1. Manchester United 2. ¢he£$ki 3. Liverpool 4. Newcastle 5. Everton 6. Portsmouth 7. Arsenal 8. Blackburn Rovers 9. Tottenham 10. West Ham (pre-points deduction) 11. Reading 12. Fulham 13. Aston Villa 14. Bolton 15. Manchester City 16. Birmingham City 17. Middlesbrough 18. Wigan Athletic 19. S*nderland 20. Derby County ¢he£$ki/Liverpool final for the League Cup. I think it's Liverpool's turn to win. NUFC for the FA Cup!!! Coming up from below... Cardiff City, Charlton, West Brom Thx, Jay!
1 Man Utd 2 Chelsea 3 Liverpool 4 Arsenal 5 Tottenham 6 West Ham 7 Man City 8 Aston Villa 9 Portsmouth 10 Everton 11 Blackburn 12 Newcastle 13 Fulham 14 Middlesbrough 15 Reading 16 Birmingham 17 Sunderland 18 Bolton 19 Wigan 20 Derby
Right. Because Chelsea is the only team with money, correct? Because Man United wasn't bought out by billionare Americans, correct? Because Liverpool wasn't bought out by wealthy Americans as well, right? I hate stupid digs like this. Newcastle to finish 11th this year.
Is Hleb a kid? Senderos? Rosicky? Adebayor? Gilberto? He's saying that its not like you had a U-10 squad on the field. I don't follow how you didn't follow that.
Did you even post a prediction in this thread? No? Then take it walking Mr. Proudly-Supporting-¢he£$ki-Since-2005. Thx, Jay!
1. Man Utd 2. Chelsea 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Tottenham 6. Newcastle 7. Aston Villa 8. West Ham 9. Man City 10. Portsmouth 11. Everton 12. Blackburn 13. Middlesbrough 14. Reading 15. Bolton 16. Sunderland 17. Birmingham 18. Fulham 19. Wigan 20. Derby
1. Man Utd 2. Chelsea 3. Arsenal 4. Liverpool 5. Newcastle 6. Villa 7. Spurs 8. Everton 9. Portsmouth 10. Blackburn 11. Bolton 12. West Ham 13. Reading 14. Boro 15. Man City 16. Wigan 17. Fulham 18. Birmingham 19. Derby 20. Sunderland
1. Yids 2. Liverpool 3. Chelsea 4. Manyoo 5. Arsenal 6. Everton 7. Newcastle 8. Portsmouth 9. Bolton 10. Blackburn Rovers 11. Aston Villa 12. West Ham (with Tevez, without Tevez they'll finish 16th) 13. Reading 14. Fulham 15. Manchester City 16. Middlesbrough 17. Birmingham 18. Sunderland 19. Wigan Athletic 20. Derby County
Whatever it doesn't matter. dont call them kids if you don't want to. I was more reffering to Hoyte, Traore, Denilison, Diaby, Walcott, Djourou anyway. Arsenal >>>>>>>> Spurzzz. Thats my point. *leaves regreting ever coming to this board*
Yes of course I posted a prediction. It was that your shotty team would be finishing last. And again you sound like a sheep, claiming that I started supporting my Blues in 05. Stupid assumptions are flying everywhere!! Ahhhhhh!!!! Let me know when you win a piece of silverware... Thx, Jay!
1. Manchester United (with or without Tevez) 2. Liverpool 3. Chelsea 4. Tottenham 5. Arsenal 6. Everton 7. Newcastle 8. New England 9. Portsmouth 10. Bolton 11. Blackburn Rovers 12. Aston Villa 13. DC United 14. West Ham (with Tevez, without Tevez they'll finish 16th) 15. Reading 16. Kansas City 17. Houston 18. Fulham 19. Manchester City 20. Middlesbrough Sorry, Carlos and Clint.
Ohhhhh stop it. Stop crying. I didnt mean to sound like I was dogging you. I know what you mean about your "kids", but sometimes it sounds like Arsenal fans try to hide behind that claim. Anyway, yea I agree that Arse >>> Spores. But lets see what happens this year. It is going to be a very competitive year I think. No one is really safe, Chelsea included. I like the depth we added, but...Ehhhhhhh, I'm just a little iffy on the team. Arsenal are being slammed everywhere, and its the trend to say Spurs will finish 4th. I say - Underestimate Arsenal at your own risk. They will surprise people I think.
1. Manchester United 2. Chelsea 3. Arsenal 4. Liverpool 5. Tottenham 6. Manchester City 7. Aston Villa 8. Sunderland 9. Blackburn Rovers 10. Newcastle 11. Portsmouth 12. West Ham 13. Everton 14. Reading 15. Middlesbrough 16. Wigan Athletic 17. Bolton 18. Fulham 19. Birmingham 20. Derby County Notes: -Liverpool won't do much better in EPL but will do decent in cups and I have them winning or finals in Champions League again. -Eduardo will score 15+ goals and Arsenal will take third -Top 5 teams will be close say 15 points between rest of the clubs will be far off -Sunderland and Man City will surprise and finsish close to European Spots if not in. -Everton and Bolton are in the most trouble of last years good teams and Reading is bound to not as do well as last season. - West Ham will rebound to mid-table -Fulham will get the last relegation spot becuse almost all the new players are only Championship (Division 1) quality. -Derby might lose more then 25 games.
1. Man Utd 2. Arsenal 3. Chelsea 4. Liverpool 5. Everton 6. Tottenham 7. Aston Villa 8. Newcastle 9. Blackburn 10. Portsmouth 11. Man City 12. Bolton 13. Fulham 14. West Ham 15. Reading 16. Birmingham 17. Boro 18. Sunderland 19. Wigan 20. Derby
1. Manchester United 2. Liverpool 3. Chelsea 4. Arsenal 5. Tottenham 6. Manchester City 7. Aston Villa 8. Newcastle 9. Blackburn Rovers 10. Sunderland 11. Portsmouth 12. West Ham 13. Reading 14. Everton 15. Bolton 16. Wigan Athletic 17. Middlesbrough 18. Birmingham 19. Fulham 20. Derby County
Everton will still do well and Bolton should be ok, 6th and 8th sound reasonable. You are off your rocker if you think Sunderland will do well. They just do not have the quality or depth needed to be even top 10. I know Keane is a great guy and did well in the Championship, but he can not produce miracles. The highest I could see Sunderland finishing is 15th, though I'm thinking 17th to 19th is most likely.
One team always does well after being promoted think Gordon is one of the best keepers in the world, think Stokes will have a breakout season like Doyle had with Reading last season. Anderson also a great signing and top defender and Richardson did amazing when he played for West Brom a couple years back and expect the same with Sunderland. Plus Keane will help. Gordon - Wright, Anderson, McShane, Varga - Richardson, Miller, Kavenagh, Whitehead - Stokes Chopra (or Mido if they sign him) - not amazing but not bad either. I'm sure last season looking at Reading lineup people weren't expecting anything either and on paper i think Sunderland's is better. Like West Ham last seasson one team always fails and think both Everton and Bolton will be over burdan with European Play. Can see Bolton hurting more then Everton but if Johnson and Cahill get hurt Everton is in big trouble.
1. Manchester United 2. Chelsea 3. Liverpool 4. Tottenham Hotspur 5. Arsenal 6. Portsmouth 7. Manchester City 8. Newcastle 9. Blackburn Rovers 10. Aston Villa 11. Sunderland 12. Reading 13. Fulham 14. West Ham 15. Everton 16. Bolton Wanderers 17. Birmingham City 18. Wigan Athletic 19. Middlesbrough 20. Derby County
1. Arsenal 2. Aston Villa 3. Birmingham City 4. Blackburn Rovers 5. Bolton 6. Chelsea 7. Derby County 8. Everton 9. Fulham 10. Liverpool 11. Man City 12. Man Utd 13. Middlesborough 14. Newcastle Utd 15. Portsmouth 16. Reading 17. Sunderland 18. Tottenham 19. West Ham Utd 20. Wigan Athletic there's a long way to go yet, but thus far, i'm spot on. (11 min)
1. Chelsea 2. Arsenal 3. Man U 4. Tottenham 5. Liverpool 6. Aston Villa 7. Bolton 8. Blackburn 9. Portsmouth 10. Newcastle 11. Everton 12. West Ham 13. Man City 14. Wigan 15. Fulham 16. Boro 17. Sunderland 18. Reading 19. Derby 20. Birmingham City
To me, the issues for this season are the following for the title contenders and European hunting clubs: Does Man Yoo have luck on their side with injuries? Everything basically went perfect for them last year, and as seen when Vidic went out, their defense was a laugher against Milan in the Champions League, so I'd say they better sign some more defensive cover either now or in the Jan. transfer period. But knowing Fergie, he won't, thinking "we'll score more than you". Chelski on paper has an unbelievable squad, but they got decimated with injuries last year (and they sold Gallas and Duff...key losses IMHO). They bought intelligently over the summer (Maluda, Ben Haim, Pizarro, perhaps Alves), but are cursed again with the injury bug already! Couple the African Nations Cup taking away key players Drogba, Essien, and Mikel, and it looks like Chelsea would do better to fully concentrate on the Champions League. Liverpool had a good defense and midfield last season. It was their forward line that stunk up the place. AND their slow start to the season. Rafa is placing a huge bet on Torres, but IMHO Vronin and Babel will be the key additions for getting more goals, not only in the striking sense, but creating the goals too. I think if Liverpool gets greedy in trying to win everything, they'll lose sight of the league as their main priority. And a big if is if Rafa again goes crazy with his formations/lineups. Finally, Arsenal's young guns have got to grow up now. They will do alright without Henry, as they basically played half of last season without him. The Gunners need to stay healthy, as I don't think their team has the depth of the above three, but they will play the top teams in close matches. Its the games against lower level teams that Arsenal has to do better at. Too inconsistent last year, and they fell behind way too much. Again, that's immaturity on their part, as well as Wenger naivete to always play beautiful instead of the English rough and tumble and scoring ugly goals. They are a dark horse to me, and again, if they like Liverpool try to do "the quadruple" they won't win anything. I predict either a good cup run from them but poor league run or vice versa (poor cups, good league form). But not both. Tottenham, although a good squad, simply dont have good enough depth or defense for my likeing. I know there is talk of them overtaking Arsenal, but to me, everything has to go right for them and wrong for Arsenal in order for this to happen. Everton will have an off year, as they've been doing for the past 5 or 6 years! They have a good starting lineup, but throughout the long season, injuries and suspensions will occur. Blackburn could be a surprise, as they seem to have a bit more depth than even the above two. I'm hoping McCarthy has another great year in him, but chances are he won't be as prolific. Thus, their acquisition of Roque Santa Cruz is crucial for getting in the goals. Portsmouth seems to have bought well. And their form at home is pretty darn good. If they can improve on their away record, then Europe could definataly be on their horizon. Newcastle SHOULD be more stable in the defensive department under Big Sam, but this is Newcastle. So expect more injury crisis, ego tripping, and transfer speculation (Martins in particular...if he goes, then they are definately in the bottom half struggling). Having said that, if they can get a bit of luck, stay healthy (that's a BIG if), and have better organization at the back, then even they could be knocking on that 4th Champions League spot. BUT THAT AINT GOIN TO HAPPEN..their luck has already been snubbed with Given being injured) Mid Table Fighters Aston Villa will be typical Martin Oneil football. Not pretty, but effective. It all depends on how they start the season. And they badly need to score more goals and make draws into wins. They had the most ties last year, and thus prevented them from a Uefa cup place. Man City has all the talk lately with Sven heading the ship, but with soooo many new players without Premiership experience, its going to take some time before they gel. Plus Sven will be constantly battered by the press due to his time with England that massive amounts of over expectations will hurt the club. I actually see them struggling. Sunderland is also another club that's been getting a lot of talk up lately. And what they've done under Roy Keane has been amazing and deserved. But that matters for naught now. And Keano had me worried about his transfer buys until the recent signing of Gordon, who looks good. They will struggle, but if they can start off well, they could surprise (ie. mid table). However, i foresee injuries hurting them and thus a relegation struggle, that they should just get by. Bolton is Bolton so you know what to expect. Except that Big Sam is not there and you wonder just like Charlton when they lost Curbishly that the team won't perform as well as before. I think they have players (Nolan, Stelios, Anelka ?) that they are "too good to get the drop". But you never know. Most likely, daliances with relegation, but bottom half mediocrity their future. Without a doubt the most talked about club lately is West Ham, who honestly is lucky to still be even mentioned with the Premiership, let alone in it! But besides that, they actually on paper have a pretty decent squad being assembled. The thing with the Hammers is that even in the past when they had great players (Di Canio, Joe Cole, Lampard, Rio), they were still inconsistent and tended to entertain their fans than getting the result. I have bad vibes that the calls from refs will not go their way this season, so lower half table seems to be in the cards for them. Teams fighting the Drop I know some people are going to argue with me over this, and they probably do know better. But Reading in my book had as good as it got last year and I just can't see lightning striking twice for them. In fact, every season their has been a team that really struggles when in the prior year they surprised everyone with their end league position. Reading is my candidate for this season. And I think them losing Sidwell will hurt Reading more than people think. Wigan will definatly struggle, as will Fulham, Birmingham and Derby. These teams over the summer tranfer period have not impressed me, and it will take a massive coaching job by their respective managers to pull a miracle out of the bag. If there was ever a year where the English league should be trimmed down from 20 to 18, it would be this year, where these 4 teams would have their names clearly and appropriately sent out of the league. Unfortunately, only 3 go down, and I'm sayin only 2 of these three definately will. Why? Because finally, the team that will surprise in that its "too big a club to drop" will be M'borro. Gareth Southegate has buried the club with his managing style and decisions, and he will eventually be sacked this year. He may not be the first one canned (ie. Bruce, Sanchez, even Svennie!?!) but there is no way he'll be at M'borro this time next year. He has not done anything that's impressed me with the club. So with these issues in mind...my final table predictions..... 1) Liverpool *just be a point ahead ...18 is their lucky number. 2) Man. Utd ** didn't get that extra defender that they should have 3) Arsenal *** will be at least 10 points behind top 2, but 7pts from top 4 4) Chelski **** too many injuries and African Nations Cup. Mourinho gone 5) Spurs @ Spurs are Spurs, so they'll flatter to deceive in being Top 4 6) Pompey @@ Will be the biggest surprise team and Uefa cup place 7) Aston Villa 8) Blackburn 9) Everton 10) Newcastle 11) Bolton 12) Man. City 13) West Ham 14) Sunderland 15) Reading 16) Wigan --All these teams down should be relegated, but only 3..oh well! 17) Birminham 18) M'borro 19) Fulham 20) Derby
1. Manchester United 2. Liverpool FA Cup and Champions League 3. Chelsea League Cup 4. Portsmouth 5. Arsenal 6. Tottenham 7. Aston Villa 8. Everton 9. Blackburn 10. Newcastle 11. West Ham 12. Reading 13. Bolton 14. Manchester City 15. Sunderland 16. Fulham 17. Middlesbrough ------------------- 18. Birmingham City 19. Wigan 20. Derby Promoted Wolves West Brom Preston
You realise I shoved City at the bottom because once I had picked where all other teams would go I was left with the one I didn't care about? You cannot argue with the fact that City have been relegated more times than Liverpool have won the league since the Premier League began, which means they have more of a chance of doing it again. Fact.