They should be a contender

[growler]

Mancs

 

Looking ominous. Good blend of age and youth. Enough hunger from new signings to succeed. Some bedding in and may miss old dogs but the excuses of aging players and lack of money becoming less an issue.

 

Chelsea

 

New manager comes with big rep. Real challenge will be when things get tough. No signings yet but bound to happen. Torres won't be as bad as last season either.

 

Arsenal

 

Look in turmoil but are always there. Losing cesc will be a blow as will not getting a fee for nasri next season. Luckily wenger is investing in attack rather than where they need it. Unless they get a centre back and dm I think they are catchable.

 

Man city

 

Who knows? Aguero is a quality player who I would've gone all out for when we sold Torres. But so many players and first season in cl will tell. Ffp means not splashing the cash

 

Personally I reckon the mancs have set a benchmark and the rest of us areplaying for 2nd

[Sion]

Mancs

 

Looking ominous. Good blend of age and youth. Enough hunger from new signings to succeed. Some bedding in and may miss old dogs but the excuses of aging players and lack of money becoming less an issue.

 

Chelsea

 

New manager comes with big rep. Real challenge will be when things get tough. No signings yet but bound to happen. Torres won't be as bad as last season either.

 

Arsenal

 

Look in turmoil but are always there. Losing cesc will be a blow as will not getting a fee for nasri next season. Luckily wenger is investing in attack rather than where they need it. Unless they get a centre back and dm I think they are catchable.

 

Man city

 

Who knows? Aguero is a quality player who I would've gone all out for when we sold Torres. But so many players and first season in cl will tell. Ffp means not splashing the cash

 

Personally I reckon the mancs have set a benchmark and the rest of us areplaying for 2nd

 

We should give them the title now

[Maldini]

The Mancs were the worst champions in living memory last season. They're beatable.

[schmuckdonald]

They aren't necessarily stronger than last year, apart from at CB. And last year was an anomaly, any other year and they wouldnt have won it.

[Conrad]

The Mancs were the worst champions in living memory last season. They're beatable.

 

Yes, they are beatable, but they have made some good signings and will be the team to beat. I expect them to finish first

[lfc003]

The Mancs were the worst champions in living memory last season. They're beatable.

 

They're mentality twice as strong as their nearest rivals though and have a stupidly strong record at home. My head says they'll walk it this season, My heart see's Kenny leading us to battle with them till the end of the season.

[Hassony]

Yes, they are beatable, but they have made some good signings and will be the team to beat. I expect them to finish first

 

If someone offers chelsea, arsenal or us a final position 1 point ahead of united in the table we would all take it

 

3 cl finals in the last 4 seasons suggest that they may be not as bad as people often claim here

[Maldini]

I think we'll be right there. The Chelsea thing is fascinating though, I'm really interested to see how Villa-Boas gets on there. They were the best team in the league last year (post-Wilkins anomaly aside) but they're a year older and need 2 or 3 quality players to make up for aging legs and the loss of Essien.

[muleskinner]

I think we'll be right there. The Chelsea thing is fascinating though, I'm really interested to see how Villa-Boas gets on there. They were the best team in the league last year (post-Wilkins anomaly aside) but they're a year older and need 2 or 3 quality players to make up for aging legs and the loss of Essien.

I think too much is made of the Wilkins thing, they are highly paid professionals but they just sulked like moody teenagers for months. Even us under Woy beat them.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

They'll be a better team than they were last season.

 

Crucially though they've lost their keeper. The guy they've signed is supposed to be good, but it's a critical position & it's not as straightforward as that.

 

Scholes & Hargreaves aren't much of a loss

 

Ferdinand will play half a season but I think they have strength in defence. They'll be top 2 or 3

[Maldini]

I think too much is made of the Wilkins thing, they are highly paid professionals but they just sulked like moody teenagers for months. Even us under Woy beat them.

 

Nah, we've seen with our own situation in the last few years that it doesn't take much to throw footballers off kilter, the Wilkins thing had a definite effect. Take out that 10 game period after it and their record either side of it was fantastic.

 

They'll be a better team than they were last season.

 

Crucially though they've lost their keeper. The guy they've signed is supposed to be good, but it's a critical position & it's not as straightforward as that.

 

Scholes & Hargreaves aren't much of a loss

 

Ferdinand will play half a season but I think they have strength in defence. They'll be top 2 or 3

 

Scholes' legs had gone at the end of the season but he's still a big loss for them, especially since they don't know what's wrong with Fletcher. He's had a weird virus for about 6 months and isn't close to getting back apparently. Wouldn't be surprised if it's something like Babbel's condition.

[Sion]

Have they actually improved? The squad maybe, but that was never a real problem for them. They'd win games with s*** teams.

 

De Gea unlikely to be as good as, let alone better than, VDS

Jones won't play that much, but even if he does his top level won't be better than Ferdinand or Vidic have been the past few years

Young likely to be as good as, rather than better than, Valencia or Nani.

If they signed some battlers for the middle i'd be worried. As it is I still fancy Lucas' chances of dicking them again.

[Maldini]

I can see Jones playing more games in midfield this season than at the back.

[muleskinner]

Nah, we've seen with our own situation in the last few years that it doesn't take much to throw footballers off kilter, the Wilkins thing had a definite effect. Take out that 10 game period after it and their record either side of it was fantastic.

 

 

 

Scholes' legs had gone at the end of the season but he's still a big loss for them, especially since they don't know what's wrong with Fletcher. He's had a weird virus for about 6 months and isn't close to getting back apparently. Wouldn't be surprised if it's something like Babbel's condition.

 

10 games, or over a quarter of the season. It was pretty shameful stuff on their part IMO.

[Maldini]

10 games, or over a quarter of the season. It was pretty shameful stuff on their part IMO.

 

Yeah but footballers are cowards, they'll use any excuse to slack off.