Posts Tagged ‘Antonio Conte’

Manchester United, Manchester City And Five Others Who Think They Can Win The Premier League

Posted: August 1, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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The Guardian calls them the “Magnificent Seven”, (that’s quite original for the Guardian!). These are the seven teams they reckon have a realistic chance of winning the Premier League title. They even have a natty little video to demonstrate which teams they are referring to. Have a look here, it’s quite good.

Now, even more realistically, which of the following managers will lift the trophy next May?

Arsene Wenger:

There isn’t much to say about Wenger that hasn’t already been said in his long time at Arsenal. There does seem to be some truth in the rumour that he is happy to finish in the top three, top four at a push, so that qualification for the Champion’s League is assured each year. This keeps the board happy but leaves the fans frustrated. Because this attitude seems to prevail at the Emirates, they will not win the title and may even struggle for top four this time out. (more…)

Can Anybody Stop Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United Or Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City From Winning The Title?

Posted: July 23, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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The answer to the above question has to be “yes”. If not then we may as well award the trophy now and just play the season for fun, which wouldn’t be much fun. Here’s a quick look at the contenders.

CHELSEA:

Their best signing could turn out to be Antonio Conte. Having taken an unfancied Italy to a penalty shoot-out defeat to the very much fancied Germans in the Euros, he has already proven that he can get the best out of a team considered no more than slightly better than average. He has also experienced winning the title in Italy so, the only real question is, can he do it in England? (more…)

Manchester United Or City? Jose Mourinho Or Pep Guardiola? Who Will Reign Supreme In Manchester?

Posted: July 21, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Next season there will be almost as much interest in who wins the battle of Manchester as there will be in who eventually wins the Premier League. Mainly in Manchester of course, but the battle will still be watched with a certain amount of interest from all places outside of the “M” postal code area.

It is unfortunate that the teams cannot be compared in the Champion’s League due to the shortcomings of each of the previous managers, both of whom underachieved in their final season.

Louis van Gaal underachieved by so much that United haven’t even qualified for the tournament and City will have to play a pre-qualifier, (which they should win), having finished in a lowly fourth position last time out. (more…)

Will Jose Mourinho Sweep All Before Him Next Season?

Posted: July 2, 2016 in Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The short answer is no, not at the moment. One or two further additions to the squad, however, may change things around somewhat.

The full back positions do not need urgent surgery as, with a fully fit Luke Shaw along with Darmian and Varela, there should be sufficient cover although Jose does not seem totally convinced about Darmian so don’t be too surprised to see a replacement brought in. I can’t see Mourinho persisting with Antonio Valencia at full back as he has proven, on a few occasions, that he can’t play the position and Ashley Young is nothing short of a joke at full back.

At present Mourinho has addressed one of the centre back positions by bringing in Eric Bailly. I assume this will mean that United will be listening to offers for Marcus Rojo, who hasn’t convinced at either centre back or left back. This does not solve the problem of the other centre back. (more…)

Will Pep Guardiola Be A Success At Manchester City?

Posted: June 28, 2016 in Managers, Manchester City, Opinion
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The jury is out on this one!

There are obvious reasons to expect that Pep will be successful at City, not
least given that he is working with people he knows well at the club. This is an obvious advantage from when he took over at Bayern Munich where he knew nobody really well in the beginning.

He also doesn’t have to win much next season to be rated a success. Manuel Pellegrini left having won only the Capital One Cup in his final year.

At Bayern the odds were against him even replicating what Jupp Heynckes had achieved, never mind bettering it. A treble of the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champion’s League was always going to be a tall order. As it turned out he found winning the Bundesliga and German Cup relatively easy and only the Champion’s League proved elusive. (more…)

United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool. Normal Service Will Resume Next Season!

Posted: March 1, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Manchester United: Not too long ago I wrote an article which described how United weren’t too far away from having a team to win the title. I thought, at the time, that they were short of two, maybe three, top players.

I have since revised my opinion. Whilst playing quite well recently they have relied on injuries to force through some of the promising youngsters. This is a sad indictment on the transfer windows where adequate players were not purchased. If van Gaal sees out the final year of his contract then they will again struggle to reach the top four.

If, however, they take the logical option and appoint Mourinho, then I would make them slight favourites to win it.

Manchester City: Should be a lot closer to winning the title than where they are now. Having said that, with the bonus of the Capital One Cup win, they could very easily go on an unbeaten run that still achieves their goal! (more…)

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