As a Manchester United fan, I was delighted to see our local rivals Man City lose their first league game of the season and most other premier league followers will agree with my statement. It seemed that City where walking away with the league and someone needed to put them back in their tracks.
Nobody imagined Man City losing this game after they opened the scoring inside two minutes. Before this Man City had only ever being trailing in a league game this season for 15 minutes which is a remarkable feat. For both Chelsea and their new manager Andre Vila Boas (AVB) this was a game they couldn’t lose.
I don’t see all the hype associated with Andre Villas Boas. He was with Porto for one year. He may have won the Portuguese Primeira Liga, the UEFA Europa League and the Portuguese Cup. The Portugese league is not considered as a very competive league and this is shown by the fact only two teams have won the league for the past ten years. (Porto and Benfica). The Europa league is seen by major clubs as a consolation prize for not qualifying for the Champions league and a penalty for the big clubs for not reaching the knockout stages of the champions league. A club like Liverpool could have won it last year had they shown any bit of interest in it but instead were knocked out in the last 16.
I personally think Andre Villas Boas hasn’t proven himself at the biggest stage in football and for Chelsea to pay Porto €15 million as compensation to activate his release clause makes it more outrageous. His move makes him the most expensive manager ever. I know Chelsea owner Romam Ambraovich wants success immediately but isnt this not a huge gamble to take. Only time will tell.
Last week saw the two Manchester clubs exit the Champions league.
How could this possible happen with the starts both teams made to the premier league.
I believe Man United’s good start was not due to playing brilliant flowing football and scoring plenty of goals for the first couple of months but coming up against some poorly organised teams such as Chelsea and a truly awful Arsenal side. We were being perceived by these teams as simply unstoppable. I think Man United current problem is their midfield. We are missing a creative player like Silva and I think Fergie has done a bad job in replacing Scholes . With the injures mounting up, its time to start to looking in the Janruary market whether Fergie likes it or not. Who can we buy tho? Or is the short term loan the better option for the forseeable future.
People may say that Man City didn’t qualify because it was their first year and lacked experience at this level. However I believe this not to be the case, players like Kompany, YaYa Toure, Dzeko, Aguero, and Silva have all played in the Champions league with previous clubs. Spurs made the knockout stages last year and didn’t have the quality and dept in squad as City have at their current disposal.
Delighted to see Man City lose too. It's still their league to throw away though!
ReplyDeleteArsenal cant be that bad a side if they have progressed to the last 16 of the CL and United and City are preparing for Thursday night football in the EL! I think that both teams have over compensated on getting a good foot hold in the League before worrying about the wider picture such as the CL. For months they were both neck and neck at the summit of the PL table. Fergie's biggest problem is that his side lacks experience. Ferdinand, Evra and Giggs are the senior members of the squad whereas, the likes of De Gea, Smalling, Jones and even Rooney to an extent are still learning. Fergie regrets not buying big in the summer, Snejdeir and Modric were there to be bought if the price was right but instead he gambled that the core of his team would stay fit and if not he would have Carrick and Gibson to use if worse came to worst. What Fergie needs is an ace card, a player who could dig him out of this hole, a player who can play across the back four and in midfield if called upon, often these players get overlooked in clubs like United, where the starting 11 are specialised in their own positions. Fergie had a solid player who could fulfill these roles and he let him go in the summer for less than €5 million, surely a drop in the ocean for a club like United? Fergie is cursing the day that he let John O'Shea leave Old Trafford. Fergie, you dont know what you've got 'til its gone!
ReplyDeleteAlso I dont think Sir Alex ever replaced his world class players in midfield. In there prime Keane, Giggs and Scholes were as good as anyone in the world, player like Carrick, Anderson and Gibson are no where near this standard. I think to win trophies this season Fergie has to purchase in January or else hope that the young Tom Cleverly can produce miracles when back to fitness.
ReplyDeleteI agree John O Shea would have been very useful in the team with the injury crisis at the moment. Fergie has replaced Scholes alright, by bringing him back. It was funny to see yesterday against Man City at one stage that United's too central midfielders were 37 and 38 respectively!!
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