We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez are playing out of their skins, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong are keeping the midfield humming and even Micah Richards has found his form again. A month into Roberto Mancini's reign at Eastlands, we have to ask the question - are Manchester City the best team in England?
posted by The Blue Devil @ 10:05 AM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
5 Comments:
No
No, that would be Chelsea, taking over Man U's mantel for now. And the key word is TEAM. If you're asking about who has the most in form STARS, Man City might head that list.
They're following the Real Madrid model and will have occasional success, but Chelsea under Ancelloti are the Barcelona of the Prem. IMHO.
That was my feeling at the beginning of the season, for sure, Gooner. However, I'm not so sure at this point. Cech, for example is a major liability for Chelsea and Ancelloti doesn't seem to be willing to give up on him yet. The back four have just about lost all confidence in Cech so when balls come into the area there is often sheer chaos among a unit that should be the strongest in the country.
Without Drogba, Chelsea lose a major spark. When he's not in the side, they tend to be a bit flat. I would imagine that the Blues will drop some points during the African Nations Cup as a result.
With Citeh, on the other hand, the only weak link that I can see is in the center of defense. If Sheikh Mansour is willing to shell out for a top class center back, they may well be complete.
I reckon that, like Chelsea under Abramovich, it will take Citeh about a year and a half and a change of manager to start winning things. They won't win the championship this season but I wouldn't bet against them winning it all next season. And they're still in both Cups.
You may be right, but I don't think you are. I don't think that culturally, Mansour "gets" football. He just loves the eye-candy. Look at how tone-deaf they were when they bought Lescott. He's a nearly complete mug and yet because the British papers had built him up beyond his ability, Citeh decided to waive the Dinars at him. For that kind of money they could have had Samuel or Pique or Vidic but because they have no culture, they got Lescott.
They're not the only ones either. Chelsea were lucky. It was Mourinho who married the idea of pairing a competent football-playing minder with the bull-dog spirited, but blundering Terry, not Abramovich. Pair Alex with Terry and they're a spirited train-wreck.
You may be right that having Drogba, Essien, Kalou, and Obi-Mikel out of the side will slow Chelsea down. Losing that list would slow any team down. And make a bunch of show-ponies like Citeh's look very good in comparison.
And you are probably right that Mancini has the nous to spot a world class defender that could really help. But the sparkle of a Torres, a Fabregas, a Messi, etc is always going be the eye-candy that rules the day there.
Citeh with Tevez and Bellamy go down 2-0 versus Everton b-t-w.
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