Rival watch

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current top four is

Chelsea
Man City
Goons
Mousers

What odds would you have got for the top four (after the first round of fixtures) to be the same top four (same order) after the final round of fixtures.
 
That's an excellent starting 11 for Chelsea. I still might pick Man City for the title because Chelsea are more vulnerable to injuries. If Costa gets hurt, they're in trouble. Man City have subs who are nearly as good everywhere.

After one game, the top half of the PL has sorted itself into three groups:

Top three:

Man City
Chelsea
Arsenal

Fourth place contenders:

Liverpool
Spurs
Everton
Man U

Top half favorites:
Swansea: Quite a strong looking team, really. Well organized at the back, speed on the flanks, a dangerous #10 in Gylfi, and a good striker.
Newcastle: Looked fluid and attractive in an entertaining loss to Man City. Might have deserved a point.
Hull, maybe.
?
 
I wouldn't jump to conclusions after one game, although City and Chelsea look ominous.

City have the pedigree and that aura/confidence that serial winners develop. They have a core group of players who have won two titles and been in the mix for 3-4 years now. They won it last season after Chelsea and Liverpool stumbled and it will take another team being consistently very good from start to finish to have any chance of beating them. No other team has proved they can do that. Chelsea need key players fit and in form throughout the season in my view. They don't have anyone who can pass and control play like Fabregas. Costa needs to be the 20 goal striker they've been missing. How good is the defence if Terry and Cahill miss a number of games?

Arsenal have a lot of good players, but it's a number of years since they got decent results against the other top sides. Are they good enough? Are they still vulnerable at the back and a bit too lightweight throughout? Replacing Vermaelen with Chambers is one for the future, not now. Flamini is no Vieira in midfield.

Ditto Liverpool. Suarez carried them whatever their fans might say. No team wins the title with a defence which concedes 50 goals - and so it proved. Can the defence really improve by the 15-20 goals required?

Spurs and Everton may challenge for top four but look the 5th and 6th best teams to me.

Utd need to spend money on quality players in a number of positions quickly. But LVG won't spend it for the sake of it - and until he does Utd look weak at the back and hit and miss everywhere else. 7th last season, with champion players still in the team, means that 7th without many of them looks to be the best achievable. The cloak of invincibility has long gone. There isn't a quick fix; getting back in the CL would be a small step in the right direction, but that looks a long way off at present.
 
littleDinosaurLuke said:
I wouldn't jump to conclusions after one game, although City and Chelsea look ominous.

City have the pedigree and that aura/confidence that serial winners develop. They have a core group of players who have won two titles and been in the mix for 3-4 years now. They won it last season after Chelsea and Liverpool stumbled and it will take another team being consistently very good from start to finish to have any chance of beating them. No other team has proved they can do that. Chelsea need key players fit and in form throughout the season in my view. They don't have anyone who can pass and control play like Fabregas. Costa needs to be the 20 goal striker they've been missing. How good is the defence if Terry and Cahill miss a number of games?

Arsenal have a lot of good players, but it's a number of years since they got decent results against the other top sides. Are they good enough? Are they still vulnerable at the back and a bit too lightweight throughout? Replacing Vermaelen with Chambers is one for the future, not now. Flamini is no Vieira in midfield.

Ditto Liverpool. Suarez carried them whatever their fans might say. No team wins the title with a defence which concedes 50 goals - and so it proved. Can the defence really improve by the 15-20 goals required?

Spurs and Everton may challenge for top four but look the 5th and 6th best teams to me.

Utd need to spend money on quality players in a number of positions quickly. But LVG won't spend it for the sake of it - and until he does Utd look weak at the back and hit and miss everywhere else. 7th last season, with champion players still in the team, means that 7th without many of them looks to be the best achievable. The cloak of invincibility has long gone. There isn't a quick fix; getting back in the CL would be a small step in the right direction, but that looks a long way off at present.
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An intelligent and fair assessment of the status quo, IMO.
 
I don't disagree with any of that.

I will add there are sizable question marks about every team but City. Chelsea look great on paper, and looked strong the first game, but can Fabregas and Costa hold up to a long PL season and a lot of kicking?

Arsenal have the talent in sum to at least challenge for the title most years, but still look a step behind City and Chelsea, and rather strangely unbalanced on top of that. Giroud is a decent striker and Sanogo is promising, but they're hardly in the same league with Dzeko, Aguero and Costa. I think they also need to forget about two players: Wilshire and Ozil. They have better options, however much hype those two have received. Sanchez is such a good player I can't believe he won't have a big season, but if he doesn't, blame should go to Wenger trying to tinker with how he plays.

Liverpool are minus Suarez and plus Southampton and CL football. They remain the favorites for fourth because at the least they're going to score goals.
 
Can't count on Arsenal for anything. ****ers lost me my accumulator tonight, was 10/1 and just needed Arsenal not to be ****. Serves me right for betting on the scum, I suppose.
 
£ity will win the league again. Chavs will come in second. The Smug One will get the bullet. 'Pool will finish outside the top 4. We will finish 6th.
 
Look, I'd love nothing more than for United to be a spent force - same with 'Pool. But look at 'Pool, now - they are in a far better place now than they were the few seasons before last - and United is a far bigger club than 'Pool. The idea that United will languish forever outside the top 4 is simply too fanciful.
 
Krome said:
<whistle>


For Utd to fade they would literally need to be finishing outside the top 4 for about 10 years, it's just not going to happen
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It's a vicious circle, it doesn't take long for it to all collapse. If they don't make CL this year (highly likely) they will miss out on CL moneys (£30m + gate receipts) and miss out on £30m from their sponsors who will reduce payments. That's £60million. In addition to the £30m they've missed out on this year. Plus there will be leakage of their asian fanbase as they magically switch their support to the other manc club. Add that to the huge write-downs they will have to do on their ****e squad and the millions more they've spunked up the wall on crap.

Plus no one wants to join them - Reus is the latest to turn them down.

I wouldn't be surprised if LVG walked before the season is out, then they'd have to scrap around for a manager from the dregs that are available. It's becoming a poisoned chalice.

The fact that pundits and fans alike actually thought they'd miraculously bounce back to title winning ways was more deluded than us thinking that finishing outside top 4 was a blip
 
Hoddle Is A God said:
Look, I'd love nothing more than for United to be a spent force - same with 'Pool. But look at 'Pool, now - they are in a far better place now than they were the few seasons before last - and United is a far bigger club than United. The idea that United will languish forever outside the top 4 is simply too fanciful.
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I think it is a bigger rebuilding job,than one season
 
What people seem to forget is that United is the biggest club in world football. 'Pool nearly went under, and although they were bought out (for a bargain-basement price) by the Yanks, there wasn't the money available to 'Pool that can be made available to United. £ity went from being a nothing team to world-beaters within 2 seasons of the Arabs taking over. Well, United, despite last season's blip, is hardly a "nothing" team.

It won't take United more than 2 seasons to get back to the top.
 
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