Rival Thread: 2014-15

[iftikhar]

Manchester City: Looks like they are going to get Mangala or Benatia (or both   ). They are also rumored to be after Pogba or Barkley.

Chelsea: Have signed Costa and Fabregas and very likely to land Luis. They are also rumored to be after Varane, Cavani and Pogba.

Arsenal: Have signed Sanchez and Debuchy and very likely to land Khedira   .

Manchester United: Currently chasing after Hummels, Vidal and Di Maria having already landed Shaw and Herrera.

Discuss...

[iftikhar]

  

[Helmer]

bah gawd...i hate this rival thread, it makes me sick !!!

[Art Morte]

In terms of how much our rivals are going to improve, I'm most worried about Arsenal and United.

[Red Alert]

I'm most worried about ourselves; we're our own enemy...

[Helmer]

In terms of how much our rivals are going to improve, I'm most worried about Arsenal and United.

how about that

[McAgger]

Chelsea haven't improved that much as far as I'm concerned. Felipe Luis is not a better defender at LB than Azpi, and Azpi at RB is not an improvement over Ivanovic. Cesc's and his creativity in a Mourinho team Terry is a year older. Oscar has finally be figured out as the fraud he is. Courtois is great but Cech was great also so it doesn't make much of a difference. Costa is meh, he'll probably do as good as Bony and Benteke did in the league, which is good. But he's not world class. They will still have trouble scoring against scrub teams.

City, same as last season. Sagna is not an improvement on anyone as Zaba is the best RB in the league. Yaya is older. Clicky/Kolarov are still meh. If they get an improvement on Demichellis than it might worry me a bit more. Reges is the only good singing they've made. Think he'll add the defensive steel they need next to Yaya. Aguero is still injury prone. Dzeko can still be a donkey. Nasri is still hot and cold.


Will only worry about United if they do actually sign VIdal or Di Maria. I rate Herrera highly but he, alone, doesn't fix their problems. Shaw

Arsenal is the only team that significantly improved imo. Ramsey being fit all season alone is a massive plus for them. Same for Walcott. Alexis is WC and they've needed someone like him badly. Debuchy >> Sagna. If they get Khedira or Schneiderlin that fixes their DM problem as well.

Spurs
Everton

[Red Alert]

Sneijder, Ozil, um, I guess Lampard too I guess? so creative players do work under Mourinho? Not sure what you mean... Costa improves them, as does Felipe Luis. Chelsea are easily title favourites as of right now. They lacked everything but a finisher last season, and they just signed a c*nt that does that. He'll be the new Suarez of the league. (Won't be as good, but he'll be hated by every team in the league but that's what he thrives on. He suits Chelsea alot more than he suits before Spain before you mention his WC)

City will stay as they pretty much have the same squad with a few players coming in which will improve them further. Sagna is better than Richards as a back-up to Zabaleta, Reges was needed as they had no DM, and I think they're signing or signed Mangala which gets rid of Demichelis. They probably need a new keeper, but other than that, they're pretty sweet to go.

Arsenal will clinch third as they improved their team and always end up in the top 4. THey'll also be hungrier with their trophy drought ended. Alexis Sanchez will be a huge for them, Walcott back from injury will be like a new signing. If Theo plays a CF, with Sanchez on the right they might title challenge. Think they're also in for Khedira to replace Arteta. I don't rate Khedira at all, but he might suit the PL a lot better than in the Liga. Arteta's decline has hit Arsenal's midfield hard. Sagna's decline is better than Debuchy, so they're somewhat regressed with their full backs.  

United's best signing was LVG. Easily one of the best managers in the league, probably the only one that rivals Mourinho. Depending on how fast United adapt to LVG, and our signings adapt to Liverpool (we've just sold the player that pretty much carried our final third and have bought a lot of players that'll need time to adapt), they'll be our biggest threat to the fourth spot. Herrera and Shaw help them.  

Spurs will improve I think. Players would of had a year time to settle, but they do have a new manager so might take a slow start for them to click.

Can't judge Everton as they'll loan like 5 players on deadline day and well, we're probably going to have to wait.

[Helmer]

For me City are still favourites for the title...The only thing with which I agree with Hames is, they may still struggle to break down PTB teams but I think you underrated them too much. Chelsea will come closer to the title race than last year but in the end they will fall short to City. Specially now pelle is a year older in EPL and they will recover much of their away points compared to the last season.

Arsenal, imo, will be the surprise package of the title race this year, I dont mean like last year but till the end

[McAgger]

It's all opinions at this point. RedAlert as always talking as if everything he says is definitive.

We'll know more during the season but I know I'm right.

[Art Morte]

I'm probably over-analysing this, but I'm not sure if City have enough drive to win the title again. Pretty much the same squad, the same key players, have done it twice now and I'm not convinced Pellegrini is the kind of manager who can inject that drive into them to go on and win it again.

I may end up looking like a fool, but I think Chelsea and Arsenal are going to finish above City this season.

[Helmer]

Art, you may be right if City happens to go far in CL, in that case they may take EPL little lighlty and they may drop some points here and there. But it seems little stretched, we will see it.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

From a neutral point of view. ( feel free to reject my ideas as total utter nonsense as per. )

Spurs and Everton: No matter what either does they don't have anything which could concern you.

Man Yoo: If they get two to three minimum of top quality in they are a threat. ( easiness of fixture list shouldn't be ignored either.)

Chelsea: Vastly improved, Cesc may not be at his Arsenal best under Mourinho but lets face it he'll feast on the many scrubs in this league and rack up the goal/assists. Costa is obviously better than anything they had and everyone knows my opinion on him by this point, i don't believe he'll score the way people expect but improvement none the less. Felipe Luis is for me the best LB in the world ( not much competition mind )i have been saying as much for years and he's much better than Azpi.

City: Still the favourites in my eyes, Fernando and Sagna (maybe Mangala too) shore up some defensive depth they didn't have before plus what people forget is they struggled to win away for half of last season and i don't believe that will happen again.

Arsenal: Debuchy and Sanchez strengthens them in ways they didn't have before. Debuchy is much better than Sagna on the ball and going forward which shouldn't be underestimated. Sanchez provides something they don't have without Walcott, but like City i expect them to buy more and they will need to.

I trust the minimum expectation is top 4? you'll on course for that in my opinion, it won't be easy and i wouldn't be 100% confident of it but a lot will have to change for you to suddenly become long shot outsiders.

Lots of changes to be made still for me on all the contenders, you included so lots could change. You shouldn't underestimate chemistry either, its not easy to make lots of changes and instantly improve. ( hello Sepi ! )

[McAgger]

Moal is back in our section

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Nah just giving an opinion on the top 4

be aware though i'm always looking and judging

[Adit]

Chelsea haven't improved that much as far as I'm concerned. Felipe Luis is not a better defender at LB than Azpi, and Azpi at RB is not an improvement over Ivanovic. Cesc's and his creativity in a Mourinho team Terry is a year older. Oscar has finally be figured out as the fraud he is. Courtois is great but Cech was great also so it doesn't make much of a difference. Costa is meh, he'll probably do as good as Bony and Benteke did in the league, which is good. But he's not world class. They will still have trouble scoring against scrub teams.

City, same as last season. Sagna is not an improvement on anyone as Zaba is the best RB in the league. Yaya is older. Clicky/Kolarov are still meh. If they get an improvement on Demichellis than it might worry me a bit more. Reges is the only good singing they've made. Think he'll add the defensive steel they need next to Yaya. Aguero is still injury prone. Dzeko can still be a donkey. Nasri is still hot and cold.


Will only worry about United if they do actually sign VIdal or Di Maria. I rate Herrera highly but he, alone, doesn't fix their problems. Shaw

Arsenal is the only team that significantly improved imo. Ramsey being fit all season alone is a massive plus for them. Same for Walcott. Alexis is WC and they've needed someone like him badly. Debuchy >> Sagna. If they get Khedira or Schneiderlin that fixes their DM problem as well.

Spurs
Everton

Seriously do you really believe Felip Luis is not a better than freaking Apzi at LB. Did you watch atletico in recent years? Or at least in CL?

He is miles better than Apzi and it's not even close. Luisv is a great defender as well as fantastic going forward.. No weakness in his game.

Curtois Is better than cech which is why they are replacing him to begin with.Costa is a very good scrub killer and fits counter attacking game perfectly well. Cesc is going to score and assist alot if played as an AM. Apzi at RB is better and his best suited position.

All in all Chelsea have massively improved in positions and definitely will do better than last season.

[Nishankly]

mole what a troll smh

[Red Alert]

It's all opinions at this point. RedAlert as always talking as if everything he says is definitive.

We'll know more during the season but I know I'm right.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

1. Mole and Adit have pretty much said the same thing as I've said because you were talking sh*t.

2. The ******* irony is out of this world. Lol

[Red Alert]

Nah just giving an opinion on the top 4

be aware though i'm always looking and judging

Am I as deluded as they say I am? I mean, I just say assertively say what I say and they get pissed off so hard it's out of this world and then claim I'm either "making shit up" or "always wrong" yet fail to bring any evidence to these claims. lol

[McAgger]

saw this baby on rawk

Woodward: "So Louis, have a think about transfer targets and get back to us ok? Priorities we think are at Left Back. Money no object."

Van Gaal: "Look, sure, I'll have a think but that sounds good"

Woodward: "Consider it done"

[Curtinho]

I wonder when it will be time to start worrying that LVG is really going to turn Manchester United around.

Looks like he might be moving to a 3 man defence with a 5 man midfield and 2 attackers. It's a strong set-up given who they have and Herrera looked really, really good against LA (obviously just a friendly, but still).

Assuming they get Vidal, which obviously isn't a sure thing, but...

RVP - Rooney
Shaw - Herrera - Mata - Vidal - Rafael

Then defending in numbers (I'm sure they will buy at least one elite defender) while using the creativity/hard work of the midfield and pace/engines of the wingbacks to work in numbers.

LVG worries me. I think the squad might still need some work, but they could easily have a bounce-back season.

[Art Morte]

There are so many good managers and good teams in the league right now that it's a bit scary.

Also, only ManU were a team that was coming to a declining point in their cycle and now that can be expected to change. Arsenal and Chelsea and perhaps Tottenham, too, can be expected to be only better this season. City are City. Out of the top-7 only Everton do not worry me, but even they've got Martinez for manager and there's still over a month of the window left.

All I can say that whoever wins the Premier League this season will be very, very deserving champions.

[DeletedUser#1]

Knew this thread will have a bump the moment I read mancs won a friendly 7-0

[McAgger]

lol Mancs won their first friendly 7-0? Heading to redcafe brahs

[Curtinho]

There are so many good managers and good teams in the league right now that it's a bit scary.

Also, only ManU were a team that was coming to a declining point in their cycle and now that can be expected to change. Arsenal and Chelsea and perhaps Tottenham, too, can be expected to be only better this season. City are City. Out of the top-7 only Everton do not worry me, but even they've got Martinez for manager and there's still over a month of the window left.

All I can say that whoever wins the Premier League this season will be very, very deserving champions.

I agree. There are 6 teams this year that are 'legitimate' top 6 threats (Liverpool, Chelsea, City, Arsenal, United and Tottenham). I think 5 of those could challenge for the title (minus Tottenham). There are still outside shots too that can make things interesting like Everton, Stoke and even Newcastle I think will be better this year.

Fun time for the EPL.

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