Premier League 2009/10

[The Bossman]

It's now only a few weeks away from the start of the new season. Who are your tips for winning the title, and relegation? Mine are below:

Title:

1st. Chelsea. The new manager could work wonders, but will have to prove himself. Phil Scolari didn't last long, despite having won a World Cup.

2nd. Liverpool. If they can turn the draws against sides like Hull and Blackburn into wins, they can definitely win the title.

3rd. Manchester United. A season of transition. The squad isn't strong enough at the moment. Another striker is needed, and maybe another midfielder.

4th. Manchester City. After the signings of Tevez, Adebayor, Barry, etc, it could be a memorable season for Man City. Could even have a chance of winning the title.

Relegation:

18th. Sunderland. They only just survived last year, but only because Newcastle didn't win. I don't think they'll be as lucky this time.

19th. Hull City. They started last season superbly, but then dropped like a stone. I think they'll be even worse this season.

20th. Burnley. The odds are completely against Burnley to stay up. Although they have made signings, I think they were lucky to be promoted. Could do a 'Derby County'.

I figured a new topic for the new season would work, rather than posting all this in the soccer thread. Hopefully it'll get more attention this way.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Bateman.

[Red_91]

Not being too critical but surely Man City need a place in the Title vote, they are surely contenders with all the money they have spend, they have just spent £25 mil on Emmanuel Adebayour.

Anyway its too early to predict who is going to get relegated or win the title, I'll make my votes on Sep. 1st when the transfer window is closed.

[Ivan]

Not being too critical but surely Man City need a place in the Title vote, they are surely contenders with all the money they have spend, they have just spent £25 mil on Emmanuel Adebayour.

Anyway its too early to predict who is going to get relegated or win the title, I'll make my votes on Sep. 1st when the transfer window is closed.

What?

Sure, Man City has a lot of money and spends it with some quality players but they still don't play half of what teams like Liverpool and Chelsea do.

To me, Chelsea and Liverpool are the strongest contenders.

[Red_91]

Man City have bought new players, we have not seen them play together yet, but if they hit the ground running then they could well be title challengers and I hope they do challenge makes a change form the usual 4 that are always up there.

Anyway theres an 'Other' option, might not have seen that before.

[The Bossman]

Yeah, well I put other, to include Man City. Genuine title contenders? I don't think so. Just put other, and say Man City. BTW, I didn't realise Man U already have 6 strikers - Owen, Rooney, Berbatov, Welbeck, Macheda, and a new guy called Diouf. Not the Diouf from Blackburn, the one who spits at the crowd. This is a different Diouf.

'Man City not a threat', from Fergie - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...utd/8160068.stm

And, latest transfers, which is updated every day - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8125943.stm

[MishoM]

I say Man. Utd. will win once again. They still have plenty of talent-- definitely enough to win the Premier League. They still have the best defense in the world (IMO), midfield isn't bad with the likes of Valencia, Nani, Carrick, Tosic, Park, and all the others. And they have great forwards as well in Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Macheda (although he won't be playing a ton), and more.

They have enough to retain the title once more, and go very far in Europe if not win. Just because they lost Ronaldo and Tevez doesn't mean they've become shit.

Anyways, I predict Manchester United winning, Chelsea in second, Liverpool third, and then Man. City or Arsenal in fourth/fifth. Don't want to judge Manchester City just yet as they have a bunch of talent but I mean, it'll be interesting to see what they do considering how a lot of their new talent are just forwards.

Remember this is what I think will happen at the moment as a lot will change during the transfer period. Would be very interesting/different if Chelsea gain Ibrahimovic or Man. City get Terry since they've been chasing after him for quite a while now.

[Red_91]

If Man City get John Terry then they big four should definetly be worried. For me Man Utd have not gone absolutely crap but have been seriously weakened, I just dont see where the goals are going to come from, in midfiled I mean , its very difficult to replace a midfielder who scored 25+ goals a season. Owen is too injury prone and plus no ones ever won the premiership 4 times in a row so I am not so confident that United will do it this year, I reckon it could be Chelsea.

[The Bossman]

Although I'm optimistic about Utd, and they haven't played that badly against the Malaysia 11 each time, I think Chelsea can show their dominance again, as they did when they won back to back Premierships. The side is there, but when they lose confidence, like with Scolari, they lost their way. If Hiddink stayed at Chelsea for another year, they would have definitely won the title.

I hope Gerrard has to do jail time for the assault in a bar a while back, because Liverpool struggle without him. Fingers crossed.

[Ivan]

Although I'm optimistic about Utd, and they haven't played that badly against the Malaysia 11 each time, I think Chelsea can show their dominance again, as they did when they won back to back Premierships. The side is there, but when they lose confidence, like with Scolari, they lost their way. If Hiddink stayed at Chelsea for another year, they would have definitely won the title.

I hope Gerrard has to do jail time for the assault in a bar a while back, because Liverpool struggle without him. Fingers crossed.

Totally agree with you there, Hiddink's an awesome coach and did wonders to Chelsea.

Oh, and lol at Gerrard...

[MishoM]

You have to remember it was an out-of-form Man. Utd., and even if they could have crushed them, they wouldn't have simply because that's fucking stupid. It's a friendly, I don't think the Malaysian people want to see their favorite team (Man. Utd.) crush their country's top 11 players.

Its going to be a great season.

[The Bossman]

I don't know why Adebayor and Tevez joined City. OK, they're an attractive proposition now with the money, and they're building something, but they have way too many strikers. I should think Tevez or Adebayor, and Santa Cruz will be on the bench every week. Front pair could be Robinho and Tevez or Adebayor. The other strikers won't like being on the bench all the time..

[MishoM]

I don't know why Adebayor and Tevez joined City. OK, they're an attractive proposition now with the money, and they're building something, but they have way too many strikers. I should think Tevez or Adebayor, and Santa Cruz will be on the bench every week. Front pair could be Robinho and Tevez or Adebayor. The other strikers won't like being on the bench all the time..

Exactly what I think. I do think that Tevez will receive more time than Adebayor and Santa Cruz, though. Either way, they won't get very far with a bunch of forwards. Need a quality midfield and defense. I heard they'll be going after Vidic, but there's no way he'd leave United for City. They'll end up behind Arsenal if they don't fix that.

What's everyone think of Owen getting the number seven shirt at Manchester Utd? Personally, I would have given it to one of the young guys, Macheda, Ljajic, etc.

Anyone going to watch Man. Utd. vs Seoul tomorrow? I'm going to try and catch some of it after the U19 Euro, hope to see some more of Tosic. Would really like to see him take a couple free kicks, he's brilliant with dead balls.

[The Bossman]

I heard those stupid Vidic rumours as well. He's said he's going nowhere, and so has his agent. I think the front pair will rotate slightly. Either Tevez and Robinho, or Adebayor and Robinho. Santa Cruz could be an impact sub. Tevez has had enough of that for now. As for Owen, and the FC Seoul game, firstly I think Macheda should have got it. He's an exciting player for this season, but he'll be an impact sub again, I believe. Either him, or Welbeck or another young player. And the game, I watched the last 10 minutes live online. No goals were scored, but it finished 3-2 to United. Berbatov, Rooney and Macheda scored the goals, and 1 guy scored twice for the other side. It went 1-0 Seoul, 1-1, 2-1 Seoul, 2-2, 3-2 Utd.

Edited July 25, 2009 by Bateman.

[Red_91]

@ Mishom

Giving the number 7 shirt to the young people can work against them because theirs that enormous pressure to fill Ronaldo's shoes whereas Owen doesn't have too much to prove to be hones

@Bateman

To be honest I would definetly move the Man City with the players they are buying and the wages they are offering, its ridiculous amount of money but still it would be worth it. Anyway I reckon Man City will have a front 6 looking liek this -

Robinho---Barry---Ireland---Left Winger--

----------------Tevez-------------------------

-----------------Adebayour------------------

[Scott.]

Same old Prem season. ManUre will win once again, Scousers second followed by Chelski and Arsenal/Man City, can't decide which. I decided the teams that will be relegated will be Burnley (No where near a decent Prem side), Wolves (They have been there before, but I don't think they will cut it this season) and Hull, who will still be in free fall after last season.

Championship - West Brom, Ipswich (Hate to say it, but with Roy Keane as manager, they will do good), Middlesbrough.

- Scunthorpe, Plymouth and Barnsley to be relegated.

League 1 - Leeds, Norwich and Charlton will go up.

[The Bossman]

Well? What do you make of the Premier League results so far this year? There have already been a few big shocks - Burnley beating Manchester United, Arsenal thrashing Everton 6-1 and having a good start to the season, Tottenham starting well with Defoe in great goalscoring form, etc. You can see todays PL results below:

Burnley 1-0 Everton R

Fulham 0-2 Chelsea R

West Ham 1-2 Tottenham R

Check out more results here -> http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/

[The Bossman]

Still no new replies? Anyway, thought I'd post my predictions for this weeks Premier League, to see how I do:

Blackburn 1 Wolves 0

Liverpool 3 Burnley 0

Man City 1 Arsenal 2

Portsmouth 0 Bolton 0

Stoke 0 Chelsea 2

Sunderland 2 Hull City 1

Wigan 1 Wrst Ham 2

Tottenham 0 Man Utd 2

Birmingham 1 Aston Villa 1

Fulham 2 Everton 1

These aren't results, they're my predictions.

[MishoM]

Did you see Tottenham get beat 1-3 to a 10 man Man Utd.? My God what a massive fuck up. I mean sure it was 1-2 at the time they went down to ten men, but still no excuses after such a great start.

Also lol Man City 4 - 2 Arsenal.

[The Bossman]

I laughed at the recent Man U Man City derby, which finished 4-3 to United. Mark Hughes was complaining that the goal was scored way into time that shouldn't have been added on. Well, actually, he's wrong. Add up all the figures, and the goal from Owen came 1 second after the final whistle should have been blown, not 2 minutes or more, as Hughes said. Still, it's shitty City so it doesn't matter.

[Ivan]

Chelsea is so going to own this year's Premier League.

[The Bossman]

Well, if Man U keep up their recent form they could potentially win the league too. Man City are going superbly, I must say. A top 6 position looks perfectly achieveable. I don't think they'll maintain their current form, and even with the new players they'll definitely add in January, they'll capitulate in one way or another. Chelsea are looking very strong, but are scoring not many goals and conceding them as well. However, they'll still be big challengers for the title. Liverpool will get a top 4 place, but nothing else. They rely too much on Gerrard and Torres, and defensive frailties are beginning to show between Carragher and Skrtel. Arsenal could win something for the first time in ages, maybe the Carling Cup, but their form hasn't been great either. The Carling Cup provided the benchmark for Man U about 4 years ago and look at their form over the last few years.

As for relegation, Hull City are looking awful, but Burnley have made a great start. They might go the way of Hull last year though, so they need to focus on each game. Portsmouth look in crisis, their squad is almost entirely new and hardly any of them have settled in. Maybe in January they'll turn things around with new signings. Those are the 2 clubs most in trouble at the moment, it's still to early to tell who will get relegated. Around December we'll start to have an idea. I think that West Ham could struggle this year, along with Wigan. So those 4 clubs, Hull City, Portsmough, West Ham and Wigan could maybe be battling to avoid relegation next year. Or they could all be pushing for qualification for the Europa League, who knows.

[Red_91]

City for top 4 this season is perfectably achievable, their strikeforce is on par with all the top fours, its just their defence for me, they need a WC CB.

[The Bossman]

I still think, with Mark Hughes in charge, they won't be the best side that they can be, because he's inept as a manager. If they got a Mourinho or Hiddink in, then they'd be a force, but they need more world class players. People like Tevez and Adebayor are good, but they're Arsenal and Man Utd rejects. Hardly the way to build a world-class team.

[Red_91]

I'd hardly say Tevez is a reject, United wanted him, he rejected United. Adebayor has been wanting to leave Arsenal for quite a while too so he's not a reject plus there both scoring goals which means they are good players.

They've only lost one league game this season and that was against Man Utd, even that was in the last minute too.

Arsenal for me are going to lose their top 4 spot this season because City are so strong, even if there doing slightl;y bad by January they'll just spend another 50-100 million. They still have players like Robinho and Santa Cruz to come back from injury as well.

Seriously Hughes this season hasn't done much wrong at all he has proven he can quickly get the team to gel and has proven that he can compete with the big 4, they've beaten arsenal and took United all the way till the end. The only real weakness I see is their defence, they just need a vidic/terry type defender who is going to put his body on the line.

[The Bossman]

Well, that's fine, everyone's entitled to their opinion. As for the recent Man U game, Fergie made the wrong choice. There was an international week coming up, but why leave out Giggs from the first 11? He's the best player at Utd at the moment, and to play Welbeck on the wing just took the piss. Liverpool already look out of the title race, they'll be fighting for 3rd spot now with Arsenal. Their 6-2 win looked great, they still look strong despite Adebayor leaving. Chelsea will be relentless until the end of the season, hopefully they'll drop points against the other teams near the top 6.