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Soccer: The Premiership
NINE months to go, 38 matches to be played, yet we still
know for certain who will win the Premiership this season.
Conclusions are rarely as foregone as this, but Chelsea are
so far ahead of the pack it ir surely just a case of waiting
for the day John Terry picks up the league trophy again and
we hold our winnings aloft in the bookies. You will struggle
to find anyone who doesn’t believe Chelsea will retain the
title this season. And why should you?
They cantered to glory last season and in Jose Mourinho they
have a manager who has twice tasted European glory with an
unfashionable Portuguese club. There is surely no ceiling on
what he can achieve now he is bankrolled by a Russian
billionaire.
In Sunday’s Community Shield, they had £90million of talent
sitting on the bench. They were worth more than the players
Arsenal had on the pitch.
On top of that they will surely sign Michael Essien for
£30m-plus within the next couple of weeks.
Sort of makes you nostalgic for the days when Manchester
United and Arsenal used to have it between them. At least
then we had a two-horse race.
Now it’s down to one. A walkover. While it’s impossible to
see anything other than more success heading towards
Stamford Bridge, the 8-11 about them retaining their
title will hardly keep us warm in the months ahead. So where
do you stand on Liverpool?
Flat-track bullies who got lucky in Europe? Or a side
who showed exactly they could achieve on the greatest club
stage of all?
I remain to be convinced about the Scousers, chiefly because
many of their imports are too lightweight to cope with the
demands of the Premiership and they look only half the side
without the magnificent Steven Gerrard.
But any side good enough to conquer Europe should have what
it takes to make at least a reasonable assault on their
domestic competition.
They won’t win it. Oh no. Won’t even come close. But at 5-2
they are roaring good value to beat Manchester United in the
battle to be top club in the North West.
You would hardly describe United’s decline as terminal, but
there is enough to suggest they are a hugely fading force.
Roy Keane’s influence is diminishing by the season, the
production line from the youth academy has dried up and
injuries look to have caught up with Ruud van Nistelrooy and
Ryan Giggs. And the low-key captures of Edwin van der Sar
and Korean workhouse Park Ji-Sung will have done little to
convince punters that the tide is turning. The time is right
to take them on.
So make the most of the next paragraph because you won’t see
it repeated too often in this column.
Liverpool. Lump on.
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