Manchester City, played three, won three. Manchester United, played three, won three. Chelsea, played three, won three. Arsenal, played three, won one, drawn one, lost one.
So why have the new kids on the block started so well and yet Arsenal, with their wily old manager, have started off in what has become their usual manner? (more…)
What is the significance of a local derby game to a Premier League team? In the cases of Manchester United, City, Everton and Liverpool it is, basically, six points and bragging rights for a few days. Gone are the days when it really was a “local” derby.
With the possible exception of Marcus Rashford, who may or may not play in the upcoming game this weekend, the Manchester United player born closest to Manchester will probably be Wayne Rooney, who is a Scouser, not a fact which particularly endears him to the fans. Of the rest, it is quite possible that Luke Shaw will be the only other Englishman in the team! (more…)
Manchester City finished fourth last season and won the Capital One Cup. That relative failure saw them having to play a Champion’s League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest this time out, a tie they won comfortably.
To many fans of many clubs Manchester City’s season would have been considered a resounding success but, when you have the kind of players, and therefore, the kind of financial outlay that they have, success is deemed to be finishing in the top two in the Premier League and reaching the final of the Champion’s League. (more…)
Of the manager’s pictured above, one will probably be crowned Premier League champion at the end of the season. At least another one of the five will miss out on the top four. So who will be the winner and who will be the loser(s)?
Although it is certainly not a foregone conclusion it is widely expected that the title will end up in Manchester. There are some bets being laid on the unknown quantity that is Antonio Conte at Chelsea but many think his lack of Premier League experience will mean that he falls just short this time out. (more…)
Despite his name Zlatan Ibrahimović is Swedish. His father was from Bijeljina in Bosnia and his mother from Prkos in Croatia. They met, however, in Sweden after both emigrating there a few years earlier.
When Zlatan was six they gave him a pair of football boots and, apart from a short time when he was fifteen, he has never looked back!
Fast forward to 1996 when he joined Malmo and stayed with them until 2001, experiencing relegation, promotion and little else, although it was during his time there that Arsene Wenger tried, unsuccessfully, to sign him for Arsenal. (more…)
He has already said it. If we concentrate solely on each other in this league, then somebody else will win it. It was OK in Spain as there were only usually two clubs competing for the title, so it was good to have some mind games. These are the words, more or less, of Jose Mourinho shortly after taking over at Manchester United.
Who he is trying to convince is rather a mystery. Is it the fans? I doubt it. Most fans will tell you that they love a few mind games. United supporters were always in their element when Fergie was giving it large about some manager or another.
Also, in the not too distant past, Jose himself was known for having a slight dig at opposing managers. Spats with Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez readily come to mind. (more…)
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…)
So, failing to qualify for the Champion’s League is not the disaster that all the “experts” predicted it would be. In fact it appears to have had little or no impact on the two main “failures” in England. These are the two teams who contested the final only eight years ago in Moscow! The ability of Manchester United and Chelsea to sign top players and managers does not appear to have been diminished at all.
It is probably true to say that a prolonged absence from the competition would begin to have a negative effect at some stage as a considerable amount of money can be made by appearing in Europe’s top competition. The loss of this money over a sustained period would prove harmful to the clubs trying to attract the best players and, by doing so, make qualifying again the following year a more difficult proposition. In this respect it is a vicious circle. (more…)
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…)
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…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 