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Darren
17 ~~Cath High, iMedia '08~~ SAJC 09S23, ~~Saints Hockey~~

Saturday, August 04, 2007

7 more days to the start of the 2007/08 EPL campaign. Naturally, for Liverpool to think about winning it, or challenge, they'll have to weigh up their opposition, such as meager-spenders Chelsea, big-spenders Manchester United, and the young guns of Arsenal. So I'll give you my opinion on the two teams each club can bring out, accordance to quality and talent, and then my view after each clubs' two teams. Firstly meager-spenders Chelsea.:

First XI / Second XI:
1 petr CECH ............................................ 23 carlo CUDICINI
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20 paulo FERREIRA ......................... 2 glen JOHNSON
26 john TERRY (C) ........................... 22 tal ben HAIM
6 ricardo CARVALHO ....... 44 michael MANCIENNE
3 ashley COLE ............................. 18 wayne BRIDGE
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8 frank LAMPARD .......................... 9 steve SIDWELL
5 michael ESSIEN ....................... 13 michael BALLACK
4 claude MAKELELE ................... 12 john obi MIKEL
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10 joe COLE .................................... 21 salomon KALOU
15 florent MALOUDA ....... 24 shaun WRIGHT-PHILLIPS
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11 didier DROGBA ................. 7 andriy SHEVCHENKO

So Chelsea have two players for each position, and they play a 4-4-3 formation, with the exception of Michael Mancienne. Should any injury crisis occur to the center-backs of Chelsea like last season, no one would be surprised to see Michael Essien pushed back, and Michael Mancienne not even being allowed to sniff at an emergency spot. The attacking department of Chelsea is strong, the midfield alike have good depth, whilst the back-up defenders have to prove their worth. Carlo Cudicini is always a reliable back-up to Petr Cech. This squad should give Jose Mourinho good options, not forgetting youngsters Scott Sinclair, Ben Sahar and Michael Woods. Next up, big-spenders and current Champions Manchester United.:

First XI / Second XI:
1 edwin VAN DER SAR ................. 29 tomasz KUSZCZAK
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2 gary NEVILLE (C) .................................... 6 wes BROWN
5 rio FERDINAND ..................................... 22 john O'SHEA
15 nemanja VIDIC .......................... ?? gerard PIQUE
3 patrice EVRA ....................................... 4 gabriel HEINZE
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7 cristiano RONALDO ...................... 13 PARK ji sung
8 owen HARGREAVES ................... 16 michael CARRICK
18 paul SCHOLES .......................... 24 darren FLETCHER
11 ryan GIGGS ...................................................... 17 NANI
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10 wayne ROONEY ............................ 9 louis SAHA
?? carlos TEVEZ ......... 20 ole gunnar SOLSKJAER

This is Manchester United's two teams, two players for one position, and they play a normal 4-4-2 formation with wing play an important aspect. The main talking point is their defence. If Gabriel Heinze goes, and that no replacement comes in, expect youngster Danny Simpson, back from loan at Sunderland, to fill that spot. Gerard Pique might leave, opening a slot for another youngster back from Sunderland, Jonathan Evans, to provide back-up. All in all for Man Utd's defence, is that they have young, but good and talented defenders as back-up. Their midfield will just see Owen Hargreaves win the defensive midfield role over Michael Carrick. And at the strikers, it'll be interesting to see how Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez play with each other up front. Don't forget there are still young buy Andersen, Chinese international Dong Fangzhuo and Chris Eagles to give Sir Alex Ferguson a wealth of options to choose from. Next up is Arsenal and their young kids.:

First XI / Second XI:
1 jens LEHMANN ........................... 24 manuel ALMUNIA

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27 emmanuel EBOUE .............................. 3 bacary SAGNA
5 kolo TOURE .................................. 6 philippe SENDEROS
10 william GALLAS ............................ 20 johan DJOUROU
22 gael CLICHY ................................. ?? armand TRAORE
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13 aliaksandr HLEB ...................................... 15 DENILSON
4 cesc FABREGAS ......................................... 2 abou DIABY
19 GILBERTO silva (C) .................. 16 mathieu FLAMINI
7 tomas ROSICKY ................................ 32 theo WALCOTT
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11 robin VAN PERSIE ...................... 26 nicklas BENDTER
25 emmanuel ADEBAYOR .............. 9 EDUARDO da silva

Another 4-4-2 formation, this time its Arsenal's two teams. Its unlike Man Utd's 4-4-2 though, as this Arsenal formation will allow free movement of the wide players, to move in and out of the center of midfield, or allow them to bomb forward, with one striker dropping back to the flanks. So their version of the 4-4-2 formation is very free and random movement for the attacking players. The only flanking will be from the full-backs and occasionally crosses will come in from the two wide men. The midfield will look to be interesting if there's a crisis there, especially when 3 out of 4 players of the second team are central midfielders, although Abou Diaby plays out left, with Theo Walcott probably on the right flank, should a crisis really happen. No Thierry Henry? No problem. There's still Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, new-signing Eduardo da Silva and youngster Nicklas Bendter. Arsene Wenger is not as equipped with as good depth as the other two title rivals, but their creativity should be a main factor in whatever success.

So these are the two teams of each title rivals of Liverpool FC for the coming season. Now let's compare a little on the teams with Liverpool's own two teams, that I posted earlier.:

Goalkeeper 1: Petr Cech 9, Edwin van der Sar 8, Jens Lehmann 7 ... Jose Reina 7.5
Goalkeeper 2: Carlo Cudicini 7, Tomasz Kuszczak 6.5, Manuel Almunia 5.5 ... Scott Carson 6.5

Right-Back 1: Paulo Ferreira 5.5, Gary Neville 8, Emmanuel Eboue 6.5 ... Steve Finnan 8.5
Right-Back 2: Glen Johnson 5, Wes Brown 6, Bacary Sagna 5 ... Alvaro Arbeloa 6

Center-Back 1: John Terry 9, Rio Ferdinand 8.5, Kolo Toure 8 ... Jamie Carragher 8.5
Center-Back 2: Ricardo Carvalho 7.5, Nemanja Vidic 7.5, William Gallas 7 ... Daniel Agger 7
Center-Back 3: Tal Ben Haim 6, John O'Shea 6.5, Philippe Senderos 6 ... Sami Hyypia 6.5
Center-Back 4: Michael Mancienne 3, Gerard Pique 5, Johan Djourou 5 ... Gabriel Paletta 4

Left-Back 1: Ashley Cole 8, Patrice Evra 7.5, Gael Clichy 7.5 ... John Arne Riise 7
Left-Back 2: Wayne Bridge 7, Gabriel Heinze 7, Armand Traore 5.5 ... Fabio Aurelio 6.5

Right Winger 1: Joe Cole 7.5, Cristiano Ronaldo 9, Aliaksandr Hleb 7.5 ... Jermaine Pennant 7
Right Winger 2: Shaun Wright-Phillips 7, Park Ji Sung 6.5, Theo Walcott 6 ... Yossi Benayoun 6.5

Central Midfielder 1: Frank Lampard 8, Paul Scholes 8, Cesc Fabregas 7 ... Steven Gerrard 8.5
Central Midfielder 2: Michael Essien 7, Owen Hargreaves 7, Gilberto Silva 7.5 ... Xabi Alonso 7.5
Central Midfielder 3: Michael Ballack 6.5, Michael Carrick 7.5, Mathieu Flamini 6.5 ... Javier Mascherano 7
Central Midfielder 4: Steve Sidwell 6.5, Darren Fletcher 7, Denilson 6 ... Mohamed Sissoko 6.5

Left Winger 1: Florent Malouda 7, Ryan Giggs 7.5, Tomas Rosicky 7 ... Harry Kewell 7
Left Winger 2: Salomon Kalou 7, Nani 6.5, Abou Diaby 6.5 ... Ryan Babel 6.5

Striker 1: Didier Drogba 9, Wayne Rooney 8.5, Robin van Persie 8.5 ... Dirk Kuyt 8.5
Striker 2: Andriy Shevchenko 6, Carlos Tevez 8, Emmanuel Adebayor 7 ... Fernando Torres 7.5
Striker 3: --------------------, Louis Saha 6.5, Eduardo da Silva 6.5 ... Peter Crouch 7
Striker 4: --------------------, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 6.5, Nicklas Bendter 6 ... Andriy Voronin 6.5

Woo! What a long post. Not bad if you managed to read till this far. Haha.... Loads of information, I know... I think I took an hour to do this! Heh! So make your own judgement about these players and the two teams. Leave a comment or what you think on the tagboard.

Bye~!

my thoughts at 3:59 pm