matchverdict.com

The start of the English Premiership is still couple of weeks away. But a mad EPL fan which I am, just couldn’t resist him self from writing about it. In these coming weeks we would look at the teams involved in the EPL. We will see how they set up this season. So, Lets begin the journey.

Whenever, you talk about any game most of the times you talk about the best in the business and Manchester United have been simply the best for the past three seasons. But I think their title defense this season would not be easy at all. The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid has left a void which is almost impossible to fill. Also United fans’ beloved Carlos Tevez has now joined arch rivals Manchester City.

One would have expected United to make some major signings after the departures of two of the world’s best players. But strangely they have bought Antonio Valencia from Wigan Athletic, a player who has never played for a big club and also they have signed a player who has played for many big clubs like Liverpool and Real Madrid but just fails to play even 80 percent of the games of the season .Yes you are right, we are talking about once one of Europe’s most feared strikers, Michael Owen.

I, in fact almost all of us would have no doubts over the abilities of Michael Owen. But over the past five- six years he has lost his sharpness. So how he lives up to the demands of playing for such a big club remains to be seen. Also being an injury prone, very rarely he would last full 90 minutes. So, manager sir Alex Ferguson would have to use him very carefully, if he wants get most out of him.

This season in the absence of Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney will be their key player. Past records have shown whenever Rooney doesn’t play United find it very difficult to win a football match. He along with Dimitar Berbatov would be lead the attack for the Red Devils and United will rely heavily on both of  them for goals .They haven’t lost any other players, so rest of the departments don’t need any change .Especially their defense which for me is the best in Europe if not in the world. Really it is this rare guard which has been their secret of success over the last few seasons.  Though, they still have enough talent up their sleeves to go all the way, it will be very interesting to see how Sir Alex uses his options and how they will shape up this season especially up front.

 Season’s predictions: This might just be the season when United’s winning streak might come to an end. If you ask me where they would finish this season, I would say 2^nd. ( I know United fans will have different opinion, comments are welcome).

The “Galactiocs” era is back at Santiago Barnabeau Stadium. Newly elected president Florentino Perez has carried forward  his policy of signing high profile players during his second stint at the club.During his first stint, Real splashed the money on signing the likes of Ronaldo, Luis Figo ,Zinedine Zidane,David Beckham.

Major Arrivals:

This time around they have already spent over 300 million dollars for the signing of  superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo ,Kaka  and  Karim Benzema.

The signing of  Cristiano Ronaldo  finally  put the fullstop on probably the most dramatic transfer saga in football history. Ronaldo had his eyes set on the move right from the day the offer came. It was the success that he achieved at Manchester United that was stopping him from expressing his desire publicly  to leave Old Trafford. But finally Real made an offer that was hard to resist for United. Though , United lost their most influential player they made very good business. The arrival of  Ronaldo will provide Real the natural width on the right wing ,which was their major area of concern.

The transfer of Kaka from AC Milan on the other hand was not so dramatic.AC Milan off late has not attracting the superstars once it used to,but it has more to do with Italian Serie A. Milan team need the complete squad revamp and the money earned by selling Kaka will only help the cause. Kaka is a terrific addition to that central midfield of Real which lost creativity in the middle of the park after the retirement of Zinedine Zidane.

More to Come?

Though Real have spent so much money , I do expect some more players to arrive in White part of Madrid. Frank Ribery has reiterated his desire to join “Real Revolution” by leaving Bayern Munich. Also with Raul and Ruud Van Nistelrooy aging, it wont surprise me at all if see the prolific David Villa staring the first game for them. Also Real are linked with the likes of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.

What all this means?

The arrivals of all this superstars signals the exit of other players, mainly Dutch the likes of  Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart ,Arjene Robben and Klass Jan Huntelaar.

Well if you ask me about the Real Madrid’s chances this season of silverware, I would say if all these “Galacticos” can gel well they would be a major major force on both domestic and European front. But if they fail to do so, you know better than me what can happen.