Football 2009-10

[Jonno]

It's August so it's time to start our new season thread - scary to think this will take us into a new decade!

The new season's almost here (in fact European competiton qualifiers are underway already) and terrestrial viewers will get some significant Championship coverage on the Beeb - starting with Newcastle and West Brom live on BBC1 after Final Score next Saturday.

[Paul Clement]

I shall endeavour to do my write up of the teams in the Premiership again.

[duncan]

Oh Goody. And I can tell you what life is like way down here in League 1.

We'll be back, yes, one day we'll be back!

[Captain Tancredi]

Oh Goody. And I can tell you what life is like way down here in League 1.

We'll be back, yes, one day we'll be back!

We've been saying that for the last eight years or so- it's bound to become true eventually. The trouble with League 1 is that you have to be able to play against the talentless yard dogs from League 2 as well as the Championship material.

While I'd like to think that John Barnes will work an instant miracle, I doubt this will be Tranmere's year somehow- half the squad seemed to go once Ronnie Moore was sacked (including Mark Allott, who was only on our books for about eight weeks and never played a competitive game), and what we have left is really quite thin. What may save us is that as a well-run club, we're unlikely to find ourselves going into administration and getting a points deduction- Southampton are already starting on -10, and if a couple more teams pick up deductions over the course of the season, it could mean that the relegation places sort themselves out.

[Paul Clement]

My predictions for the coming season:

Premiership:
1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Man City
5. Arsenal
6. Everton
7. Aston Villa
8. Tottenham
9. Fulham
10. West Ham
11. Blackburn
12. Wigan
13. Sunderland
14. Bolton
15. Stoke
16. Wolves
17. Portsmouth
18. Birmingham
19. Burnley
20. Hull


FA Cup:
Chelsea

League Cup:
Chelsea

Champions League:
Barcelona

[Paul Clement]

Man Utd:

The loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is going to have an impact on Man Utd this season, but I don't believe it will stop them winning the Premiership this season. I think things will be a great deal closer, but none of their major rivals has improved enough in the close season to overturn their bid to win the Premiership for the fourth consecutive occasion.

This looks likely to be the swansong year for Van Der Sar, but it's quite probable that he will lose his number one slot to Ben Foster before the season has ended. The youngster has pushed his way into the England squad, despite the fact he has had to play second fiddle to the Dutchman for most of his time at the club, but he is now emerging as the more capable keeper the club has. In front of him, the defence is as solid as ever, with Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra being complimented by either the experience of Neville or the freshness of Rafael. It's a testament to their defensive options, that Wes Brown, a seasoned England international, cannot even consider himself second choice as right back now. With the emergence of Jonny Evans and the continued availability of John O'Shea, the side doesn't look much weaker in defence when injuries do finally hit.

From midfield through to attack, there is likely to be a big change in the system that Man Utd play this season. The attacking formation in the last few seasons was skillfully adapted by Ferguson to revolve around Ronaldo, a player that could win a game for him by being difficult to pin down. A player that relished having the freedom of the pitch to play within. Because of this, Rooney was often pushed into a role that was not particularly suited to him, and his own game suffered as a result. With Ronaldo's departure, and the arrival of Antonio Valencia, I would expect to see United revert to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation with Valencia having much less freedom to roam the pitch, staying in a more orthordox right wing role. On paper, the midfield looks weaker than it has for some time, with either Carrick or the often injured Hargreaves playing as the lynchpin of the midfield. Around them you have Park, Fletcher, Valencia, Anderson, Gibson and Nani available, as well as the ageing stars Giggs and Scholes. I would expect the latter two to be played less frequently this season, coming in against the weaker Premiership sides and in the cup matches. This will allow the two players to remain fresh for times when there craft and guile are truly needed.

Up front, Rooney and Berbatov will be the expected starting duo, with new recruit Michael Owen and youngsters Wellbeck and Macheda providing support. Ferguson has taken a gamble with Owen, especially when considering the vast amount of money he had available to him from Ronaldo's transfer. Bringing in the injury prone attacker on a free transfer could end up a mistake, but if he can get his fitness back, Ferguson is relying on the Owen to re-launch his career at a club where chances are going to be in a far greater abundance than he ever had at Newcastle.

I see Man Utd retaining their title this season, but with a smaller margin than last season, perhaps even to the extent that it could be one on the closing day of the season.

[Paul Clement]

Chelsea:

It could be said that Chelsea's golden years have already come and gone. When Abramovich first took over the club, he installed Mourinho as manager and launched a spending spree that was unprecedented in English football at the time. Now, a number of Premiership clubs have got their own money machine, all with the goal of reaching the Champions League. Chelsea went one step further and took the Premiership crown, but this wasn't enough for Abramovich, and since the axe fell on Mourinho, a number of manager have tried and failed to live up to the owners expectations, silverware and exciting football. None of these managers had anywhere near the financial outlay available to them that Mourinho did, and Ancelotti also appears to be operating within a budget determined by closed purse strings, with the club having only made a couple signing bringing in youngsters with potential and only one player brought in that will immediately challenge for a first team place.

The Chelsea defence is starting to show signs of weakness. When they were winning the Premiership, Chelsea were almost impossible to break down, but now the years seem to be taking their toll. John Terry, according to some reports, hasn't got the legs to perform week in, week out any more, and his performances last season had far more mistakes in them than we had come to expect. Alongside him in the heart of the defence is Alex, a player whoi isn't yet the finished article, and who appears to have one of those personalities that can cause conflict within a club. Carvalho looks to be on his way from the club, with the inability of Inter reaching an agreement over his and Deco's price being the only reason he is still at the club. A worrying concern considering that he is the only central defender who looks like an adequate replacement for the first choice pairing should the club suffer any injuries. Ashley Cole has little competition at left back, while Bosingwa looks to have cemented his place as first choice right back. Bosingwa himself looks far more confident when attacking the other team rather than in his defensive capacity. Beyond the main four, the likes of Mancienne, Belletti, Ferreira and Ivanovic don't convince as suitable back ups for a club with an eye on the title.

The midfield has been strengthened by a return to fitness of Essien, a player who was sorely missed at the start of the previous season. Mikel will be the obvious back up to Essien should he suffer any further injuries, and although adequte, Mikel hasn't produced the sort of football that made Chelsea so keen to sign him. New signing Zhirkov will be looking for a spot on the right of midfield, and he can, if needed, also play in Bosingwa's position at right back. The remainder of the midfield will come from Lampard, Ballack, Malouda and Joe Cole, with Deco avaialble if required but now very much out of favour. The trouble with the midfield is that age is starting to creep up on them. Ballack, Lampard and Deco are all in their thirties, and the club don't seem to be doing anything to bring in a fresh look to this part of the team.

Drobga and Anelka will continue to be the mainstays of the Chelsea attack, and the fact that Drogba has recently signed a new contract implies that he is finally happy at the club again. Kalou and Sturridge will offer support in cameo roles, but the club will really need to rely on the goals of the main two, plus Lampard to push for the title.

I see Chelsea pushing Man Utd a bit more this season, but really the club needs an overhaul. Too many ageing players need to be released and the owner needs to put his hand in his pocket again to get the right replacements if Chelsea want to win the league again.

[Pip Madeley]

The loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is going to have an impact on Man Utd this season, but I don't believe it will stop them winning the Premiership this season. I think things will be a great deal closer, but none of their major rivals has improved enough in the close season to overturn their bid to win the Premiership for the fourth consecutive occasion.

I agree.

This looks likely to be the swansong year for Van Der Sar, but it's quite probable that he will lose his number one slot to Ben Foster before the season has ended. The youngster has pushed his way into the England squad, despite the fact he has had to play second fiddle to the Dutchman for most of his time at the club, but he is now emerging as the more capable keeper the club has.

Considering Van Der Sar is out for two months I would say Foster is going to see some real action this season - he's on my fantasy footy team.

Ferguson has taken a gamble with Owen, especially when considering the vast amount of money he had available to him from Ronaldo's transfer. Bringing in the injury prone attacker on a free transfer could end up a mistake, but if he can get his fitness back, Ferguson is relying on the Owen to re-launch his career at a club where chances are going to be in a far greater abundance than he ever had at Newcastle.

Owen's been in great form pre-season, I'm sure it has definitely boosted his confidence and I can see him picking up a few goals.

[Larry]

My predictions for the coming season:

Premiership:
1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Man City
5. Arsenal
6. Everton
7. Aston Villa
8. Tottenham
9. Fulham
10. West Ham
11. Blackburn
12. Wigan
13. Sunderland
14. Bolton
15. Stoke
16. Wolves
17. Portsmouth
18. Birmingham
19. Burnley
20. Hull

i'd pretty much agree with those for the most although personaly I think either Liverpool or Chelsea will win the title and my three teams to be relegated are Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley.

As for the champions league history is certainly against Barcalona in the last 30 years only Nottm Forest in 1979 and 1980 and Ac Milan in 1989 and 1990 have successfully retained the cup.

[Pip Madeley]

Celtic pulled it out of the bag tonight didn't they...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...pe/8178985.stm

Love the Scottish commentary, sounds a bit like Martin Penny... must be me.

[duncan]

Fantastic! For the 4th year in a row, Charlton are dumped out the League Cup by lower league opposition.

I'll give Parkinson another 6 games at the most. Useless twat!

[Paul Clement]

Gills have beaten Championship Plymouth 2-1 with another goal by Simeon Jackson (four goals in two games) and one from Andy Barcham. Role on the next round.

[Paul Clement]

Duncan, Parkinson seems intent on holding on to Chris Dickson and has said he would only left him go to the Gills in exchange for Simeon Jackson. Now, he is obviously certifiably insane as Jackson is at least a £1million rated striker while Dickson should be about 250K at most. Has Dickson got into the squad in the two games so far? Perhaps if Parko goes soon, we might get Dickson after all.

[duncan]

Dicko hasn't started so far and was an unused sub against Wycombe at the Valley last weekend. he didn't make the squad at Hereford. The problem is that even though he isn't rated at the club we are thin on the ground for strikers this year. But I don't see why Parky won't release him and bring in someone else.

Oh, and Parky IS certifiably insane.

[duncan]

100% record with a great away win for us today. Let's hope this good start continues.

[Paul Clement]

The Gills lost in one sounds like a good game against Tranmere. The final score was 4-2, but The Gills came from behind twice in the game, with Tranmere's final goal coming in the 90th minute as Gillingham pushed for a third equaliser.

[Captain Tancredi]

When we scored in the fifth minute, I had visions of it ending up like the meeting a couple of years ago when we threw away a 2-0 lead (including Chris Shuker scoring direct from a corner). Last week's defeat at Yeovil had a lot of people worried, but it looks as if we have a few goalscoring options and should be tighter at the back once our first choice central defenders are match fit and available.

[Larry]

good start to the season for West Ham, a solid and proffesional performance in what could of been a very tricky game away to Wolves.

[Pip Madeley]

A blip.

[Paul Clement]

Probably, almost most definitely.

However, Man Utd do look a little devoid of creativity when I watch them play now. Ronaldo has been a much bigger loss for them than Ferguson will ever admit. Apart from his goals, there was also his general link up play, and the fact he was absolutely phenomenal at pulling off a tight, defence splitting pass. The only players left who can do that is Rooney, and he's generally too far up field to do this, or if he drops off, the intended recipient is gone, and Scholes can do it, but not to the same degree as what they've lost.

[Captain Tancredi]

The thought that occurred to me was that last season with Ronaldo and Tevez, United turned around a lot of games which were drifting away into 0-0 draws or 1-0 defeats. Even with all the money in the world to spend, any team would struggle to find another player to cover everything Ronaldo did for United, and combined with Tevez's ability to just plug away relentlessly, it's a lot to lose all at once.

[Dave Tudor]

Much better result last night for Everton in the Europa League last night (with Joleon Lescott watching from the stands, rather than the pitch), and it looks like Louis Saha's goals are going to be pretty vital this season - let's hope he can stay fit and keep up this form. Also looking like Jack Rodwell is shaping up to be a great young player.

Now for Sunday, and Burnley...

[Larry]

very dissapointed with yesterdays game as our recent awful record against Spurs continues and yet again Harry, remains unbeaten against West Ham since he was sacked. was out for most of yesterday so I didn't see the game but it dose seem Spurs were rather lucky to win as both their goals were gifted to them by a couple of pieces of bad defending.

[Pip Madeley]

Probably, almost most definitely.

Indeed.

[duncan]

We are top of the league say we are top of the league!