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The strength of Chelsea's squad is very impressive and could see them nick the title from Manchester United this season.
All across their squad they have internationals fighting for places.
Especially in midfield, I will have to reluctantly admit that Chelsea has the best midfield in the English Premier League.
While they have the likes of Michael Ballack, John Obi Mkael, SWP and Florent Malouda who are not automatic starters and who tussle for first team places, we have Darren Fletcher and even occasionally use John O'Shea in midfield.
Our squad players are not really in the same class are they?
While I really John O'Shea and think he is a hero for scoring that goal at the Kop end in 06/07, he is not in the same quality bracket as the Chelsea squad players are.
John O'Shea is a defender who has been asked to player all over the park for Manchester United and he does a good job, but Man Utd need more strength in depth to stay in front of Chelsea.
Roy Keane said as much this week when he said that the signing of Dimitar Berbatov would give Man Utd a real chance of retaining the title.
I happen to agree.
It doesn't have to be Berbatov, but just about any tall centre forward of quality.
The reason being that we first of all need someone in that mould, but secondly, it would give us the possibility of playing different formations and match Chelsea's first team.
While we might not have Chelsea's strength in depth, I'd say that our first team could match theirs, so it is very important for our first team players to avoid injury.
With Louis Saha's fitness currently nothing more than a cruel joke and Wayne Rooney not managing a full season in the past few years, it is really important for us to get a tall, strong centre forward.
With a tall, strong centre forward of genuine quality, we could potentially play our best line-up, which would see Ronaldo and Rooney play on the shoulders of the centref forward when attacking. They would then drop back to the sides when defending to stop any attack on the wings.
The reason we would need that is because I see the left wing position as an area that needs improving and Nani is still developing.
This is the best line-up I'm hoping for this season:
Berbatov
Rooney - - - - - - - - - - Ronaldo
Scholes - - - Carrick
Hargreaves
Evra - Vidic - Ferdinand - Brown
van der Sar
I realize that this would omit Tevez, but I'm just not sure how to play him. I'm guessing in Ronaldo's absence, Tevez could play in his position.
Also, if Rooney does get injured, Tevez could play in his positions.
I think this is would be a team that could beat any opposition in Europe, but is imperative our first team stay fit, so that Chelsea's superior squad strength does not becaome a factor.
Chelsea
Petr Cech
Carlo Cudicini*
Branislav Ivanovic*
Paulo Ferreira*
Juliano Haus Belletti
John Terry
Ricardo Carvalho
Wayne Bridge*
Ashley Cole
José Bosingwa
Wayne Bridge*
Alex da Dias Costa
Michael Ballack*
Florent Malouda
John Mikel Obi
Michael Essien
Frank Lampard
Deco
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Joe Cole
Salomon Kalou
Didier Drogba
Franco Di Santo
Claudio Miguel Pizarro
Nicolas Anelka
Andriy Shevchenko*
Manchester United
Edwin Van der Sar
Ben Foster
Tomasz Kuszczak
Patrice Evra
Rio Ferdinand
Nemanja Vidic
Gary Neville
Wes Brown
John O'Shea
Mikael Silvestre
Jonathan Evans
Ji-Sung Park
Paul Scholes
Michael Carrick
Ryan Giggs
Owen Hargreaves
Anderson
Darren Fletcher
Nani
Cristiano Ronaldo**
Fraizer Campbell
Louis Saha
Wayne Rooney
Carlos Tevez
*Denotes a part-time footballer
**Indicates a slave
All across their squad they have internationals fighting for places.
Especially in midfield, I will have to reluctantly admit that Chelsea has the best midfield in the English Premier League.
While they have the likes of Michael Ballack, John Obi Mkael, SWP and Florent Malouda who are not automatic starters and who tussle for first team places, we have Darren Fletcher and even occasionally use John O'Shea in midfield.
Our squad players are not really in the same class are they?
While I really John O'Shea and think he is a hero for scoring that goal at the Kop end in 06/07, he is not in the same quality bracket as the Chelsea squad players are.
John O'Shea is a defender who has been asked to player all over the park for Manchester United and he does a good job, but Man Utd need more strength in depth to stay in front of Chelsea.
Roy Keane said as much this week when he said that the signing of Dimitar Berbatov would give Man Utd a real chance of retaining the title.
I happen to agree.
It doesn't have to be Berbatov, but just about any tall centre forward of quality.
The reason being that we first of all need someone in that mould, but secondly, it would give us the possibility of playing different formations and match Chelsea's first team.
While we might not have Chelsea's strength in depth, I'd say that our first team could match theirs, so it is very important for our first team players to avoid injury.
With Louis Saha's fitness currently nothing more than a cruel joke and Wayne Rooney not managing a full season in the past few years, it is really important for us to get a tall, strong centre forward.
With a tall, strong centre forward of genuine quality, we could potentially play our best line-up, which would see Ronaldo and Rooney play on the shoulders of the centref forward when attacking. They would then drop back to the sides when defending to stop any attack on the wings.
The reason we would need that is because I see the left wing position as an area that needs improving and Nani is still developing.
This is the best line-up I'm hoping for this season:
Berbatov
Rooney - - - - - - - - - - Ronaldo
Scholes - - - Carrick
Hargreaves
Evra - Vidic - Ferdinand - Brown
van der Sar
I realize that this would omit Tevez, but I'm just not sure how to play him. I'm guessing in Ronaldo's absence, Tevez could play in his position.
Also, if Rooney does get injured, Tevez could play in his positions.
I think this is would be a team that could beat any opposition in Europe, but is imperative our first team stay fit, so that Chelsea's superior squad strength does not becaome a factor.
Chelsea
Petr Cech
Carlo Cudicini*
Branislav Ivanovic*
Paulo Ferreira*
Juliano Haus Belletti
John Terry
Ricardo Carvalho
Wayne Bridge*
Ashley Cole
José Bosingwa
Wayne Bridge*
Alex da Dias Costa
Michael Ballack*
Florent Malouda
John Mikel Obi
Michael Essien
Frank Lampard
Deco
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Joe Cole
Salomon Kalou
Didier Drogba
Franco Di Santo
Claudio Miguel Pizarro
Nicolas Anelka
Andriy Shevchenko*
Manchester United
Edwin Van der Sar
Ben Foster
Tomasz Kuszczak
Patrice Evra
Rio Ferdinand
Nemanja Vidic
Gary Neville
Wes Brown
John O'Shea
Mikael Silvestre
Jonathan Evans
Ji-Sung Park
Paul Scholes
Michael Carrick
Ryan Giggs
Owen Hargreaves
Anderson
Darren Fletcher
Nani
Cristiano Ronaldo**
Fraizer Campbell
Louis Saha
Wayne Rooney
Carlos Tevez
*Denotes a part-time footballer
**Indicates a slave
