Good read: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/aug/05/premier-league-2014-15-preview-chelsea
I don't think we can be considered favourites yet until we can show we are over the inconsistency against weaker opposition.
City are favs, I'd say there are question marks over you lot. If Costa gets goals then maybe but if he's injured is Drogba still good enough to pick up a few goals? I like Schuurle (Spelling?) but is he an out and out striker? Like I say question marks for me, you'll always be hard to beat but will you have enough up top.
If Costa stats fit and fires they have a good chance. If Costa gets injured or doesn't fire they have no chance.
I dont think Costa will be as prolific as he was in La Liga, but it wont be his job to be. When we smashed the league in 2005 our top goalscorer for the season was Lampard with 16 goals! Mourinho doesnt really set his teams up to rely on one guy to score the goals, I will be happy if Costa grabs 10-15 goals this season. His job will be as a battering ram, to split defenses with his runs and hold up the ball so the 3 amigos behind him, (3 of Hazard, Willian, Schurrle, Salah etc) can get into space and score. It was under Ancelotti that Drogba found his scoring boots and we scored a record number of goals. You watch, it will run like this, Matic breaks the opposing attack up, dinks the ball to Fabregas, Fabregas finds a pass to Costa who holds the ball up with his back to goal, the 3 Amigos sweep into the area causing panic in the opposition defence, then Costa will turn and shoot or pass to which ever of the 3 is in the best position to have a crack. If Fab cant get a pass to Costa he passes to one of the 3 amigos who run at the opposition defence with the ball until Costa is free.
Not unless we get another striker, if Costa is injured we're left with Torres and Drogba as back-up; then there's the prospect of us selling Schurle in exchange for Miranda (no,no,no, we can't be that dumb). With most of the top teams reinforced it's even more vital that Jose gets over his allergy against lesser teams because that is where the title is won or lost.
"The Three Amigos" is the kind of crap Arsenal fans used to spout when Wenger had a decent team. Liverpool fans are giving it a good go at the minute.
Was more to do with Laziness at having to type, Hazard, Willian etc than anything else. But I get your point, it does have the "SAS" or "invincibles" cringe worthiness about it. I wasnt hoping it would catch on
It's going to be between Chelsea and City. Both have very good squads shaping up. Everyone else is going to be left behind. I'd nod towards City winning though because they have the better manager.
Not at all. I think Chelsea and City are far and away best squads in the league and will finish 1-2 this season with no one close in third- I'd predict Chelsea to win if managers had swapped places. My personal opinion is that Jose has lost some of his edge that he had last time through.
Lol pelligrini better than jose? Last season chelsea lost the league rather than man city winning it. If we hadn't threw it away against Sunderland they'd have had no chance. Also apart from in the fa cup away he beat city convincingly. Throw in the fact that city had (maybe still have) a better squad and still limped their way to the title, and then I have to wondrr how you logically came to that conclusion. There's city's poor cl form, and the respective records of both managers. ..I could go on but ive just realised ive spent 2 minutes of my life replying to a troll post in all likelihood hahaha well played!
I think Jose puts more into the big games than Pelligrini and head to head I probably would predict Jose as more likely to win. I think he is better suited against European teams. I think Pellegrini's more attacking style will convert more 1 point draws into 3 point wins in the league against lower league teams that form the bread and butter of the Premier League. Pellegrini will be able to do better across a full season against the mundane teams where as Jose can get the players fired up better in big cup matches.
I can see where you're coming from, but I dont agree. Many of the games against 'small' teams we lost or drew were dominated by us. Its just a lack of clinical edge or luck/ref decisions that went against us (villa away is a prime example). At the time he couldn't efficiently rectify that problem in the squad so its unfair to say its a flaw in his game. If he had the players he wanted that wouldn't have happened and we would have won the league (compared to pelligrini who had a nigh perfect 23 to choose from). Personally even if jose was complacent in those games I'd still want it that way. the reason liverpool didnt win the league was because against us and man city they didn't do that well. nine points WILL win you the league. and come may no one gives a s**t if you beat norwich 5-0 if your second (or third)!
Agree Jose would get 90+ points with city squad last season and piss the league. The special one would struggle to win the league with Liverpool however. Even He cannot polish a turd
I think we have a good chance this year. Although Lamps won't be around, Jose has had time to blend the team together, and he's added his own choice new boys! We've bumbled a bit in pre-season stuff, but ,as they say " It'll be alright on the night!"
In theory it's easier to improve your results against weaker sides than the better sides. This is where Arsenal say will struggle as they can't beat the big sides with regularity. If we can get some consistency, we will do ok as Jose knows how to win the big games (or at least get the draws away from home!).
