billycopper
Player Valuation: £40m
I see the Premier League changing over the next 3 years. Unless United, Liverpool and Chelsea do something drastic, I can see them slipping away from the top of the Premier League and being replaced by City, Spurs and either Villa or ourselves.
United are, according to today's Football Focus, virtually bankrupt. The Glazers are taking £22m out of the club every year. The signing of Smalling may well have been to appease fans with concerns over the solvency of the club. It most-likely signals the exit of Vidic during the summer. Neville, Scholes and Giggs are all close to retirement. Ferdinand is woefully short of form and fitness. Anderson, Nani and Berbatov are showing no signs of fulfilling their potential. Where would they be without Rooney? What if the Glazers decide to cash in on their prize asset? What if Fergie announces his retirement? They have a big rebuilding job on their hands.
Liverpool rely too much on Torres and Gerrard. Without them, they're a very ordinary side. Again the club is experiencing financial difficulties. What if City, for example, came in with a colossal bid for either or both of those players? Benayoun is supposedly departing for Russia and Benitez seems Juventus-bound. Liverpool are another club with major restructuring work to do.
Abromovich has told Chelsea that they must now stand on their own two feet financially. The problem being that the core of the team (Cech, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Joe Cole, Deco, Lampard and Anelka) are all coming to the end of their peaks. It takes time, and very often money, to bring through youngsters of sufficient quality to bring the average age of the side down.
Arsenal, Villa, Spurs and ourselves have been gradually building over a number of years. Our squads are of the right age. Financially, the clubs are stable. We're each looking for the final pieces of the jigsaw to take us up to the next level. Arsenal will no doubt be at the forefront of that, challenging City, and performing well in the Champions League. I feel that Villa are a little formulaic and that they lack strength in depth. Barry is a big loss for them. Spurs have a lot of good players and are exciting to watch. Consistency and defensive issues are their biggest undoing. I feel that we're closer to having the side that can compete than either of those two. Unfortunately, they have an edge on us financially.
I'm not saying that United, Liverpool and Chelsea will fall away completely, although it's not inconcievable. All three clubs have spent time in the 'wilderness' in the time that I've been following football. My point is that I feel there's an opportunity coming for the clubs who have been patiently building a side over a number of years to challenge the monopoly over trophies that the 'big 4' have enjoyed for a number of years. We could be entering a new phase for English football, not too dissimilar to the late seventies and early eighties, where compact, well-organised teams such as Forest, Ipswich and even ourselves enjoyed success on the national and european stage.
Ofcourse enjoying a spell at the summit of the league would mean Champions League income for ourselves rather than our neighbours across Stanley Park, which would compound their problems still further. Now, wouldn't that be a shame?!
United are, according to today's Football Focus, virtually bankrupt. The Glazers are taking £22m out of the club every year. The signing of Smalling may well have been to appease fans with concerns over the solvency of the club. It most-likely signals the exit of Vidic during the summer. Neville, Scholes and Giggs are all close to retirement. Ferdinand is woefully short of form and fitness. Anderson, Nani and Berbatov are showing no signs of fulfilling their potential. Where would they be without Rooney? What if the Glazers decide to cash in on their prize asset? What if Fergie announces his retirement? They have a big rebuilding job on their hands.
Liverpool rely too much on Torres and Gerrard. Without them, they're a very ordinary side. Again the club is experiencing financial difficulties. What if City, for example, came in with a colossal bid for either or both of those players? Benayoun is supposedly departing for Russia and Benitez seems Juventus-bound. Liverpool are another club with major restructuring work to do.
Abromovich has told Chelsea that they must now stand on their own two feet financially. The problem being that the core of the team (Cech, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Joe Cole, Deco, Lampard and Anelka) are all coming to the end of their peaks. It takes time, and very often money, to bring through youngsters of sufficient quality to bring the average age of the side down.
Arsenal, Villa, Spurs and ourselves have been gradually building over a number of years. Our squads are of the right age. Financially, the clubs are stable. We're each looking for the final pieces of the jigsaw to take us up to the next level. Arsenal will no doubt be at the forefront of that, challenging City, and performing well in the Champions League. I feel that Villa are a little formulaic and that they lack strength in depth. Barry is a big loss for them. Spurs have a lot of good players and are exciting to watch. Consistency and defensive issues are their biggest undoing. I feel that we're closer to having the side that can compete than either of those two. Unfortunately, they have an edge on us financially.
I'm not saying that United, Liverpool and Chelsea will fall away completely, although it's not inconcievable. All three clubs have spent time in the 'wilderness' in the time that I've been following football. My point is that I feel there's an opportunity coming for the clubs who have been patiently building a side over a number of years to challenge the monopoly over trophies that the 'big 4' have enjoyed for a number of years. We could be entering a new phase for English football, not too dissimilar to the late seventies and early eighties, where compact, well-organised teams such as Forest, Ipswich and even ourselves enjoyed success on the national and european stage.
Ofcourse enjoying a spell at the summit of the league would mean Champions League income for ourselves rather than our neighbours across Stanley Park, which would compound their problems still further. Now, wouldn't that be a shame?!
