Chelsea look a quality side, probably judge them in European competition than the League because it is fairly weak with only City having much chance of a serious challenge. I fully expect them to reach the semis in the Champions league, minimum.
It would have been nice to have a strong Arsenal or Manchester United too but you can only beat what is put in front of you.
I do expect Chelsea dominance in the league, but only for this season. United will rebuild f...
I do think once he is fully fit in a couple weeks he'll start scoring. Van Persie is so off form and looking uninterested as soon as Falcao is fit he is gonna get plenty of games.
Presently, probably none. Barcelona would probably want in excess of £100m transfer fee and Messi would want at least £350k a week.
It would pretty much end any club's chances of meeting FFP. If PSG and City were already warned about it then who else could afford it?
If he wanted to leave Spain it probably rules out Madrid and several other reasons too, unlikely Bayern or Manchester United could afford it unless they sold off a couple of high profile sta...
United's back line for most of the game was Young, a left midfielder just back from injury at left back, Smalling, two youth team centre backs with just a dozen senior apps between them and Valencia, a right winger who occasionally in times of dire need plays right back.
Yet Arsenal took until 5 minutes into 8 minutes of injury time to score against THAT defence when nobody can understand why there was more than about 3 minutes extra anyway.
Not to mentio...
What he has is a raft of injuries and they are concentrated in defence. He needs to just get a settled defence, then United will make progress.
Nobody can really afford to outlay such a huge transfer fee without falling foul of FFP. Not even Real Madrid.
This is the problem, unless he ran down his contract he is just too expensive to buy.
He's a great goalkeeper and attackers always get favoured but Messi and Ronaldo will go down as two of the all time great players. Like ALL time greats, probably top 5 players in the history of the game- their stats back that up. I do believe we'll talk about them later alongside Maradona and Pele.
Ronaldo for example has a better goals/game ratio over his near 300 odd apps for the club than ANYONE to play more than a few games for Real Madrid ever, which is something...
Poor performance, good result. The other games have been better performances with worse results.
In those other games I felt United need the performances to take some confidence against the better sides. In this one United just needed 3 points against Palace no matter how it came, because without the 3 points against a relegation candidate it would have been a confidence blow.
Now the international break may have come at a good time again, United might be abl...
Three losses in 7 days for Liverpool. If it wasn't obvious before it is now their title race is run and the focus will just be on retaining a top 4 position.
I seriously doubt they are capable of it, there is so much to repair and Rodgers doesn't appear to know where to start. He has had 2 and half years at it after all. It's a serious regression under his watch, no longer can he claim the team has been moving forward. It looks no better off now than when he joine...
Yea he really held United back the past ten years didn't he....
Van Gaal is probably talking more about being European Champions than anything else, the guy aims high.
Give him a world class centre back and a while to grow some of the younger players and they will challenge again in 12 months.
3-0 up at home. Too complacent and terrible defending ending 3-3. Awful. Could have sewn it up easily tonight. Mitrovic is massive future talent btw so good to see him play
Liverpool did alright. I mean they didn't lay a glove on Madrid and were obviously outclassed but at least it wasn't a battering on the score sheet. Madrid safely through they look strong and will go a long way.
Qualification still in Liverpool's hands but it's not gonna be easy, must beat Ludogorets and then do the same to Basel. Easier said than done, they are not a pushover if they are in the mood.
LvG had a great deal more to fix than when Moyes came in and the fans recognise that. For example, the entire experienced defence Moyes had has cleared out, Evra, Ferdinand and Vidic. That only added to the list of problems LvG had to address that Moyes's side suffered, which was no cutting edge. This eventually spiralled into a total lack of effort and fight, and dismal displays against every top 8 club.
You can only fix so much in one transfer window. This was always a ...
Smalling was basically retarded. United genuinely looked like they were well in the game and could get something before that just like the week before.
City deserved it after on reflection of the reffing decisions but I don't think it's a massive blow to United when they look back at it. It was a performance with fight and spirit in the second half of a nature that was totally and utterly devoid under Moyes. 10 men gave 11 of City at home a 25 minute frightener.
Squad depth is better, first team worse. Go figure.
Balotelli is already having the same effect at Liverpool. He looks very static and Liverpool's attack is far less fluid with him in it.
One season wonders. Normality is being restored on planet football gradually.
He's amazing, he's the best etc but he's also 30 in February.
As much as United fans would like to see him back in the red shirt, United should not spend a fortune to get him back now.
He chose to go to Madrid for his best years of his career, 24-30, so paying over the top for someone who has maybe only a couple years left at his very explosive best would not be a wise move, United legend or not.
Fact is Alonso and Di Maria were extremely critical to Madrid's success last season.
But no, the board ripped out the heart of the midfield, and dropped in Rodriguez and Kroos as if they will instantly click and replace them.
While both quality replacements, it's just not always that easy to get the same chemistry quickly. Eventually maybe, but by then, it could be too late for this season.
You're also not really genuine title contenders. You have played very well, but still haven't actually faced Arsenal, United or City yet- the contenders for the top 4 with you.
Look at the table after at least those 3 next games and it'll probably be a slightly more realistic perspective.