No#1 It is painful to imagine how the end of the season will feel, being a Liverpool fan, I fear it will end with Manchester United celebrating title number nineteen.
The red devils are five points clear of nearest challengers Arsenal and still undefeated. United really summed up their season in their game against Blackpool. The first half showed they can be beat, while the second half showed 45minute of sizzling attacking football, there was no luck involved in that victory, United simply outclassed a tired Blackpool team.
Berbatov is scoring goals again, united don’t have to rely on Wayne Rooney, unlike last season, and Nemanja Vidic is as solid as ever with Rio Ferdinand alongside him. United already have the experience that have won them previous titles, with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville still around, meaning the argument that pressure could get to them being labelled as favourites unfounded, these players have done it all before.
no#2 The Gunners will give a good account of themselves this season but it will not be enough to secure Arsene Wenger a fourth premier league title. A Carling Cup trophy will silence the small minority of boo boys at the Emirates but does that count their season as a success? I would argue it doesn’t, merely a step in the right direction having finihing a place higher than last season.
What irritates me about Arsenal is the blindingly obvious. Wenger refuses to go out and buy a top class goalkeeper and a proper defensive midfielder. Had Arsenal had these I am sure they would have won many more trophies. The fact that Shay Given is available and Arsenal have not even enquired about him speaks volumes about Wenger’s arrogance.
Every top team has a goalie, United have Van der Sar, Spurs have Gomes, Manchester City have the luxury of Joe Hart or Shay Given, Chelsea have Petr Cech and while Liverpool aren’t considered a top 4 team anymore, I do believe they have the best goalkeeper in the league with Pepe Reina. Patrick Vieira has never been replaced which is a big mistake in my eyes.
No matter what formation you play whether it be; 4-4-2, 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 you should have a defensive midfielder in just to give balance if nothing else. Ultimately Arsenal will play pretty football, win the Carling cup, but inevitably their defence will let them down in chasing the title.
No#3 Who would have thought the sacking of an assistant manager could cause a club to go into complete meltdown? While having slightly recovered, Chelsea’s downfall over the winter period has cost them the title. This season Didier Drogba has been the shadow of the player he was last season, like so many others including; Florent Malouda, Michael Essien, even reliable John Terry has been suspect this season.
They have missed Frank Lampard and Ramieres has not been a success as expected since his £18 Million move. In the summer I would be surprised if there was not a major overhaul of the Chelsea squad with ageing stars being replaced with younger fresh talent. Once again Abramovich’s meddling in team affairs has cost them dearly, he can be thankful Carlo Ancelotti is a calmer man then Jose Mourinho or Chelsea would looking to appoint their 6th manager in 7 years.
N0#4 Manchester City this season will be strong enough to finish fourth. Their defence is solid on its day, draws at Spurs and Arsenal can support this. Their midfield has a good balance, De Jong protecting the back four, Yaya Toure able to cover the whole pitch and Barry will do a little of both.
Going forward City could cause any team problems, if Mancini would let them. A front three of Silva, Dzeko and Tevez must surely be allowed to run free. Not quite strong enough to challenge for the title as I believe they have a manager who is to cautious. The Manchester derby proving one example, when United, missing several key players were there for the taking; Mancini was quite happy to settle for a draw.
No#5 Finally we come to Tottenham Hotspur who will fail to repeat last season’s success. I feel the extra challenges taken on by Spurs in the latter stages of the Champions league will prove crucial in the race for fourth. Their main rival City will merely be competing with Europa League teams, a massive gulf in class.
No doubt Harry Redknapp will probably have a trick up his sleeve come the end of the January transfer window but I doubt it will a big signing such is the market at the moment. Tottenham sit 5th only three points behind Chelsea but I don’t see this changing. I do believe Spurs need a top quality striker to compete at the highest level. Pavlyuchenko appears unplayable on his day but Redknapp doesn’t seem to be able to trust the Russian on a regular basis.
Spurs will fight to the end but I believe City’s squad will be too strong for them to compete, my point further emphasised by the fact they have just signed another striker, Edin Dzeko for £27 million, something Spurs haven’t got the luxury of doing.
