Hi all,
Welcome back and here's a big thank you to our sponsors for January, Lotto. We'll be announcing our next sponsor for Feb soon, so stay tuned to The Postman series.
In the meantime, if you've read today's edition of The New Paper (Tues, 30 Jan 2007), who do you think will top the EPL and why?
Again, in not more than 200 words please (click the link right for an auto word counter).
To post your views instantly, click on "comments" below my mini-poll below, or e-mail The New Paper under the title "Topping the EPL" by clicking on the link right.
At your service,
Ernest Luis
The Postman
The New Paper
(PS. E-mailers, especially bloggers, please let us have your full name, age, occupation, contact numbers and favourite teams)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
33 comments:
Most likely - Man U
Would rather it be - Chelsea
Wants it to be - Liverpool
Wouldn't mind if it was - Arsenal
I'm hoping for more surprises to occur between now and the final day of the season, but realistically, I doubt there'll be any major screw-ups at such a crucial stage of the season.
Put it simply, the league title is only for Man United to lose. What I'm surprised about them this season is that unlike in the past few seasons, they haven't suffered a dip in form midway through the season. Question is, will they now? If you look at the way they're playing currently, brimming with confidence and all, it looks highly unlikely they'll suddenly shoot themselves in the foot. And with Fergie as their manager, they certainly have the experience to deal with any kind of situation.
Champions-Man U.
Here's 6 of my reasons why Man U will go onto win the EPL. Being a Man U fan, i hope i do not sound too biased.
1. The gap at 6 points is comfortable. Only matches that could cause immense problems could be visits to Anfield and Stamford Bridge. Visit to White Hart Lane could be tricky. Yet should guard against complacency against the supposedly weaker sides.
2. Superior goal difference to all challengers. As Fergie mentioned earlier, this is worth 1 point.
3. Experienced warhorse in Fergie. Knows when to rotate. Not many managers would dare give Ronaldo a week off to Dubai to recharge his batteries. If you recall, he does that to some of his stars season-in,season-out to prevent burnout. Would you reckon Benitez do that with Gerrard or Mourinho with Lampard?
4. Experienced campaigners with the likes of Giggs,V.D.Sar,Neville,Scholes alongside the hungry Ronaldo/Rooney.
5. Hunger. Having not won the title for the last 3 seasons, you can bet that the guys are really gunning for it.
6. Arsene Wenger's taunts that Man U are a 70-min team. As if to slam the response down Wenger's throats, they scored twice in the last 15 mins against Portsmouth (yeah, although they did concede 1)
7. The 4 strikers that Fergie has. What a headache! Rooney,Saha,Solskjaer and Larsson, what a nice headache for a manager to have. They will no doubt keep each other on their toes.
8. Traditionally,they almost always do well in this final run-in. The first part of the season has been well-done, now for the final stretch.
As Ladylala has pointed out, the EPL is simply for Utd to lose. Unless a massive blip in form or injuries to certain key players, they should certainly go onto break Chelsea's stranglehold of the EPL in recent seasons.
Cheers,
kel
14 games left and all to play for but it is really Man United's title to lose. Not only are they perched at the top of the league but surprisingly,they seem to have the better depth in squad than Chelsea's at the moment.
With a mixture of seasoned campaigners in Fergie's Fledglings and some exciting talents coupled with the wily managerial acumen of Sir Alex,United are finally showing they have what it takes to become champions again.
They are the highest scorers in the EPL and have one of the meanest defences. They do not have major injuries in the side and the blip in form people are expecting from them has not occurred. This United side is playing the attractive,free flowing football with a swagger of the old United teams and it will take a major catastrophe to halt them in their tracks.
While anything can happen in football, the momentum is firmly with United and if they maintain this kind of form, whatever else Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal do will not matter. For me, it's United's crown to lose.
I'll use IQ method to determine whether Manchester United be 2006-2007 EPL Champion.
2002-2003 EPL Season, Manchester United comes in 1st.
2003-2004 EPL Season, Machester United stomp in 3rd.
2004-2005 EPL Season, Manchester United dash in 3rd.
2005-2006 EPL Season, Manchester United stagger in 2nd.
2006-2007 Season, Manchester United gallop in 1st.
1st-3rd-3rd-2nd, is the end of 1st cycle which is 1st place for 2002-2003, 3rd in 2003-2004, 3rd during 2004-2005 and 2nd place for 2005-2006.Therefore Manchester United will finish 1st in 2006-2007 EPL due to start of 2nd new cycle.
From: Chester Low
Factors to determine Who Will Top The EPL breaks down into 2 categories.
1st category is external.That is who are the mysterious men, women and organisations who want which team to win 2006-2007 EPL Title.
They are big time punters whose bets can be amounted to millions or billions of either in British Pounds, Euro and American dollars.
They can also be Potential New Mysterious EPL Club owners, whose aim is to seek and destroy rival clubs before making their presence known.Like divide and create dissent in Chelsea, so that it falters and pose no threat to their club which they purchase.Minions and Media are their tools of destruction.
In order to build their club into strongest and most successful in England and Europe.They will purposely let a decoy club which previously won EPL at ease, who they deem too weak to challenge honours with their investment in coming years, win 2006-2007 EPL title to distract all their rivals.
That club is Manchester United.
2nd category is motivation and hunger of success.
Manchester United's motivation is the result of We-Are-The-Ones-Should-Be-Winning-EPL-Instead-Of-You.
Chelsea lost it's motivation, having won back to back EPL.Arsenal lost it's desire to win EPL, for not improving their game and Liverpool isn't motivated, since their Champions League victory in 2005.
Chelsea lost it's hunger of success in EPL and concentrate to win elusive Champions League.
Arsenal, more interested in winning Carling and FA Cups, aren't interested in winning this season's EPL due to more desire in being Champions League Winners.
Same with Liverpool, whose interest in another Champions League title.
Manchester United's hunger of success, comes from the source of success in 1st treble achivement, is winning 2nd treble in 2006-2007 season.That is winning another FA Cup, EPL and Championms League.
From: Chester Low
That statistics given by Chester are warm heartening to Man U fans like me out there.heh.
True enough,I think (and hope) that Man U will finally end their EPL title drought this season and if they did,they might just crossed the finishing line with a nose-length with Chelsea close behind.
The consistency of Man U has certainly reached a level where they can compete with that of Chelsea.Coupled that with the 6 points lead,the Devils are not going to lose grapse of that easily.No doubt points will still be lost along the way plus away trips to Anfield and Stamford Bridge the potential banana skins,but the other 3 teams will drop points too.
Not to forget that Champion League might distract all the 4 teams as well.Its all about getting that balance in the priority of competition and the rotation of the team.Sir Alex seems to be the one who is doing right at this at the moment.
Doing well in 2nd half of the season is the forte of Man U,the difference this time round is they did well in the 1st as well.Provided no major hiccups,the EPL trophy could be on the way to Manchester.
Reasons why Man U will lose.
1. They have been leaking in goals since Boxing Day and have yet to keep a clean sheet.
2. They have been missing too many chances. They seemed to have rest their laurels after getting a comfortable lead in goal difference and a 6 points comfort zone.
3. They have been relatively lucky with injuries so far. No major injuries to key players.
Reasons why Chelsea will not win.
1. The distractions of fighting on four fronts.
2. Team has yet to reach the standard set in the previous 2 seasons.
3. They have drawn too many matches. Draws against Aston Villa, Reading and Fulham over the fixture pileups seemed to cost more than 6points.
Reasons why Arsenal will not win.
1. They are 12 points of the pace.
2 They are badly hit by injuries.
3. There are still transiting from last seasons. I wonder how many seasons are needed to complete their transitions.
Reasons why Liverpool will not win.
1. Inconsistencies. They will continue to drop points against lowly oppositions.
2. 11 points behind. Enough said.
3. Benitez talks too much with little actions.
To find out who will, wait until the 38th row and I will tell you the answer.
LOL Lim Boon Hock. It's like saying, 'I know who will win the Premiership but I'll tell you after the end of the season,' LOL
Boon Hock, I do not see your reasons as to why Man U will lose the EPL. Perhaps only your point number 1 and 2 holds alittle more weight.
1. Yes, Man U has not kept a clean sheet since boxing day. But have we also forgotten that they have still scored plenty? That is the beauty of the league isn't it? That the league is such that anyone can score against the leaders. And its not to say the rest of the challengers have done well. Well, but you COULD be right because they could end up paying for it. (see also point 2)
2. People think Man U have missed many chances. I agree. But only because they are creating plenty. We do not expect them to score every chance they create right? And so far, the only game where they had to pay for missing those chances was perhaps against Newcastle. Frankly, i will rather my team play attractive football and win 6-5 then 1-0 (no offence to others). Well, again you COULD be right because this could end up against them at one point in time.
3. Being lucky with injuries doesn't point as to why they will lose the EPL. So are you expecting every club to suffer an injury crisis some point in time? Must every club suffer some injury crisis during the season? Perhaps Man U can go through this season unscathed? Have we forgotten that for the past 2 seasons, correct me if i am wrong, Chelsea had the spine of their team, the lampards and Terrys unscathed almost throughout? Perhaps, this is the season where (touchwood) no major injuries are suffered.
Cheers,
kel
3. They have been relatively lucky with injuries so far. No major injuries to key players.
Haha Kel. Relax. I know you are a Man U supporter. Miss out 2 key words like you. What I was trying to say that if Man U key players such as Scholes, Rooney, Ronaldo, Van Der Saar and Giggs suffers from injuries. Look at last season, when their key players were injured, they were out of running for most of the competition by this time. Anyway what's the possibility of so many key players getting injured? 0.01% right? So relax la, the title will be coming to Old Trafford, of course, unless the Devils decide to throw it onto the Stamford Bridge. Haha.
Stupid son of a bitch. (You know who you are). You want to call me 'psycho' without going into details. I'll give you the details - when I was 12 years old I fell in love with my female teacher. I never got over it till now. I thought it was just a crush but until now I still think of her when I already have a girlfriend shows I LOVE that woman deeply.
I couldn't stop thinking of her and when I was in Secondary 4 Express stream, I had a breakdown and was sent to 'that' hospital. Love took away my sanity. Now I'm sane again and can even win ONE Letter Of The Week shows you don't know the real meaning of 'psycho'.
Do I intend to hurt anyone? No. Do I molest girls? No. I'm just a very good man who had his heart broken when he was 12.
Most likely to be Man Utd.
I say that as (and this has been said many times) United always have a strong second half of the season, regardless of how they performed in the first half.
The only worry would be their recent problems with keeping up the pressure in the last 20 minutes or so of a match recently. If Fergie can rectify that problem, I don't see how United could possibly collapse, considering that their attack is as potent as it is, with so many different players getting goals.
As a Man Utd fan, my only worry regarding the title rivals would be Terry's imminent return to the Chelsea first team. With him back, they'll certainly stop shipping anymore dumb goals. With all due respect to Arsenal and Liverpool fans, although you guys did get wins over United and Chelsea respectively in the last round of League matches, I just can't see either of the teams even finishing in 2nd place (although I do hope United win, and 2nd place to be Arsenal).
I don't give a damn who wins the EPL if Chelsea wins the Champions League. You want me to apologize for my earlier post? *Thumb down* *Last finger down* *Pointer finger down* *Ring finger down* What finger left? That's your answer Ernest Luis butt-kissers!
In the process of a title race,having a winning streaks,a squad staying free from injuries and having the luck to score those fluck goals all come together that will have a say on the final standings.
Every teams can have their own reasons for failing to win the title.If any team which is eligible to use injuries as an excuse for not being in contention that must be Newcastle.Losing Owen before the season even started,followed by successive injuries to their key players like Emre,Dyer,Parker and Ameobi drifting in and out of the physio room.Thats bad to a team with decent names to fill up the team sheet.
Well on Man U failing to get a clean sheet since Boxing Day.The fact that this team do score more than their opponents on most occassions and by doing this they are risked being exposed to conceding goals at the other end too.You can't have the best of both world and like Kel I don't mind seeing Man U scoring 4 goals and conceding 1 or 2 goals.
Chelsea. Mainly cause I am a chelsea fan and I believe that this could be the tightest race since the Man Utd treble season.
Man Utd still looks strong, but I still think that they will drop points, and Chelsea might too. But I think the deficit will be cut to 2 points before coming to the Bridge. And then, we'll see who wants to win it more.
Arsenal is magnificent and also inconsistent, so they'll be fourth. Liverpool are not good enough to win the EPL. But I think the gap between the first and fourth will not be any bigger than 10 points.
If you see the top four teams and analyse the goal difference, it is quite obvious to see who will top the EPL:
F A Difference
Man Utd 53 18 +35
Chelsea 41 19 +22
Liverpool 37 16 +21
Arsenal 45 20 +25
Only Liverpool lets in fewer goals than Man U but they have scored the least number of goals. Man U may have let in more goals than Liverpool but they have scored 8 more than Arsenal in 24 games. In terms of more goals for than against, Arsenal is second only to Man U but the difference is 10 less than Man U. Chelsea and Liverpool have about the same goal difference. Unless there is a major injury scare it is unlikely that Man U will ever let the EPL get out of their sight. Man U will still lead unless Chelsea scores a dramatic number of goals the next few games. Arsenal have a few injury problems that will blun their attack. Liverpool cannot live without Gerrard or Alonso. When they tire, you see Liverpool loosing to teams like Bolton, Blackburn which are mid-table teams which Man U easily beat.
Man U can even afford to let Ronaldo go on a holiday.
Like what Eric mentioned, I do feel the resumption of the Champions League will truly be a gauge of how strong each team's squad is and who has enough in the tank to win the league.
It is a major distraction to teams with title aspirations and it could take a toll on the players,physically and mentally.
Injuries and fatigue are always a concern in a long season but I think the top 4 have had their injury blips. United had theirs at the beginning of the season while the other 3 were unfortunate to have gotten theirs in mid-season.
I feel Chelsea is relying too heavily on Drogba and Lampard for goals and Liverpool seems to get lost when Gerrard is not playing well. Arsenal have an inexperienced squad so United looks like the best bet for the title.
In terms of experience and depth in squad and maybe, the good fortune of having a healthy squad at this stage of the season, United has enough about them to win the league. Of course, Chelsea could overhaul them still but if United maintain their impressive form, it does not matter to them what other teams do.
Last night in the West Ham vs Liverpool game, i witness a rare match that Gerrard is playing below par (although is still good). IT is partly due to the fact rafa play a 3-4-3 formation that allow him to sit deeper then usual. They still manage to win a determined West Ham comfortably. Certainly, they are not a championship material yet but definitely, they are not that far off either. The pressure is definitely more on Chelsea then any of the Big4s. Likely many have said, the title is for Man U to loss. They are playing their football without any real pressure at the moment. But while that is happening, both Liverpool and Arsenal are quitely creeping up on Chelsea. Chelsea simply can't afford not to win at blackburn tonight. They knew it well. if they lost or even draw... their advantage will be cut to 2-3 points and fall further away from Man U.
My daring prediction:
Man U
Liverpool
Arsenal
Chelsea
Although sincerely, i would rather have Chelsea win the league then Man U.
Lyrad, purplefootball.blogspot.com
>>United had theirs at the beginning of the season
Pff.. What injury blip? The players injured are too little in numbers and too uninfluential to have affected United in any way except the loss of backup players. United have been very very lucky this season injury wise. Surely you didn't expect a team to go without any injury at all in one season? United's players who had been out for injury shouldn't be considered an injury blip at all.
Hm...Lets see who was injured at the beginning of the season for Man U.Gary Neville did,Heinze did,Giggs did,Saha too,even Solskjaer as well and Rooney wasn't consider fully fit after being rushed back during the World Cup.True,they are not out for that long period of time like Cech and J.Cole but its still consider a little blip eh.Anyway that blip was somehow made insignificant by the fact that the backups did their job well enough during the absence of those key players isn't it.
Yes, I had made daring predictions like Chelsea will be at least on par with Man U after Christmas.
Though now they are behind by 6 points, I am still going with them winning the EPL no matter what the odds are.
1. Terry is set to return.
2. Shevchenko is beginning to find his scoring boots. Be it in the other cup competitions. Confidence has to be build up.
3. Mourinho is finally smiling again. & he has emphasised that he will stay if he's the one deciding. That will be a major boost to his players. (like what Fergie has commented)
4. The match against Liverpool was the turning point because when you are at the bottom of the pit, the only way out is up.
Many said that the title is for Man U to lose. I bet to differ. The title is for Chelsea to win. No offence to anyone. No doubt Man U is playing attractive football, however they still only has a 6point lead. They have not made Chelsea’s misfortunes count. It’s as good as beckoning to Chelsea: come and take your third title.
>>Gary Neville did,Heinze did,Giggs did,Saha too,even Solskjaer as well and Rooney wasn't consider fully fit after being rushed back during the World Cup
Good grief!
No offense eric, coz I respect your opinion here, but seriously, has there been a situation where more than two players get injured at the same time for more than two matches. United haven't experience so called a 'blip'. Yet. Because if thats your definition of a defensive blip, then everyone has had one. Then it becomes a normal situation and the phrase defensive blip will be insignificant. But I won't be picky, if you still feel its a defensive blip, fine, by all means.
Please don't talk about Rooney not considered fit, he played all through the World Cup fine, and he could play all the matches fine. You can say he wasn't back to his top form but hey, so do everyone.
But I won't take anything away from United, they have performed extremely well in the league, and rightly deserved to be the top team at the moment. But I can't help but feel slightly cheated that we're suffering too many setbacks in one season.. But if its all gonna happen in one season, and every other season we can be without any crisis, I'd gladly take it.
haha its ok cfcfan.I'm open to all views.Ya I agree those injuries Man U suffered this season can't be deemed as a major blip or whatsoever that will affect results that much and hell yeah Man U's been lucky.I remember that match against Chelsea in Old Trafford and on Man U bench theres no strikers at all and God knows what will happened if Roo and Saha were injured.But to me so long a 1st 11 player is out thats bad news.
I understand the anguish at seeing key players out for some times due to injuries like I did for past few seasons.The injuries to Keane especially and at the same time Chelsea's Terry and Lampard seem to be made of alloy mixture of titanium and platinum,they just won't crack after consecutive games.Then Man U got that Glazer takeover issue and Keane blasting his own teammates and next thing fans know is that Keano left the club.Thats whole lot of setback to take isn't it.Its just going merry-go-round and maybe Chelsea is just going through the motion again for just the moment.
Whos next?
We know Arsenal don't need one ;) Their results are always merry-go-round..
haha the Gunners do blow hot and cold this season but since Henry came back from injury they seem to have shift up a gear and back playing their kind of stylish sleek passing football.They just need that consistency like they possessed during their unbeaten season be up there fighting for the title once again.
At the end of the day, all credits goes to Man U for being 6 points ahead.
Anyway Chelsea is still in a slump. They have slump their way into one final, slump into the next round of FA and ECL and they have slump their way into 2nd position. Unless the Special One perform some miracle, they might slump into 2 other finals, and who knows slump to the league title. Haha.
Btw anyone went to watch the match just now? The 12th man was totally unbelievable. Thanks to the referee, we can have a 1 goal lead to bring to Thailand. Go Singapore Go!!
Yeah, you told everyone to wear red. Singapore now wear BLUE, Thailand wore red. You want to talk about being a real Singapore fan? Were you at the stadium before the Final? I watched EVERY damn match Singapore played at the National Stadium except for Singapore Vs Indonesia, Foghorn Leghorn.
This is a no-brainer. Come the end of the season, Man Utd will top the EPL. The title is theirs to lose. They have a safety net of 6 points, with 14 games left to play. Unless they slip up dramatically, or suddenly acquire a long injury list, I can see no other team taking top spot.
Unlike Chelsea, who was EPL champions for two years running, Man Utd is hungry for the EPL title and has an immense desire to win. They will want to prove the critics wrong, and show that Fergie is not a “gone case.”
Fergie, having managed his club for over 20 years knows how to play beautiful mind games to sway opinions towards his side. He can motivate his players to ensure that momentum is maintained until the end of the season.
Man Utd’s team is stronger than ever, with four formidable strikers, just like their famous Treble year.
Statistics are on Man Utd’s side too. The leaders at this stage of the season have maintained their stranglehold on the league title in most EPL seasons.
Therefore, Man Utd will break the blue stranglehold of the title and claim it themselves this season.
My prediction for the top 4:
1) Man Utd
2) Chelsea
3) Arsenal
4) Liverpool
1st: Man Utd
2nd: Chelsea
3rd: Liverpool
4th: Arsenal
I don't really see Man Utd dropping points all of a sudden...
But we might see Liverpool or Arsenal take 2nd place...
I am thinking about an Arsenal triumph, provided Manchester United lose at least 2 or 3 of the remaining matches. If not, Arsenal would finish second.
Why? Look at their scintilling form right now. Dominating their EPL opponents with 10 men. Thierry Henry could even nick at least a total of 22 goals to finish as the Golden Boot winner.
Chelsea is falling, complaining too much about injuries when Arsenal are at least doubly worse hit with it every season. Liverpool are never really in.
Hence, it is between Arsenal and Man U.
I think this season Manchester United will reclaim their title for the first time in four years!!!Want to know why Manchester United will overcome the challenge of defending champion,Chelsea.It is basically because Manchester United are playing their best football now,with Ronaldo and Rooney on top of their game and with the evergreens of Gary Neville,Ryan Giggs,Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,they are the leaders od the team compare to Chelsea who only knew how to spent money for succeess because of their `rat' Roman Abramovich,they seemingly DUN DESERVE to win the title!!!
manchester united!!!!!
rooney scored the fabulous chip!
ronaldo just keeps scoring!
scholes scores even from outside the box!!
giggs heads in goals!!
vidic's powerful headers scores goals!
heck!
even john o'shea can keep goal with a clean sheet to show,
plus a few stunning saves made..
even terry in goal did not do dat!!!
so who's gonna be champs?
i dun have to say much...
Post a Comment