Why Manchester United are top and Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are not
Correct me if I am wrong, but are Manchester United on the verge of going into Christmas six points clear at the top of the Premiership?
While Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea were busy spending gadzillions in Summer on Kuyts, Rosickys and Shevchenkos, United were selling off their goal machine and their only recruit was a defensive midfielder.
Without Van Nistlerooy, Manchester United looked like toast. Rooney may be their jewel in the crown, but as everyone is so keen on pointing out these days, he is not an out-and-out striker. So the goalscoring mantle has fallen on Louis Saha, who has only recently been showing the kind of form that convinced Ferguson to buy him in the first place.
There seemed to be nothing new, nothing left, perhaps in the creaking bones of the likes of Scholes, Neville and Giggs.
Young talent, Rooney excepted, promised little. Fletcher and O’Shea have been Premiership laughing stock and Cristiano Ronaldo labeled as an unsporting and expensive show-pony.
Yet it is they, not Arsenal, not Liverpool, not even Chelsea, who are in pole position for the Premiership season and it has been confounding the heck out of everyone as to how they got there? Does Fergie have a secret formula he is not letting on to?
Actually, it is much simpler than that. All three of the other member states of the Premiership Elite have been so busy tinkering with their teams that they have taken their eyes off the prize.
Benitez’s intentions may be good in introducing wide players at Liverpool, but the results have proved almost disastrous on too many occasions. Chelsea, meanwhile, have been doing the opposite, eliminating wide play altogether. Mourinho has instead plumped for a hideous 4-1-3-2 formation which attempts to accommodate all three of Ballack, Lampard and Essien, but fails to get the best out of any of them.
Wenger is also guilty. His obsession with turning obscure foreign youth players into unlikely Premeirship superstars is becoming unhealthy for Arsenal and their league form is erratic because of this.
For Manchester United, though, it has been all the usual suspects -Scholes and Giggs in particular, who have turned on the style in what may well be their final hurrah as championship material. Everyone that matters at Manchester United has been settled and on form.
Fergie has stuck with a formation that is comfortable for his side, one that works. And by default his team are now in the driving seat. That has been his formula for success. He will just hope that the others keep tinkering with theirs into 2007.
“Why Manchester United are top and Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are not”
Because we’ve acquired more points than they’ve done so far.
Now I’m gonna read the article :-))
You are an idiot.
Chelsea will dominate after christmas.
Fergie will realize he should have brought in more quality after his frail side screw it.
Funny you should mention gadzillions spent by Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, only 2 years after Man Utd bought Christiano Ronaldo and Rooney for, oh, I don’t know, somewhere in the vicinity of 45 million pounds?
But why should you let the facts get in your way.
And of course, Carrick was a free transfer too???
the bigger the harder they fall. MU are due a draw or defeat in an away fisture soon. You can’t win all the time. The most a team can win is ten to twelve matches in row. this is the law of averages.Even Liverpool in their old conquering days also succumbed to it .I don’t know why.
I suppose it could be god’s or nature’s way of leveling the playing a bit.
PG - changing the argument, I think - Tim’s talking about this summer, not years gone by.
Kev - financed by Ruud’s sale and the Obi Mikel money.
JM - By that account United are due the title - Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have all won more than United in the last 3 years, so they’re due a ‘fall’, right?
Personally I’d say that United are successful this season because:
- few injuries + excellent pre-season
- carrying on from their resurgence last year after Keano left
- growing together as a young team
- ronaldo and vidic have come to the party
- some good luck
Arsenal and Liverpool were bound to have problems, I said that before the season started. Chelsea are doing well but they’re the team who will find themselves under a lot of pressure because they have to live up to their own standards.
United is in the Front Seat, It is thee year for United. Many have told that United will be weaker this season.
Thanks to Fergie,What a Buy with only Carrick the big signning United r where we usually want as united fan.
Mate correct me if im wrong, but wot is the gap 3 points?or sorry 6 with a game in hand? and its funny because chelsea arent exactly playing well and Man u are! To me that spells trouble for man u. What happens when chelsea actually hit top gear? I think you will see chelsea will be the ones on top. I dont suppose we will see an article saying “why chelsea are on top and man u, liverpool and arsenal are not?” didnt think so either.
I mean i just cannot see all there players making it through the whole season at the standard they set, scholes,giggs. Maybe diver and rooney will but many wont. And please dont get everyone started on the gadzillions spent by Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. 28mil on Rio? 18 Mil on Carrick? 30Mil on Rooney?15 Mil on DIver? mate in a word or two, FUCK YOURSELF.
What utter balls. Just because Chelsea haven’t stormed the early part of the season as they did before, people are suggesting that a team built around 3 men aged 32+ is going to be maintaining this level next February. I think not.
Agree with ahmed, ferguson has spent money wisely, fitting people into the places he has open. Look at other teams,Pires was a winger, Wenger bought a CAM in Rosicky. I have no idea why Chelsea bought ballack. Last two seasons Robben and Joe Cole have ripped through midfields but are rendered useless by the necessity of playing Lampard and Ballack. And Liverpool have bought rubbish, Pennant isnt good enough for a club like Liverpool and Gonazales has turned out to be more hype than skills. And think about this, United got 10 for Ruud, 12 for Obi Mikel = 22. 14 on carrick and Larsson for free. So they have 8 million more on top of their usual of around 13 odd you get 22 as budget. Just hoping to see who Fergie spends it on.
6 points but Chelsea have a game in hand and the tie at Stamford Bridge to play. Add to that the fact that they are yet to really click with a relatively new midfield and it spells trouble. You are right to suggest he’s relying on the old guard but bear in mind that the second string is rubbish (Southend and Copenhagen!) and he hasn’t put together a decent title challenge in the previous three seasons - how long can Scholes and Giggs hold the team together? As for the money argument you haven’t got a leg to stand on, Fergie and Jose have spent far more than the other two over the past few years and that’s why we now see the two steaming off into the distance. Don’t try to suggest that your spending on Rooney, Saha and Ferdinand hasn’t put you in the position you’re now in.
Arsenal spending gazillions? What crack are you smoking? We bought Denilson at 2.5 million, Baptista on loan, gallas was a swap (plus 5million) and rosicky was 8 million. Add that together and we SPENT NOTHING. Yes nothing. Nothing is whats between your ears. Btw, didn’t WE beat you?
Like in my previous posts, I repeat, ManUs success this season is centered around the midfield mobility rediscovered this season…. a much-awaited linkup between experience and youth has finally struck in ManU. My view from the matches I’ve seen is, the heart of their game, the playmaker is Giggs more than Ronaldo or anyone else. Yes Ronaldos blistering runs on the flanks have been the talk of this season but its those quite little Giggs chips, through balls and crosses that have given Saha, Rooney and even Fletcher the chances to net.
Now THE reason behind: What was ManU doing last season? Benfica gave them a farewell party from Europe. Liverpool did the same in FA Cup. The premiership was over by early 2006, Chelsea having secured 15 wins from their first 16. Also, did Scholes play the World Cup? Courtesy of Wales and Scotland teams, Giggs and Fletcher did not play the World Cup either while Domenech doesn’t want to use Saha….. Quite simply, ManUs horrid performance last season has given them SO MUCH SPACE AND TIME to come together as a team - it was obvious from the first 20 mins of ManU vs. Bolton at Reebok, if not from anything else.
The rest had their concentration divided. Arsenal cutting through Europe (changing home although lotta people call it bull, I feel it has an impact :p), Liverpool (read: Gerrard) managed to make its way through the FA Cup, Chelsea were looking to fight Barca for another year having sealed EPL early on. Chelsea’s squad full of internationals were tied up with World Cup as well…. and crucial new signings at all these clubs. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are showing symptoms of being unsettled due to new comers, tactical experiments and well, at least in case of Chelsea’s squad, having a schedule tighter than the rest.
So again, I agree with Richard & Rob on Giggs being the cornerstone and that I doubt its gonna last that way…. if the bet was on a squad’s perseverance, I’d put my money on Chelsea instead of ManU. ManU must keep up their performances before Sheva starts clicking, and Ballack starts feeling Bayernish.
Ahmed and all ManU guys, if you think that Fergie did something CLEVER in holding back buying, you’re wrong. A mini-slump is inevitable with new players trying to link-up. The liberty ManU has had over last one year to link-up together as a team will be wasted if 2-3 new players are introduced into key positions of first-team lineup in January. You’re clearly seeing the disrupted play in Chelsea, with Ballack and Sheva often making the most CONFUSED faces on the field.
Have Chelsea really been playing a 4-1-3-2? I thought they were playing a 3-5-2 with Geremi playing mostly midfield recently…. Whatever formation it is the certainly have been getting the best out of Essien, and Lampard’s been no slouch himself.
“And please dont get everyone started on the gadzillions spent by Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. 28mil on Rio? 18 Mil on Carrick? 30Mil on Rooney?15 Mil on DIver? mate in a word or two, FUCK YOURSELF”. - Wow, great argument there Richard. I am so glad you honour this website with your thoughtful insights. As the original piece and Bilal some replies later stated: The funds used for transfers THIS summer, not since 5 years back. We ONLY bought Carrick in the summer, Rooney, Rio, Ronaldo etc. were already there.
As for the season to come: Larsson is to join the band after new-year, Ole/Park/Smith are on their way back, Rossi is coming home from Barcodes and there are hints that SAF will spend on midfield/wings in january. I think that put our squad in a slightly different light. Fair enough, our second string players arent doing as well as out topchoice players but what team except from Chelsea(?) can offer two equally good starting lineups? Its just not possible, firstly it costs a hell of a lot of money, secondly superstars dont want to sit on the bench week in and week out and thirdly the guys on the bench are inevitably going to be a little bit cold and will not play as well as the first team.
Liverpool and Arsenal are one-man shows, Liverpool more than Arsenal, but it is still so that Henry is too important to Arsenal for their own good. ManU have I dont know how many different goalscorers this seasons and I think the sale of RVN only did us good, we were to reliant on him and therefor the others didnt play as well as they can because they didnt have to. I mean we are quite unique in that regard. Let us say Drogba gets injured, where does that leave Chelsea? They will be in serious lack of killerforwards since Sheva hasnt hit topgear yet, and hopefully never will. Although it leaves the Prem with one attraction less wich is a pity.
Baring multiple injuries to keyplayers in newyear, I see NO reason why United cant stay on top.
United will never win it again!!!
Man to man Arsenal are by far the best team in the country. their only problem at the moment is lack of steel, specially in the midfield area. And lately the keeper has become liability unlike last season. They can win against any team in the league, the only thing they need is people like Gilberto need to stand up to the challenge sometimes. If they get their confidence back ‘am sure they will push Man U, and Chelsea hard. though I think ManU are fragile, they can crack up any minute, they don’t seem to be as solid as chelsea.
Ben
United will never win it again!!!
LMAO! Dream on, mate. And about Arsenal being by far the best team in the Prem on the teamsheet, come on, even though you are a die hard Arsenal fan, surely you see thats not case. One quick comparison: Petr Ceck and Edwin Van der Sar VS Jens Lehman, you think he is better? Petr edges VDS by a very narrow margin, but as long he is sidelined there is no doubt VDS is the best keeper in the prem.
On a more general note, you may have magnificent striker(Henry) and a magnificent midfield player(fabregas) but Chelsea has overall a better midfield and right now a better striker(Drogba). When it comes to wingers for example, ManU has both Ronaldo and Giggs which better in their departments than their counterparts at Arsenal. You do have the potensial and biggest gathering of promising youth,but thats not the same as quality and the finished article. In that respect, you are third in the country, a far cry from your rather absurd claim of being the best team.
You’re comparing Rosicky’s fee (7m) to Shevchenko’s (30m)? Are you seriously suggesting Arsenal spent “gazillions”?
“Jorgen Roed-Lislebo: Petr edges VDS by a very narrow margin, but as long he is sidelined there is no doubt VDS is the best keeper in the prem.”
Get it right, man… VDS comes way behind Jaaskelainen, that’s for sure. And I’m not even a Bolton-fan.
HeckNo “Get it right, man… VDS comes way behind Jaaskelainen, that’s for sure. And I’m not even a Bolton-fan.”
Backup it up if you dare ! Are you talking Actim stats;
http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.rac?command=forwardOnly&nextPage=actimTop5&type=Goal%20Keeper
Or Premiership table;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/table/default.stm
Is it goals conseeded ? (VDS has only let in 8 Premeirship goals this season which is only matched by Chelsea.
By claiming otherwise all you do is invite comparison. Well I have checked your claim and it is proven wanting so how do you back it up ?
I might have had more respeck for HeckNo’s opinion if he had at least qualified it with a statement that VDS has the benefit of a better defence ahead of him, but he still let in as many goals as their team has scored (15). Conversely you could argue that some of the 8 goals VDS has let in can be offset against the goals scored by our defenders (5 if you include the goal by O’Shea).
Personally I have a slightly different opinion as to why we are doing better this season compared to the last two … it simply boils down to us suffering fewer injuries to our first team players. Whilst we did peak at 8 players injured the injuriew in this first half of the season were nowhere near as savage as they have been in the first halves of the 2 seasons previous.
More to the point, if we had started last season with as few injuries as this season I strongly suspect we would have won the Premiership then (as it was we were still hanging on till the last couple of games as Chelsea’s form was creaking).
Jeff..
About Actim stats. I have never been a big fan of those. First of all, I think that if Jaaskelainen played in a club like ManU, with defenders ManU has, it would be a whole different story. And saying that shouldn’t count, is just plain stupidity.
Goalies get points ie. punching a ball out (sure, it’s a save). But if there’s no defenders to clear the ball and thus leading to opponent scoring -> less points… (stupid, but simple example)
I’m not trying to say that Actim stats are inaccurate, but one really should be quite critical while comparing them…
All in all, I know that I really can’t change our mind about this (and actually not even trying to), but strong opinions belong to football, right?
oneutd forever!!!
Jeff, damn… Seems like my last post didn’t make it on time and you got there first
It’s not like I wouldn’t consider VDS as one of the best keepers in England, but still I personally like Jaaskelainen better. 
No probs HeckNo - just wanted you to present your reasons for your statement as a statement on it’s own is not really meaningfull.
cant wait til Raffa has the sort of money that Ferguson & Morinho have had to throw into the transfer market, will leave you all arguing about who will be second and cup runners up!
on a serious note Man U will need to start replacing the older members of the team now if they wish to keep the momentum up, i wonder if this will start to happen in January.
Fergie is no mug and he will know that confidence is playing a big part in man U’s early success this season, when that gets knocked its a case of how they deal with it and whether they have the resources in the squad to recover and meet the demands of competing in several competitions.
At the moment Chelsea are the only club that have the resources to deal with the amount of games which a top premiership club should be expexted to play in a season, i would expect them to draw on these resources after January when fatigue starts to show in some of the older squad members, united do not have this luxury and i would expect this to contribute to their downfall later on in the season. Having said that they have surprised many this season and maybe the team spirit will be a deciding factor, Chelsea for all their embarrasing riches seem incapable of finding a true bond with each other and tend to be succesful because of the Man resources they have at their disposal, throw another team into th e mixture with the very same financial footing & we will see a very different proposition next season.
The prem is about to become a lot tighter over the coming seaseons due to some big financial investment (West Ham, Villa & probably Liverpool) and dhis will have a deciding factor on where points will be dropped rather than won, Chelsea & Man U will need to improve in different areas if this seasons two horse race is to continue over the coming seasons. However the remainder of the season pans out will be interesting but not as interesting as developments currently taking place elsewhere, there is a whole new prospect looming for both clubs, the prem is about to get a lot more competetive.
magicspacemonkey…
mate, I’m worried about United, really - but not for this season. Next year though, Scholes n Giggs n Nev and van der Sar have to be replaced. Hopefully we bring in the players needed to replace them.
You all forget it is not about the individual, but the team. The Man Utd team is always going to be the better team. Though some teams have better individuals i.e. Chelsea but what sort of team are they? Sure, they’re all very good but i bet my house that Scholes , Giggs , Neville are much better as a unit than Lampard , Essien, Ballack. United WILL win Chelsea don’t have the spirit. They’re over paid ,over rated and frankly they don’t compare to the real footballers up North. ” You only have an 250,000 Aston? I have a 500,000 Ferrari.” The usual conversations at Chelsea.