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Whem Owen returns they'll be a lot stronger at the back.

The difference is, about 7 of your Man U list are strong players;
only about 3 of Liv's are.

Everton were piss-poor, which flattered Arsenal- but credit for
taking their chances.
Moyes, who I have a lot of respect for, will bollock them back into
shape- once he gets rid of the trouble-maker.

Guilbert wrote:
> Man U have lost Ronaldo and Tevez and now have a weaker squad.
Still stronger than most- and they have team-spirit, which may not
be the case at Chelsea when things get tough. Too many egos about.


> Scholes and Giggs are now a year older and are not up to a full
> season of matches. Hargreaves is still injured, and Nani and
> Anderson have not delivered on their promise.
Nani's coming on nicely, though.


> He has a lot of midfield players at Man U, but how many would
> get in the Chelsea or Barcelona team, few if any (Carrick?).
Man U people get in by merit, not price-tag.


> Chelsea have a large squad and have the best set of "back up"
> players of any team.
When they want to play, true.......



> (I am neutral, a Villa supporter, who WONT do as well as last
> season)
I think they'll manage fifth. They'll recover; one game does not a
season make.

>I am neutral, a Villa supporter, who WONT do as well as last season
>
>I think they'll manage fifth. They'll recover; one game does not a season make.

Nice of you to say so, but I am not so optimistic.

It is likely the big four, plus Man city, probably also Spurs (who look strong), and maybe Everton as well (even at a push Fulham), could all finish above Villa.

Villa have lost 3 high quality international players in the last season or two (Mellberg went to Juventus, then at the end of last season Laursen retired, and of course Gareth Barry has gone to City).

Only Beye of Newcastle has joined a weak defence, and only an injured Downing and a young Delph has joined in midfield.

I know O'Neil likes to buy late in the transfer window (not sure why) but unless he buys 2 or 3 players in the next week it could be a long season.

There's supposed to be a big kitty, though?
But I agree with your qualms about O'Neill's spending policy- it
does seem eccentric.

But then, so does Rafa's : -)

Some people believe that buying late in the transfer window means getting better value, as selling clubs do not have plenty of time to haggle and try to drive the price up. As there is only a limited amount of time available, if they want to sell they need to be realistic about the price, otherwise the window is likely close without the deal being done.

Plus selling clubs will sometimes hold out for a higher price, hoping that someone else will also come in for the player and start a bidding war. Obviously when it gets late in the transfer window there's less chance of someone else coming in at that stage, so there's therefore less incentive for selling clubs to try and string the deal out.

>Some people believe that buying late in the transfer window means getting better value,

Yes but there is a danger you miss out on all the good players !

>It is likely the big four, plus Man city, probably also Spurs (who look strong),

Seems I was right about Spurs, 5-1 away at Hull tonight

Spurs look like a well oiled European style attacking team ... but when will the cracks at the back start busting wide open??