Manchester CityLast Season: 14th
Heard the one about the deposed Thai Prime Minister and the Swedish ex-England boss with a penchant for blonde weather girls? If you’re a Manchester City fan you have.
You’d have thought that giving Sven a wad of cash and asking him to go and splash it around Europe would have the continent’s secretaries shaking with fear, but to Eriksson’s credit he has spent much of it on footballers, seemingly signing anyone and everyone over the past few days.
Italian hotshot Rolando Bianchi, Bulgarian Martin Petrov and Brazilian international Elano are just three of the many new faces through the revolving door at Eastlands, and it is difficult to predict just what will happen until we’ve seen just how they all click.
Of those already at the club, Swedish international goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson is likely to find the approval of his compatriot, while Richard Dunne and Micah Richards can also count their positions safe.
It was City’s failings in front of goal that cost Stuart Pearce his job. In one of last season’s often repeated statistics, they only scored 10 goals at home all season. The likes of Bernardo Corradi, Giorgios Samaras, Darius Vassell and Paul Dickov simply didn’t cut it. All need to improve if they are to make it into Eriksson’s first eleven when the season starts, if they’re still at the club at all.
The cameras will be trained on Sven in his first season in the Premiership, more out of morbid curiosity than anything. He and his players will need to learn to live with that if they are to succeed.
It may take a few months for all the new signings to gel, but they will. It will probably be too late to challenge for Europe but they’ll be comfortably mid-table.
Key Man: Micah Richards. The heartbeat of the club amid all of the changes, Richards could be used in the centre of midfield by his new boss.
One to Watch: Elano. The current Brazilian international was a key player in his country’s Copa America win and could be a big hit at City.
This Season: Sven wants European football, but he’ll have to wait a little longer.
Manchester United Last Season: Champions
Apparently Manchester United are trying to sign Carlos Tevez.
Well that snuck up on us didn’t it? There’s been nothing about it in the papers and it’s not as if Sky Sports News are banging on about it 24 hours a day, but apparently it’s true.
If and when the champions complete the move (and if we all haven’t lost the will to live by then) Sir Alex will be in possession of a huge array of attacking talent. With the additions of youngsters Nani and Anderson, and the solidity provided by Owen Hargreaves, the squad is undoubtedly stronger than last year’s title winners.
But Ferguson is desperate to win the Champions League one more time, he saw how his team failed desperately against Milan last year, so could he forsake the Premiership in order to achieve the dream this time?
While United were fully deserving of their success last season; they played the best and most exciting football, they would be the first to admit that they benefited from a little luck. Their over-reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney would have been exposed had either suffered the same serious injuries that befell Petr Cech and John Terry.
Deep down Ferguson knows this, and admits that he’s brought Nani to the club a year early. With that in mind, the young Portuguese is likely to feature mainly from the bench in his first year, while Anderson will probably have to be more patient.
Picking Hargreaves and Michael Carrick, impressive in his first campaign, in the same midfield surely sends out a negative message. Paul Scholes was excellent from a deeper lying position last term, so where does he fit in?
Questions questions. Fergie has a lot to think about. Whoever he chooses, United will be the team to beat again.
Key Man: Cristiano Ronaldo. Probably the best player in the world last season. If he plays well, United play well.
One to Watch: Owen Hargreaves. Will be asked to do the dirty work for United’s flying forwards.
This Season: Finish above them, and you’ve probably won the league.
No comments:
Post a Comment