cloud 9 blog

well, the big talking point at the beginning of the season was, would Manchester United be able to survive with ronaldo being sold to real madrid? would they be able to defend their premiership title and win it for a 4th time in a row and become the team to win it a staggering 19 times?

the league table as it stands right now (after 15/16 games)  is

1. chelsea – 40
2. man utd – 37
3. arsenal – 32
4. aston villa – 32
5. tottenham – 30
6. liverpool – 27
7. birmingham city – 27
8. man city – 26

at the half way mark from last season it was the following (about 20 games)

1. liverpool – 45
2. chelsea – 42
3. man utd – 38
4. aston villa – 38
5. arsenal – 35
6. everton – 32
7. wigan – 28
8. hull city – 27

man utd has by far the best manager in the world. he is by far one of the best managers in the last 15 years. he has been the manager of united for 23 years. (he almost got the boot early in his career but he won FA cup in 1990 which saved his skin)

over the years of watching united, the players, the manager picks and signings, you get to understand why he is the manager he is.

anyhoo, enough about that….lets talk about the season so far. it has been, in my eyes, a very good season. people saying united won’t do well without ronaldo, well you’re wrong. when ronaldo was with united, the players had to adjust their own game to cater for him. ronaldo being ronaldo loved the limelight and showed off his tricks, wanted the ball all the time and did most of the things solo (shoot at goal when he really should have passed or crossed). he is a great player, but even the most greatest of players can be the weakest links. just look at real madrid a few years ago.come to think of it, they have not won anything in the past few years.

this season has given some of the players who were not able to get a chance or even be noticed the chance to come out of their shell and shine. a few players who really have stood out darren fletcher, jonny evans and darron gibson. let’s n0t forget the 19 36 year old ryan giggs. he just gets better and better as the years roll. the new signings this season has been very promising, antonio valencia, gabriel obertan and michael owen. even though united had so much money to buy new players, ferguson has only bought 3 players this season because he knows the players he has can do the job and he sees the potential and depth in the squad. everyone has been saying how ferguson has bought someone to replace ronaldo and therefore the person has to play like ronaldo. i for one would not want anyone in a side as selfish as him, barring his goalscoring. i like what i have seen so far. look in the past when ferguson sold some of the main guys and people were asking questions then. david beckham and ruud van nistelrooy for two.

people were questioning ferguson’s select of youngsters in the carling cup and then the uefa champions league game against besiktas. i for one love this policy as it gives the young guys the chance to experiance the big occasions and gives ferguson the chance to see what the youngster are capable of in these games. arsenal have the same policy and managers who do this have my total respect. look at how united’s youngsters beat tottenham’s first team in the carling cup a few weeks ago. sometimes they can backfire, but that is the chance managers take.

the games that we have lost this season is, in my opinion, down to bad luck. we dominated against aston villa and chelsea. the ball just would not creep into the net due to some great goalkeeping. team go through these games in seasons and even arsenal have experianced this in a big way.

the team that is going to win the premier league is the team that has depth in the squad. the only team i have seen doing this the last few years is united. look at liverpool for example, without gerrard and torres, they are nothing. they have very good players but the manager sticks with useless players (lucas) and leaves the other on the bench. that has been liverpool’s downfall this season and last season. the manager playing the wrong players. you can see it with arsenal too, without van persie and fabregas they lack that spark. don’t get me started on man city. star-studded side yet they still suck (old real madrid days).

but i must add this, my other team of the season so far has to be aston villa. the players and manager are hungry and you can see it. since they signed richard dunne, steward downing and brad friedel they have been awesome. even people were raising questions about them when they sold gareth barry to man city. james milner has stepped up and become one of thier key players this season.

here a few lists of things so far this seaon:

players who need to step up their game:

• nani
• foster

promising young players:

• obertan
• gibson
• tosic

players of the seaon so far:

• fletcher
• rooney
• evra
• giggs

players who can only get better the next half of the season

• valencia
• carrick
• berbatov

key players

• owen
• scholes
• ferdinand

will ferguson buy a player or 2 when the transfer window opens? with him having to have had a makeshift defence the last few games because of injuries to the key defenders? i personally don’t think he will…i might be wrong but then again, sometimes ferguson surprizes us with his genious ( think hendrik larsson )

let me know what you guys and gals think about the season so far in general and what your expectations are for the next half!