with the curtain raisers complete, the premier league begins in earnest tonight when Chelsea takes on minnows Burnley. here I assess the performances and characters of selected teams who curtain raised for Chelsea. Manchester United Defensively against Swansea, Man United were all over the place. But forget three at the back or four at the back. They could play any system they want but it would make no difference — the players are just not good enough. So much has been said about Louis van Gaal and how he is going to take the 3-5-2 that worked so well with Holland at the World Cup and use it with United. But I’m already sick of talking about systems. It doesnt matter what formation United play, it’s about the quality of the players and at United that quality is sorely lacking at the moment. It sounds simplistic, but how many of the United team who started on Sunday would get into the Man City or Chelsea teams? Maybe Wayne Rooney at a push, but that’s about it. In a way having a decent pre-season was the worst thing that could have happened to Van Gaal as all it did was raise expectations. The good news for him, though, is that he still has time to bring in some new faces, but who is going to want to come in? The way United are at the minute you could get Van Gaal, Bob Paisley and Jose Mourinho to manage them together and even they would have a job getting them back into the top four. Arsenal Before he broke his leg in 2010, Aaron Ramsey was talked about as one of the best young players in Britain. He is truly living up to that billing. Arsenal did not play that well against Crystal Palace but Ramsey is starting to become like their own Frank Lampard. Frank was so good at scoring vital goals for Chelsea, particularly late on. Now Ramsey is doing the same. He’s full of confidence and he is like a magnet to the ball in the area. He is a phenomenal athlete. He covered more ground than any other player in the game and that energy and athleticism is why he is finding himself in the right place at the right time so often. Manchester City Of all the top sides to play this weekend, Man City looked the most accomplished. They had the trickiest fixture away at Newcastle but still had more than enough quality to put them away. Lots of people have tipped Chelsea to win it this season but City will make a much better fist of retaining the title than they did the last time they won it. The key for City is keeping the spine of their team fit. Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero only started five Premier League games together last season, but City still won the trophy. If they can keep those boys playing, there is no reason why they can’t go on to defend it this time around. Southampton After the firesale on the south coast this summer, plenty of people expect Southampton to be battling relegation. They will be fine. Victor Wanyama is a beast in midfield, Morgan Schneiderlin is an asset if he stays and James Ward-Prowse is an excellent young player. Nobody expects them to do as well as last season but they proved at Anfield they are still a good side and they were unlucky to lose. Bring on Burnley We all know what to expect from Chelsea on Monday night, but I think a lot of people are going to enjoy watching Burnley this year. Sean Dyche has done brilliantly to get them back in the Premier League and I like the way they play their football. Keep an eye out for Kieran Trippier and Danny Ings, two youngsters set to impress. At 23, Trippier could go on to be an England right back. He is a good crosser of the ball, is good at set-pieces at both ends of the pitch and he takes a good free-kick. As for Ings, he is a real livewire and after 26 goals last season he means business. Credit to Jamie Redknapp of Sportsmail
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 05:06:14 +0000
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