What are you talking about? Check the scores from last season. We won 10 of our last 11 league matches, losing once to Spurs away. We didn't draw any of them. If we had a fault it was not finishing Spurs off and not beating Everton earlier in the spring. But we didn't draw any towards the end of the season.
Your problem was really a dip around the middle of the season leaving you too much ground to make up at the end. Ours is that we usually lose every game in November for some reason. Ithink Barcelona suffer from the same problem?!? Last year we kept it together during that period, coming with our traditionally strong finish. They say that winning the first is the hardest one and both Arsenal and Man U have squads where most of the players have won the championship and many who have won it multiple times. I think Liverpool will find it difficult to break these two this year. Both squads are not particularly old (only Seaman and Bergkamp could be classed as 'veterans' in our squad and probably only Blanc in the United squad), so Liverpool's wholesale changes in the midfield may not bear fruit until the following year at least.
I know when our form dipped, I was responding to the previous post, hence my use of his quote. I think you will find that most of our starting midfield will be the same. In particular Gerrard and Hamann. The difference will be who plays out wide. Smicer, Berger and Murphy will have to play well to fight off the newcomers. Most of whom will be on the bench until they break into the side. So I don't think there will be much of a settling in period as you think as the core players are all still there. We just have more cover for injuries now.
Who will stop Arsenal in the EPL 2002-03? I think the title to this thread reads all wrong. It should actually read: Who will stop Arsenal in the EPL 2002-03? 1.Arsenal 2.ManU 3.Liverpool 4.Leeds 5.Newcastle
United lost the championship during that terrible spell when we ended up something like 25 points behind Liverpool... I am confident that United will get the trophy back again this season, since The Premiership started we've never gone two years without winning it...... It would be a good year for another treble......
we need a better mid We are so boring to watch. I wish we would stop buying strikers and buy some attacking mid. Since we bench our best player every game (jari), we need some attacking flare that will stay healthy all year. I hope we win, but we need some serious creative help.
I hate ManUre so much because of Fergie...but I think he finally realized (took him long enough, eh)that his defense was the reason for total failure last season, and more importantly for him and his legacy, the Champions League these past few years. However, I don't think they'll win the Champions League...(teams that host the final never make it and win it...i guess, too much pressure), but the League and FA Cup (if they ever take that seriously again) are very, very likely for their prospects this season. Liverpool, for now, is the strongest team on paper...but that doesn't count for sh!te!!! The little teams always seem to frustate them and steal a few points from them here and there throughout the season. As we've seen, those games are vital too. Arsenal fully deserved the double last season, able to go through adversity through injuries and expulsions...plus their away form was outstanding, mind you they only lost 3 games in league play. For them to mimic that again, though, would be very very difficult. I think Bergkamp gave his all last season, and he was vital for their championship run. Having Pires and Lunjberg not at 100% from the beginning of the season hurts their English prospects, but I think when they get these key players back, they can make a good run in the Champions League. Arsenal at Old Trafford come May??? Who knows.... As far as the others, ie Chelsea, Spurs, Leeds, Newcastle,etc., i think they are too busy cleaning up their closets with the mess they've been making these past years. The Big Three seems too strong now for any outsiders to cause damage, but if any fans deserve a trophy comes season end, its definately the Toon army. I'd like their team to pull a good run in the FA cup and win it (with Shearer of course injured along the way!!!!). Hah.
Money helps a great deal. It is ludicrous to ignore such an important factor. It's a matter of odds. Regarding Barcelona, I wouldn't look solely to European Cups. Are you going to say that Forest is as succesful as Manchester United? Barcelona usually finishes at or near the top of the table.
And having £30 million to do something about it helps a bit. Can everyone at least agree on that? Does it mean they will be champions this year? Of course not (and I hope not!). However, in the long run, if you can throw £30 million at any problem, it will translate into victories.
Yeah it does help, but to be fair, I think when we debate this point you first have to seperate the pretenders from the contenders: look at the clubs who because of their resources, can toss their hat into the ring and compete at the highest level. If you look it from this vantage point, there are quite a few "big clubs" who spend loads of cash, but fail. Having money is a big advantage-it's a no-brainer. But being smart is a greater advantage. There is no better example of this than Bayern Munich. Yes, they are a "big club," but look at what they spend vs the Italian, Spanish, and some EPL clubs like Manchester United or Chelsea. Not only do they spend much less, they actually make a real profit. They are always a contender/favorite to win the domestic title, and have had a very good run in Champions League. For Ballack, they paid $5 mil-compare that to what other teams in Europe pay for their top talent. Paulo Sergio at $7.5 mil is their record transfer fee-peanuts compared to the Real Madrids of the world.
Errr, no. Kevin Davies, Nathan Blake, Christian Dailly and Ashley Ward cost from £3.5m-7.5m each, and all were s__t.
The main thing about this season for liverpool and Arsenal is to stop united winning the championship. This will finally break the evil spell that has plagued the premiership for the last 11 years and bring order back to english football. It will also be the end of fergie and the current united squad will be hacked up as uniteds shares hit the crapper!
One thing that will stop Liverpool dead in its tracks is if Houllier dies or falls sick again. Remember, his cardiovascular system is not in very good shape -- he very nearly died of a burst aneurism last year. This may sound so morbid, but it is something that we have to be cognizant of.
Actually, the prognosis that followed his operation was that the affected area is, if anything, stronger now than it was prior to the problem arising. And he has a much reduced workload, so the notion that his health represents a factor in this coming season's title race is, yes, morbid. And wrong. As to the title of the thread, United are favourites and rightly so. Until Arsenal prove that they can win and win again then they have no right to be considered more likely contenders than United. Liverpool have a strong squad and we have reinforced well, but until we play with the consistent authority to match the other two, we will be the outsiders what, nonetheless, is a three-horse race from the start.
Keep in mind that Arsenal finished strong last year and do not constantly change personnel other than through the necessity that injury brings. We have the basic core players in tact and everyone is on board with the system and knows their roles within the squad. I don't believe this to be true with ManU. I actually consider Liverpool a bigger threat to Arsenal than Manchester. ManU haven't won anything with their current lineup...
because united have a realistic chance and have a huge fan base, their fore the bookies have taken lots of loyalty bets from their fans. simple isnt it. It certainly isnt because their the best team!
Strange thing that they were the favorites last year even though they completely renovated their squad and changed their whole system...
Losing 6 games at home. That was strange and there is little to no chance that will happen again any time soon. Strange that we were so bad last year (supposedly) and we were still only 1 goal away from the Champs League Final.