I was struck today by how shallow Liverpool's current squad is. Hoddle rightly pointed out how much stronger the Tottenham bench was than Liverpool's and, Gerrard, Reina and Torres apart, the Tottenham team on the pitch was stronger than Liverpool's too. Until Gerrard dropped deeper, there was nobody in the Liverpool midfield to supply Torres and you have to wonder how the Scousers will cope should Gerrard and Torres pick up long term injuries. These two great players apart, the team is ordinary. Alonso is a huge loss and the failure to replace him will mean that Liverpool will struggle to finish in the top 4, never mind sustain a challenge for the title. Add in Benitez's perverse selection policy - how on earth did he prefer Babel over Yossi - and I see big problems ahead.
Arsenal looked awesome against Everton but they played against a team in disarray because of Lescott. Everton's defending was woeful and the way that Fabregas was allowed to stroll unchallenged from box to box before scoring said everything about how the Toffees had failed to show up on the day. Gooners will be cock a hoop at the moment but we all know the Blackburns and Boltons will bully them off their stride. Very pretty to watch but pretty play is not enough to win the Prem.
Man United's midfield, meanwhile, is not up to winning the title. The failure to buy a goalscoring midfielder is very strange. Ronaldo's goals will be sorely missed and both Giggs and Scholes have now gone over the top. It seems to me that Ferguson has allowed loyalty to get the better of him, sticking with two old favourites for too long. Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani and Park are good players but none of them are great are they? Instead of a midfield that frightened the opposition, United now have a midfield that is high on endeavor but low on the wow factor. 1-0 v Birmingham says it all. A well organised team will be able to frustrate this United team. Take out Rooney and who is there to frighten you?
Chelsea, on paper, are the strongest of the big 4 but we have yet to see how the dressing room will take to the new manager. We know now what happens if Terry and his cronies don't fancy the boss.
This could be the most open Premiership for decades. Unreal City may actually be in the running and so might Tottenham.
8 comments:
Staggeringly original analysis. Arsenal to be bullied off the ball by Blackburn and Bolton when they thrashed both these sides last season in a very ordinary season.
Arsenal have as big a chance of any the teams. Just keep writing us off, please, it makes it all the more worth it.
fail
If City get off to a good start then watch out as we will only get better.
Dream On, but one thing is certain West Ham won't be there. That's if there still is a West ham in six months time
you had me until the last sentence.
Jammathon, you may be right if Chelsea falter. My point is that the Prem lacks a "stand out" 4 now. You were miles off last season and are a weaker team this season. In your favour, Man U and Liverpool are significantly weaker than last year. The door is open for clubs like Man City and Tottenham to really surprise people. Sadly, this is also an opportunity for West Ham but, because of our financial plight, one that we are very unlikely to be able to take advantage of. Of course, there is still time for MU or Liverpool to buy themselves stronger. They need to.
I find it funny the way people are so quick to write off Man Utd just because they don't want them to win the league again. We must understand that it is Man Utd who is managed by Fergy, by far the best manager in the world, of course they will not drop off. Man City for long periods had not one shot on goal against Blackburn, and Liverpool should have been awarded at least another penalty. Arsenal certainly don't look weaker to me and why exactly would Chelsea falter under Anchelotti?
If this article is soley based on yesterdays games then that would be ridiculous and west ham should be included with Man City or Tottenham
The article is based on the reduced quality of Liverpool, Arsenal and Man U's squads. It is hardly based solely on the weekend's results given I do not say that Arsenal will run away with the title - which a 6-1 victory at Everton would suggest!
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