Top 5 teams comparison

[Roonaldaha]

Okay, hello guys. This is my first post on BigSoccer and I want to start it with a comparison. I would have done this comparison at the start of the season but I feel now is the best time for this. I'll compare the squads of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle who for me really are the top 5 teams in England.

Manchester United:
Goalkeepers:
I think we've got the second best keeper in the Premier League with VDS. Lehmans quite good too, but I feel hes too temperamental and well his hair's weird;) . Then we've got Kuszczak who I still haven't seen enough of to judge. Yeah he did stop that penalty on his first Premier League start but so did Ricardo(who?). We've got a fantastic keeper in Foster who I've seen a bit of. Tim Howard I really feel will be released this season unless he has a really fantastic season. Nevertheless Chelsea have still got the better number 2 in Cudicini.
8/10

Defenders:
First choice Defense of ours is phenomenal. It has considerable depth, strength and lots of pace. Nemanjas just starting to shine now and though he won't probably be as good as Stam, I still predict big things for him. He also was unlucky not to score against the barcodes and thats the one thing thats been lacking in our defense. We haven't got another pure right back to replace Neville, but Wes can easily play there. We could afford a few injuries in this department and still look very impressive. Just a few weeks ago we had Gabby, Vidic and Gary out and we still looked pretty solid.
9/10

Midfielders:
Ah! The midfield of Manchester United. Much has been said about it this summer but for me its still only a defensive midfielder and possibly a winger (to replace Giggsy)short of being a real quality midfield. We've got the two of the best wingers in the world at the moment. Ronaldos been the centre of attention lately but Giggsy before his injury was the best left winger in the
country. Park too is out for quite a while and suddenly its not so good a wing partnership. Richardsons badly out of form and although Fletcher was very good in this weeks game, hes not a right midfielder. Obviously the biggest worry for us has been the center of midfield. Its not quite as bad as the media portrays it but quite honestly speaking anything other then a Scholes/Carrick combination is considerably weaker then any of the other top 4 teams. I think fergies plan might be to replace scholes with carrick and then have a carrick/hargreaves partenership if only he could get him. John O' Shea was horrendous in the Arsenal game and I honestly do not rate him very highly. Hes not a defensive midfielder, end of. Lack of depth means I'll give Uniteds midfield a...
7/10

Forwards:
We've got a remarkably good forward with good depth. First choice seems to be Wayne and Saha but Ole and Smith are more then capable starters and Rossi, who albeit isn't getting much action at Newcastle, will eventually play regularly there and offer a fantastic choice for us. Again I feel its a very pacy forward line with a kind of total football between Rooney, Saha and Ronaldo who too can be considered a forward. Rooneys out of form at the moment, but he'll get in the groove soon. Sahas considerably injury-prone so lets pray nothing happens to him this season. Saying this I still hope we get Torres next summer to replace Solskjaer place and Saha because hes close
to 30 now.
8.5/10

So what do you guys think? A fair analysis? I'll put up the rest of the analyses later. Cheers:cool:

[alincoln]

newcastle?

[Roonaldaha]

Yeah I was torn between Spurs and Newcastle but really if you can ignore the awful defence, they have got a really decent attack and midfield.

[sdotsom]

Good post.

2 issues of the top of my head

1) I don't think Richardson is out of form, I just think he is a bad player.
2) Newcastle should be higher than they are in the leauge, but even now I'd say that even Portsmouth is better than them. If we had to say top 5 I'd still chuck Tottenham in there, once they pickup their form they will be nice.

I'm at work and can't say much more.

[433tom]

Take out Newcastle and put Everton in. Johnson is going to score 25 to 30 goals this season. Hopefully we will trade Howard and Cash for him next summer. Forget Torres.

[Roonaldaha]

Okay next up its Chelsea, because they are the biggest challengers to us or is that the other way round?:p
Chelsea:
Goalkeepers:
I have been a great admirer of Cech for the last couple of seasons and for my money hes the best shot-stopper in the league, possibly in Europe now Buffons not really playing at the highest level. Hes did have an injury recently but hes not injury-prone. He doesnt seem as commanding as Lehmann or VDS are but remember hes almost a decade younger then them. As I said earlier Cudicini is the best number 2 in the league. I think he was voted the best goalie of the Premiership before Cech came though hes not been good in the matches hes played this season. Theres this Hilario too, but since I haven't ever seen him shot-stop I won't say anything about him.
9/10

Defenders:
I would assume their first choice defense is Cole, Terry, Carvalho and Boulahrouz. Coles only showed glimpses of class so far, but in a few weeks time I feel he'll be back at his best. Terry is a tremendous leader and for Chelsea a scorer of crucial goals. An injury to him, could severely hamper Chelseas chances in any cup. Carvalho, in my opinion is not as good as Gallas was especially domestically. Boulahrouz has been played out of position and hes not playing well at all. He does not contribute to attack down the wings which Chelsea desperately need with their narrow midfield nor is he particularly solid. They've got depth with fullbacks but in the centre of defense, its very thin. Chelsea had to play a right back Ferreria in their match because both Terry and Boulahrouz were out.
8/10

Midfielders:
:eek: The best group of midfielders in the world, by a long margin. In the defensive midfielder department they have Makelele and the young Diarra. They have box-to-box players in Essien and Ballack. Attacking midfielders in Joe Cole and Lampard and of-course the lovely Obi-Wan Mikel who is some kind of central midfielder I guess. They have got tremendous wingers in SWP, Robben, Joe Cole(not a natural winger) and Kalou(who I've heard can play on the wing). On paper its something else but if you watch Chelsea carefully you'll see that their diamond formation is not working as it should. Indeed on numerous occasions I have found only Essien and sometimes Lampard who have truly excelled in the middle of the park. Joe Coles injured now but when he comes back, where will he play? A more orthodox midfield 4 will surely contain Makelele or Essien and one other. Still it is in the later stages of the season that they perhaps will shine with so much quality depth. Personally I feel Ballack is the odd-man out here. Hes not excelled at all up till now, but its still too early to pass him off as a failure. He is class you know. My final verdict.....
9.5/10

Forwards:
At first look it seems unbelievable that Chelsea have only 3 forwards, two of them inexperienced in this league, and out of them Kalous still only 21. However I believe Chelsea can and will play 4-5-1 at some point in the season. Shevchenko so far hasn't ticked at all and really he hasn't looked in tune YET. Come May it could prove to all have been a false alarm or it could turn out that Shevchenko was just another Veron. Drogba has been on fire, but you have to wonder for how long? Kalou too has been nothing special and certainly you can't expect much from an inexperienced player.
7/10

P.S. I think Torres is more the type of player Man United should be looking at rather then the likes of Johnson. Our first priority really should be a central/defensive midfielder though.

[sidpaul]

Although i really really hate liverpoop;) , they are surely greater than Newcastle.

[Roonaldaha]

Somehow managed to overlook Liverpool there, sorry.:o

[Attack Attack Attack]

Okay, hello guys. This is my first post on BigSoccer and I want to start it with a comparison. I would have done this comparison at the start of the season but I feel now is the best time for this. I'll compare the squads of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle who for me really are the top 5 teams in England.


hey man you only named 4 teams!

Second- as everyone has said newcastle isn't top 5 errr 4

third- after dropping newcastle add liverpool (who many people picked to finish 2nd) and add spurs (but I guess that can be debated, but not with Newcastle- maybe with Everton)

[Roonaldaha]

On hindsight I think yeah Spurs do have the better all-round team so I'll rate them.

[sdotsom]

Dunno, I said Spurs at first but Johnson is almost the missing link at Everton. I would not be surprised if those guys kept it in the European spots this year.

[Roonaldaha]

Okay now its Liverpools turn. Benitez's men were hyped a lot by the papers and it seems to have all gone downhill for them this season. Again, its still along way to go yet but I feel a couple more bad results this month, might mean they're out of the race.
Liverpool:
Goalkeepers:
Reina, they're current number one was quite good in his first season, but this season hes not looked solid at all. He blundered against West Ham and more famously against Everton. Sort of reminds you of Howard at Manchester United. I feel bias aside, hes the weakest of the top 5 teams' goalkeepers. I'd even say Shay Given is better then him. Dudek for me is a poor mans Barthez. Hes eccentric and a good reflex-saver but prone to making errors. They have however loaned out two very good keepers in Kirkland,who looks like Eminem by the way:D and is terribly injury-prone and Scott Carson who I rate quite highly.
7.5/10

Defenders:
I think Liverpool have done very well to get Agger this season, because otherwise they have quite slow centre-backs in Carragher and Hyypia. As seen in the Everton game, both these defenders were quite often done for pace. They have got Paletta but I've not seen enough of him. Liverpool have got some good full backs. Riise's one of the best left-backs in the country and they done good to buy Aurelio. Steve Finnan is quite consistent but really Liverpool should buy a younger and better right-back. I think they're defence is the weakest part of their team hands down.
7/10

Midfielders:
Liverpool has tremendous quality in the middle of the park. They have a box-to-box player in Gerrard, A sublime passer in Alonso and the midfield enforcer in Sissoko. Benitez always plays Alonso and Sissoko together with Gerrard on either the right or left wing. This leaves one player to fill that extra position and they have Garcia, Pennant, Gonzalez and sometime in the season Kewell too. Because of this he sometimes rests Alonso or Gerrard when they really should be playing every game. Pennant has peppered crosses this season but a lot of them have been very poor. Gonzalez has had one start where he played well, but its too early to judge. I would actually like to see them play 4-5-1 with Sissoko holding the defence and Garcia and Pennant on either wing. I have a feeling though that if they do get the combination right, they're going to be really hard to break down and pose a threat form midfield too.
9/10

Forwards:
On current form Crouch and Kuyt should be first-choice. Somehow even after his bicycle kick goal, Benitez decides to drop Crouch for the out-of-form Bellamy. Yes I know he needs games to get back on form but surely a subsitute appearance can do him some good.Bellamy is a very pacy forward but hes not clicked at all this season. Crouch is starting to show signs of class but I still believe he isnt great, just very good and lucky lately. Kuyts looking like a good buy for them, but a lot can happen from now till May. Ah! yes I almost forgot about Fowler. I guess they did need a 4th striker after Cisse went on loan but I cannot understand why that person had to be Fowler. Surely a youth or reserve player would have been a better option. Hes looked sluggish from what I've seen and was pretty useless against Everton too.
7.5/10

[Rakim_22]

Take out Newcastle and put Everton in. Johnson is going to score 25 to 30 goals this season. Hopefully we will trade Howard and Cash for him next summer. Forget Torres.
If we weren't already so in for El Nino I'd agree with you 100%. :o