physical reputation of the Premier League, people are asking ‘will the light weight signings be able to prove themselves?’

Cazorla, Kagawa, Hazard, Marin and Oscar have been the biggest name taken in to the EPL this summer, but will they start contributing to their team immediately or will they follow in David Silva’s steps and take their time?

Eden Hazard was the most wanted of these players before they moved to their respected clubs. He is the only one of the mentioned five who has played against English opposition in a competitive match for their new clubs. He performed rather slugishly and didn’t really get mentioned apart from a speculitive effort at goal from distance and a failed back -heel. Chelsea went on to lose and Manchester City won the Community Shield. If I was Di Matteo I would experiment with Eden Hazard, and play him in the middle with Mata on the left. Will his 5ft 7 1/2 in frame get in the way of his progress in this league.

Santi Cazorla is the shortest of all the players, but has arguably the the least vital position, with arsenal expected to run a  4-1-2-2-1 and Cazorla playing a wide right-wing, so he should be away from most of the physical action. However The Gunners will be relying on him to take the club to a new level. Arsenal have been very clever in this window and have signed Podolski and Giroud with Sahin expected to join so if Cazorla does turn out to be a flop they’ll have other players to fall back

Shinji Kagawa has to be incredible all the way through the season for Manchester United or I would predict them coming 4th. If Kagawa happens to under perform I can easily see United struggling for goals, despite the signing of Robin Van Persie and Rooney already in the ranks. Kagawa will be the link between midfield and attack and if Kagawa succeeds at United, both Rooney and Van Persie may end up with 20 goals+ this season.

Marko Marin cost the least of these five players with his price at £8million. If Marin is going to fit in to this Chelsea side I think he will have to adapt to playing at right-wing as his favoured positions, centre attacking midfield and left wing, are to be taken by Eden Hazard and Juan Mata. Marin is probably the weakest of the players and will find it hard to make an impact in the Premier League especially as he was injured all last year and has already been ruled out of a match with his hamstring playing up.

Oscar is the youngest yet the tallest out of the 5 players. He looked sharp and was able to cope with the physicality at the Olympics. I’m going to put my money on Oscar appearing in a deeper role at Chelsea and  playing next to his Brazilian team mate Ramires in the 2 of Chelsea’s expected 4-2-3-1 formation. Although that is an unfamiliar position for Oscar he was quoted saying, “This is a dream for me. After the Olympics I am going to talk to the manager. I am ready to do whatever the manager wants me to do. For Internacional I played in several different positions, so I have no problem adapting.”