Aug 15
United On The Edge Of Greatness
We start this season on the edge of true greatness. Not the fleeting greatness that gets bandied around weekly in the tabloids – proper, timeless greatness. The sort that people who are not born yet will look back on in forty years and rave about.
You can put together “great” teams, you can have “great” players, but what elevates a side into the timeless category is weight of achievement. It’s what makes Ferguson the best British manager ever, and Wenger just a worthy sideshow; it’s what makes Giggs one of the best players of all time, and Gerrard a footnote in comparison. It’s why everyone knows exactly what you mean when you say the Treble, why everyone (however grudgingly) acknowledges that as a seminal footballing achievement; it’s why names like Solskjaer and Sheringham appear alongside Schmeichel and Keane in everyone’s dictionary of footballing legends.
This season we can complete a hat-trick of Premiership titles and retain the European Cup. To do either would put this team into that timeless bracket. To do both would make them the best English club side ever.
The Premiership is harder to win than the top division has ever been. The points tallies required for victory demand relentless excellence over the entire season, starting from game one – the second half of the season push for which we became renowned is not good enough any more. Our main rivals have nearly unlimited money to spend, a squad which regularly sits £25m players on the bench and haven’t lost a match at home for two years. The chasing pack contains two teams who would have been good enough to win the league five years ago, featuring some star players who are coveted by every other club in Europe, including ourselves.
The next tier of clubs are more intimidating than ever before, as a combination of TV money, foreign ownership and the availability of cheap overseas talent allows them to build impressive squads of their own, packed with internationals. Anyone who claims that games against Spurs, Portsmouth, Villa, Everton, Man City or Blackburn will be easy is deluded. Even lower down, we are only too well aware of the surprises teams like Middlesbrough can spring.
We’ve won a hat-trick of titles before, but then we were by far the best team, with more money and more pulling power than anyone else, in leagues with ten teams of comparative deadwood who our reserves could and did beat. Whatever the talk of the “Big Four”, it’s the level of competition that would make this our greatest domestic achievement.
The Champions League has never been retained. Not in its current punishing format, with the leagues followed by a rock-hard knockout phase. The Bayern machine couldn’t do it, the galacticos couldn’t do it, the Treble-winners couldn’t do it. There are so many chances to slip up, so many hurdles to fall at. One bad day can be impossible to recover from. Real and Barca are stronger than last season, and as champions everyone will be gunning for us.
We can do it. We can do both of these things. We can be that team. We have a rock-solid defence, a flexible and resourceful central midfield, the world’s best player, two sensational support strikers, (almost certainly) a hyper-talented new centre forward, a deep and well-rounded squad which is both experienced and hungry, with both old heads and young blood.
But the line is thin. Ronaldo is injured to start with, and surely can’t be as good again. Rooney needs to climb again from his plateau, Berbatov needs to settle quickly to give us enough firepower going forward. Nani may be a season away from turning his talent into end product, and age is catching up with Giggs. Our central midfielders need to discover where the net is, and we have no top class cover for Evra. What if Rio or Vidic gets injured, or van der Saar really can’t last another whole season?
After one of the most boring and frustrating summers on record, we are about to leap headlong into our chance to surpass anything our rivals have ever done in their history. Hold your breath, and hope we smiling next May – if we are, history will smile on us.
[Ed's Note: There has been an assumption in the article that Berbatov's expected to join United. So excuse us if that deal falls through -- heaven forbid.]
Related items from Red Rants:
- On Manchester United’s ‘Greatest Ever’ Squad
- United On The Brink Of Greatness, Again
- Ronaldo Wins Ballon d’Or
- Today’s Videos: Heinze’s Goal | Beckham Mania
- United* 1-1 Chelsea: First Blood to the Reds
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (542)
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Moscow is my heaven (272)
gosh bolton are top of the league and hull are third, thats not right.
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Also goes to show how potentially futile is all the craving for new signings. A hundred new arrivals are no substitutes to overall team balance(on the pitch), awareness , team gelling, drive and all the boring stuff that goes behind the scene. How much did boro spend really? But in the magic pill culture the likes of spurs will keep kissing the dirt!
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@dan(u-ol): He isn’t Dan. I’ve seen him play over a couple years now and he is truly a great player with pace and imagination. What is not clear is how adaptable he is to certain styles and formations. He is used to teams building around him and using him as the rallying point in all attacks. For this reason, I think Fergie probably wasn’t interested. At Spurs however, he is just what the doctor ordered. It’s Modric who is overrated in my books and they need Arshavin to be that Attacking midfield general who can score goals and create. Trust me, I don’t get seduced about a player over night and especially over a short tournament. I’ve also seen enough of Pavlyuchenko before the EUROS to feel he is a real stud. Modric is the one I think too much was being made of. We’ll have to wait and see.
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@Grognard: i agree with you on modric, he screams over-rated, he personifies the croatian team and their manager(i hate that guy bilic). im gonna have to take your word on arshavin until i see enough of him to make a fair judgement, but i doubt he would be good enough in the top 3 leagues. pavlychenko, i was impressed with, more impressed with then arshavin but he looks like he misses a lot.
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@dan(u-ol):
No offence Dan but a full back is a full back. Gary Neville, Evra… they are fullbacks. Brown played last year as a fullback. Just because some are better going forward doesnt mean they get a special name as a wingback!! You dont have wingbacks in a 4-4-2. The wingback phrase is generally used in the 3-5-2 formation when there are no wingers and they are the 2 widest players on the pitch who’s most important job isnt neccesarily defending. Evra and Neville’s priority is defending.
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@Ryan: if you say so.
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@dan(u-ol): Pavlyuchenko does miss a lot but that’s because he’s brave and he likes to take chances. He’ll take more shots in one game than Tevez will in 5. I love that kind of aggressiveness. And it’s not foolish shots from 30 yards. Strikers need to shoot if they expect to score. Nothing that a good manager can’t work with and help him increase his goal rate.
And yes Bilic was nothing but smoke and mirrors as a manager. I love the way everybody can jump on a bandwagon over a team that was so mediocre in the EUROS. They were lucky to beat Germany and they did very little against anybody else to warrant the raves he got.
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@dan(u-ol):
Again no offense taken here but we are not buying a striker because Rooney is off form!!!! That’s just ridiculous.
We are buying a striker because we lack quality numbers up front, if either Tevez or Rooney pick up a serious injury then we dont have the quality to replace them. Yes we have about 7 other strikers on the books but apart from Saha(who we cant rely on anymore) none of them are good enough and Fergie knows that otherwise he wouldnt be trying to sign another striker. Doesnt mean they wont be good enough in a few years though but the likes of Campbell, Wellbeck, Manucho will have to be patient and if they are good enough they will get their chance. Nothing better than seeing a youngster break through these days as its becoming very rare indeed……
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Ryan, Evra and Neville’s priority is defending you say. Wish you would tell Evra that then lol, he is always up the bloody field.
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@Ryan: if rooney and tevez both get injured, saf will play a 4-3-3 with ronaldo playing upfront giggs and fletcher/campbell/hargreaves on the wings, or a 4-4-2 with ronaldo and campbell/giggs upfront.
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@dan(u-ol):
But this is the problem, taking players out of their best positions to cover for injurys. We should have a squad to swap like for like and keep players like Ronaldo in their most dangerous positions.
The thing I like about this new 7 subs rule is the fact we can put 1 or 2 youngsters on the bench now without risk. If we are 3 or 4 up then put them on and see what they are made of. Hopefully we will see cameo’s of Campbell, the twins, possebon, wellbeck etc throughout the season.
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why didnt we buy torres
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@Ryan: but one could argue that ronaldos most dangerous position is upfront. also, saf said he will be playing giggs as more of striker since he hasnt got the legs for the wing.
@Liam: yea we should of signed torres, but he joined the scouse so he now our worst enemy. heres hoping madrid are watching this match
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Hey guys just heard earlier that Sir Alex was at the Everton v Blackburn game, I think we may be going for Santa Cruz now. Fucking Liverpool just got a Lucky 1-0 win and it was that guy Torres again.
I think Spurs have given it away that Berbatov wants away from the club, I mean the fact he started on the bench and came on late was only due to the desperation of the team to gain the win.
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Yes Torres scored an awesome goal from outside the box but that is all he did the whole game. Both he and Keane were invisible and Liverpool was they same old Scousers. They played like shit because they are shit. Nothing to worry about them guys. Hell, if Sunderland had any finish or bite up front they would have lost the game. Keano’s team looks very improved and hungry. They fought for everything but really missed not having Chopra or Jones to finish chances. Perhaps Louis Saha could rejuvenate his career over there? Who am I kidding? They don’t allow players to play with an IV connected to them and in a wheelchair.
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It’s only one game into the season but from what I see, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. We’ll find out what Chelsea is mad of tomorrow.
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@hakieran: Pressure tactics from Sir Alex . Santa cruz is our new Henry! The old man has his heart set on a particular player already.
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yea ferguson was at their game, maybe arteta?
grognard, how do you think huntelaar would do if he where playing for sunderland?
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Gill— Sir Alex, levy is playin hardball.
Am goin to the blackburn game, call that wanker after the game again.
Ferguson— Lets see,
……..(after some time).. Gill —- Sir Alex you are a genious
Ferguson— O Thats nothing, still got that hunterlaa decoy up my sleeves.
Gill— O Sir Alex what we il do without you.
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‘sup folks!! wat do y’all think about today’s performances? It looks like two of our challengers – arsenal, liverpool – haven’t gathered momentum yet, but they still had good starts (both won). What i’ve realised today with the big four is that even when they play badly, they more or less have quality players who can come up with the goods (as did Torres and Nasri today). This is going to make the race a bit harder to win, as I expect proper competition from this four.
As per tottenham, I know it’s too early to say anything, but all that hype… just hope they live up to expectations!!
Hopefully, this result will speed up the Berba transfer, cuz he is definitely gonna be sold, and if they are goin to get a replacement, they’ll have to do it quick!!
Anyway, can’t wait till tmz; Rooney fit and bk in the squad.. I predict 2-0 to United. Hopefully, chelsea will lose!!
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@Liam:
IMHO Fergie tried to sign Torres on more than one occasion before liverpool even contemplated it. i don’t have the quote but i remember him saying “theres only so many times you’ll try to sign a player”. For some reason Torres was drawn to liverpool (spanish connection?), believe all that never walk alone tattoo bollocks if you want but he certainly did not slip through the radar and united were there with bids before the scouse.
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well the england squad has been named and get this, micheal carrick, is in it, it took him a bloody while to figure it out, to play like spain we need carrick FACT.
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@dan(u-ol): Strikers are only as good as their service. With that said the header Murphy missed today, Huntelaar would have nailed into the goal. On a bad team he would score 15 to 20 goals. On a great team the sky is the limit. 20, 30 40, who knows? All I know is that I believe in my heart and soul that he is that good. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say he is better than RVN in many areas of his game. But like any striker, if you can’t get him the ball, he can’t be expected to do as much for you.
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@Gabriel: Liverpool was totally pedestrian mate. That team is going nowhere. Their manager is a tactical chimp. He’s an idiot. Anybody who would start that useless Plessil over Alonso has got to have screw loose somewhere. No movement, static and completely devoid of enterprise and ambition. One moment of brilliance by Torres salvaged a win for them in a game they deserved to lose. I didn’t see Arsenal’s win but if the best you can do is 1-0 against West Brom, then I’m not going to curl up into the corner and shiver in fear. Chelsea is the only team we need to worry about and even if they get out of the gate faster than us, they will run out of gas too because of their age and because I honestly think they lack depth.
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@dan(u-ol): I haven’t heard, did Cabbage Patch Capello name a captain?
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ahh no, cant remember, but he will name the captain on the 19th i believe, but im not 100% sure.
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I don’t know if anyone has heard of this guy but as an outside choice for a striker i think fergie should consider a striker who goes by the name of Dieumerci Mbokani. He plays in the belgian league and is an absolute power house very similar to drogba, infact being labelled as the new drogba. I know people are being labelled as the next whoever all the time, but i have seen this guy quite a few times and he looks the business. He is still young 22 years old and does have the advantage of height to add to his game (is about 6’3). Currently plays for standard liege and has 19 goals in around 40 for them. Don’t know if he played against the scousers this week but i think as an outside bet i would take a chance on this guy.
Just wanted to add i have not just been watching him in 2 min youtube vids to see him but have been watching him for months now using streams to watch the belgian league as i have a good mate who always raves about him.
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honestly boys them cunts Real are set to buy Huntelaar for £20mill.
WHAT A DISASTER. He should have been our boy months ago….
Dunno what weve been wasting time for
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anyone just see henry dive for a free.. we dont want that shit
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Hope we don’t have one of those ‘shit can’t put the ball in the net days’ tomorrow. Hope the Roon really is fit and on goalscoring form for us against the barcodes.
Grog, Chelsea will stuff Portsmouth tomorrow. No way will they not score against them. My prediction Chelsea will win by 2 clear goals.
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By the way, Fergie wants more from the Roon and is challenging him as he did Ronnie – right?. I think he should have a midfield lottery, to challenge our poor scoring midfielders to score more. He should demand at least 10 from each of them – wooo what a bonanza that would be.
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I reckon we should beat the geordies tomorrow, they shouldn’t have much in attack and their defence has never been much despite adding a player i like in coloccini. I reckon we should win about 2 nil and be pretty comfortable. Chelsea will also definitely pick up the points.
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i know its contraversial but id definately prefer we played with Rodrigo or Gibson on the right tomo instead of fletcher.
I know hes meant to be our big game player but time after time he dissapoints me. trust me im scottish!
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Well berba starting on the bench tells it all. If all was fine at spurs there would be no reason for berba not to start. And I’m watchin MOTD now and saw the reception Berba got when he came on, and the commentator described it as a ‘mixed reception’ but to be honest all I heard was boos’
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@Craig Mc: I’m thinking they will win too but they are so unpredictable. I’m going to go out on a limb and say 1-1. Pompey is much better team than the one that played us last week. And I think Chelsea still has a lot to answer for and it will take time for them to adjust to Scolari and his system.
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@Craig Mc: Yes he should offer the last midfielder to not score a free hair dryer treatment. I guess that means Mr. Andersonson will have a new hairdo this season.
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dude barca scored twice in extra time to beat boca 2-1 i walked away from the tv at the 87th min thinking game over what the f.
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Grog, I hope your right mate, but I do think Chelski will win by a couple of goals. I have been worried about United only winning by the odd goal, but I feel better seeing Arsenal and L’Fools only managed to score one. Who do you think will put one in the net for us tomorrow Grog?. I think it might be someone totally unexpected. Come on John O’Shea lol.
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the title of this entry should be “berbatov, on the edge of greatness”
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Lineker, Shearer, Hansen, and Uncle Tom Cobley and all backing Chelski for the title. Nobody is backing United this season. Mainly because Ronnie is absent until October sometime, and they cannot see consistent goals without him. I wonder if we will actually do better during the time Ronnie is out. Wouldn’t that be something?. With Nani out the first 2 games, I am concerned about the width. Giggs can’t hack it out on the wings anymore.
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@bruce_illis: we should have been at the airport and gagged him up whilst stopping any ‘pool officials from getting near him and show him where he will actually win trophies. It really puts the Berbatov transfer fee in perspective when you consider they paid 24m for Torres
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@dan(u-ol): How can this have gone unnoticed? Ince was a former Man Utd player, Sir Alex could simply have been at the game to wish him luck and watch one of his pupils play, i don’t think this has anything to do with a transfer.
@colver: 1. Possible
2.Very likely
3. Doubt it, Silva just signed a new contract and said he’d only like to leave Valencia for Barca
4. Doubt it
5. Doubt it and hope not
6. The Tevez deal has been out of the bag for weeks now, theres no iota of surprise in that. I still think its either a new player, a new assistant manager or nothing at all and it was Fergie just joshing with th media.
Anyone know if the Dutch League has kicked off or when it kicks off?
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Yeah the media are pissing me off. The only differences between Chelsea of this season and the last two seasons is:
Deco: a brilliant player who will add some creative flair to Chelsea’s physical midfield but will likely take a year to settle in and adapt to the Premiership.
Bosingwa: fills a problem area and frees up Essien for midfield duties and will give some attacking impetus and width. But I have a feeling if he and Ashley are bombing down the wings Chelsea will be left exposed.
Scolari: comes with this reputation as a disciplinarian and a world cup to his nam and promises to introduce samba football. Reality is discipline is not Chelsea’s problems they are professionals (mercenaries?) and managed to keep winning even during last season’s turmoil. Chelsea have been playing like clockwork for the past four years and there is a real danger Scolari will disrupt that rhythm and it will take time for him to impose his brand of football on the team. Also club football is a lot more advanced than South American football was in the 80s or whenever he managed in south america. His international experience is all cup, and while i think he could be a cup manager I think he’ll come unstuck in the league.
Also they have no depth in attack. Drogba is world class no doubt but Anelka is too inconsistent and Shev, Pizarro etc are write offs
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@Liam.
Couldn’t agree more.
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@Craig Mc: First off, I will totally go balistic if we were to lose to frakken Newcastle. That won’t and cannot possibly happen so the real concern is, how many goals will we score and how many will we win by? Make no mistake, this team is not in top form right now and our offense and creativity is at a low point. Ronaldo is missing, Rooney was sick, Hargo was hurt, etc etc. If Rooney starts tomorrow and I think he will, we should win 2-0. The Geordies will be hungry to prove something after the drubbings they took from us last year.
They will make it tough for an hour but we will get two goals late in the game to win. Who will score? Rooney and my surprise pick will be…………Carrick. Why not? He’s a Geordie. It would be rough justice.
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@Craig Mc: We will struggle to score. Even if we get Berbatov. Whether we want to admit this or not, we go as Ronaldo goes. He is our talisman and the offense flows through him. But we still have the best defense in the Prem so we need to dig deep and be prepared for a number of 1-0 wins and hope we don’t lose more than two times while he is away. And then again, we a have so much quality and depth that the addition of just Berbatov to add extra dimension and flair to our attack may make us score more than we know. The key to our early season attack is Rooney elevating his game and adding goal scoring to his large bag of tricks. Fergie has challenged him to score like Ronaldo. Is that realistic? Probably not but he can easily increase his tally from last year by ten goals. That alone could see us through that early season problem.
As for Chelsea, everybody and their goldfish seem to think Chelsea is the cat’s meow even if they have done fuck all to deserve that kind of adoration. They are experienced and have many highly skilled players but they are thin up front, and they are old and have no speed or width in their game. Above all, they have a new manager who is untested in the club level in Europe and who is going to try to implement an attractive free flowing style to a bunch of static muppets who are set in their ways and who will take time to adjust. One of two things will happen with Chelsea. Scolari will create miracles and enthusiasm and Chelsea will come marching out of the blocks just like Arsenal did last year. Or Chelsea will struggle to figure out just what the Hell Scolari expects and wants and the confusion in the midfield with two hundred Attacking midfielders vying for two spots will create dissension and confusion. Add tot his the rumblings of Drogba wanting out again and the constant distractions and expectations of the Russian Mafia Lord who runs them and I can see possible disaster. Scolari is not Grant. He will insist that players adapt to his style. Last year Chelsea survived because the players took it upon themselves to play as close to Mourinho’s style despite the musings of AV Grant. They won’t get away with that this time. Scolari has been given a mandate. Win now and play attractive football. One of two is not an option. Zero of two means your fired before the end of the season. For me this just means a lot of pressure and confusion and this may derail Chelsea. Just my opinion.
Top 6 prediction;
1. Manchester United
2. Arsenal
3. Chelsea
4. Tottenham
5. Aston Villa
6. Liverpool
Unless they get Barry, I see everything begin to unravel for the overrated waiter/slash manager Benitez. Today’s pathetic performance and lucky win has not changed my mind. That team has not made the changes where they need to be made mostly. Aston Villa have improved enough and if they keep Barry they could challenge for 4th. I think Marty O’Neill has done wonders and adding Brad Friedel in goal will be that little extra they need as well as Young and Shorey at the fullback positions. Spurs I still feel are going to be a class act. But how high they gfinish depends on getting Arshavin. If they get Pavlyuchenko too, I think they can knock on the door of even 3rd place. Their defense however is a weak point that could make thing worse than I am predicting. The offense is there though.
Arsenal are thin in depth but they are full of quality and class and they have the second best manager in England. I hate them and Wenger but I respect him and they will have learned from last year. Flamini and Hleb will not be that great a losses. Flamini emerged out obscurity last year and Denilson will do that this year. Hleb is in my list of the top ten most overrated and useless players in football. The guy is a stiff. Gilberto Silva was washed up. Nasri will replace him more than adequately and I think before it’s all over Ramsey will make a significant contribution to this very young and very exciting team. Their one Achilles Heel other than depth is in goal. I still think Wenger blew it with Lehmann who on his worst day is ten times better the the Aluminum Man. Almunia has got to be one of the worst and most uninspiring keepers to ever play for a top 4 team. When has that tosser ever made a save when it counts? Chelsea still have quality and if they blend well and take to Scolari like bread to butter, they could cause United problems. But I just have a gut feeling that they are too old and too set in their ways. I wouldn’t be surprised if Scolari is sacked before Christmas. Abramovich is a prick and nobody can succeed under that regime and it’s unrealistic. expectations.
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@Liam: He just didn’t want to play for us mate.
Some people are insecure and they need that comfort zone of similarity and language. The Spanish connection is why he even came to England, otherwise he would have stayed in Spain.
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@Rd: Blackburn is in the vicinity. It’s a derby opponent and Ince is his friend and former player. Santa Cruz is not an option. If we weren’t going to get Berbatov, certainly Huntelaar or even Villa would be ahead of him in the pecking order.
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@colver: Excellent points mate. Chelsea are mercenaries and they are good but they don’t adapt to radical change and they have too much depth in midfield. How do you decide between Ballack, Lampard, Deco, Essien and keep all of them happy? If you consider it very unlikely that they can play more than three of them at any one time and and not have the defensive backup of Makelele there, I see trouble. They could place Essien in the DMF position but that totally nullifies his offensive contributions. They could Jon OBI ONE Mikel there but he’s not in the same class as Makelele. I still think Terry is a shadow of his former self and last year Carvalho started showing signs of decline in his game to. And Cech is still good but not nearly as good as he once was. And he was awful in the pre season and at the EUROS. What happens if Drogba goes down? Persoanlly, I think Chelsea are in a world of shite.
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@Grognard: and Colver: You’re making some very good points on Chelsea, me thinks.
Terry will be exposed, if he doesn’t have all the players around him that he usually has (Makalele plus 2 fullbacks). I think, Makalele’s departure will be a greater loss, than they realize. Despite his age, he nullified a bunch of players last season, and he was still one of the best in his position. Mikel is no where near that class, and he probably never will be (even though he’s a good player).
But I see their attack as their weakest area. Drogba may be world class, but it’s actually been some time, since we saw anything from him. To me, he’s lost a little bit of pace, and therefore, he can no longer outmuscel players and get away from them. He’ll always be a threat in the box, and of course he’ll get 15 goals. But that’s just not enough for Chelsea, whose other attacking options are rediculous really.
I think, Chelsea will be runner uppers, but it’ll mainly be because Arsenal and Liverpool still haven’t found a way to get up there.
Grognard, I think you underestimate the loss of Flamini, Gilberto and Hleb. Not only were Flamini and Gilberto the steel of Arsenal last season, and Hleb a lot of their movement, but they were also experience. And even though Wenger is a master with these youngsters, it’s not going to happen for them. They simply won’t be able to keep teams off them. Even WBA managed to get back into a game they were vertually eliminated from in the first 5 minutes.
Liverpool. People seem to think that they have a better team now than last season, but I simply can’t see why. Keane for Crouch – well, they may have a smarter player, but they have lost height at the same time. Dossena for Riise… from what I have seen, Dossena is no strengthening. He may have been touted the best left fullback playing in Italy last season, but that’s merely because the best of Italy’s fullbacks don’t play in Italy. He’s no where near as good as Zambrotta or Grosso.
And even if scousers will hate me for it, Carragher is starting to make more mistakes. Their talisman is loosing it, if you ask me.
Tottenham may look good on paper, but their defense simply isn’t good enough. Watergate and King have legs of glass, and that won’t change. The top 4 will look like last season if you ask me.
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