Promising teams and players this year

[micke_mouseX]

So... who do you think will have a big impact on this years season? We all remember last years great performances put in by C.Ronaldo, Kaka' , Ruud van Nisterlooy, Didier Drogba. This year seems even more competitive in all major leagues... Chelsea and Liverpool seem to be up and running in the Premiership where Torres and Malouda are bound to have a huge impact there. Italy also has several great teams with big players, Inter with the likes of Ibrahimovich who is on top of his form, Milan with the everpresent Kaka', probably the Ballon d'Or of last year, Juventus are up to te job of going for the title this year with club veterans Alesandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon and David Trezeguet,Fiorentina is more than able to catch a UCL spot at least with in form Adrian Mutu. La Liga is going to be even closer than last year it seems with Real Madrid big spending spree, bringing the likes of Wesley Sjneider, who has already proven his worth in gold for de Madridistas, also young Royston Drenthe seems promising, and eager to prove himself, literaly cannoning into Spain with a marvelous goal against Sevilla in the Super Cup. Barcelona have also boosted their squad with the likes of Thiery Henry and Yaya Toure, even though Henry needs adapting it seems, the Ivorian Yaya Toure is up for the chalenge and being very competitive on the field, also the discovery of young Dos Santos is a matter worth looking into, but most importantly for Barca, it seems Ronaldinho is well on way to bringing those moments of magic that the Camp Nou was used to in past campaigns, with a meaner free kick than ever and his playmaking abilites coming back, Ronaldinho is ready to impress once again. More than worth mentioning are Sevilla who are on their way to make history it seems, even with the tragic passing of young Antonio Puerta, Sevilla are more than capable of competeing in Spain.
France has grown tired of the Lyon era with a surprising leader to say the least, AS Nancy being the spearhead of Ligue 1 at this time, and Lyon being only in 5 place behind names such as Bordeaux and Monaco.
In the Bundesliga things seem like back to normal for Bayern Munchen, after a shoping fest in the summer bringing big names like Miroslav Klose and Franck Ribery, the Bavarian giants are bent on making up for the more than dissapointing season last year.

 

[MaestroZidane]

Great post, but other than the Chelsea comment, I agree with what you have said. My reason for not agreeing with the Chelsea comments is that so far they haven't showed me the dominance required to be labeled a winning team. Each of their last games they have started of slow and barely coming out with a win. Each game could have gone against them. Liverpool however, are playing like they really want to win the League this year and I believe they can go all the way..

 

[micke_mouseX]

Regarding Chelsea... indeed the don't seem like a team that dictates the pace on the pitch, that's something that owner Roman Abramovich has been trying to fix for the last 2 seasons, but in my opinion Chelsea have that style of play that many have contested over the past years, defend and counteratack, and they do have strong quick players to support that style, though they seemed dependant last year on Didier Drogba, this year Florent Malouda might be able to take that extra pressure of the shoulders of Drogba and help Chelsea to a better season than last years.

 

[Capela]

all the portuguese teams can make a good performance in this year's CL
regarding players these are the ones i think you should pay close attentin to:
porto - helton, bosingwa, alves, lucho, quaresma and lisandro
sporting - polga, veloso, moutinho, romagnoli, liedson
benfica - d.luiz, léo, petit, rui costa, di maria, cardozo

 

[SafHossain03]

...Derby County. But seriously, I dont see how you can call any of these teams or players 'promising'. They're top players at top clubs being paid ludicrous money to perform. I reckon the most promising team I've seen, in the sense that I've been surprised at how well they're doing, is Newcastle. Finally with a generally injury-free season opener, they might get back to the glory days of the UEFA cup.

 

[micke_mouseX]

Newcastle could be considered a team that can produce a bit of a surprise both in the Premiership and in the Uefa Cup... but like you said they would have to stay clear of injuries, and even though Michael Owen is reminding us of that gem that came out of the 98' World Cup with very strong performances for England both with Israel and Russia, the St. James Park faithfull must hope that he won't undergo another injury.
As for Portugal, considering the bulk of european top clubs such as the ones above, in my opinion portuguese teams don't show the quality to surprise in either Uefa competitions, of course they have outstanding players such as Ricardo Quaresma, but most of the great players prefer playing abroad... Cristiano Ronaldo, Simao, Deco, are just some examples. The players in Portugal are great assets of course, but the teams have to build up solid squads and not sell top players from such a young age such as Nani, Anderson. Look at all the top clubs in Europe, the youth investment is huge, and not for the sake of selling those players but to grow them so that they can help the team. Manchester, Arsenal, Barcelona are only some of the clubs that have such a policy.

 

[Capela]

no one expected porto to win the CL in 2004 but they did, so although our odds aren't good i believe we (portuguese clubs) can make a good performance
as for selling players we need the money. it's as simple as that

 

[micke_mouseX]

That's a common problem with aspiring clubs, money, but i personaly think it's not a matter of selling your top players. Because if your goal is to win titles and go as far as you can in a european competition you must invest money, and lots of it. I must admit i do not know of the financial situation of the top portugese clubs, but if you expect a major club such as Porto, Sporting or Benfica Lisabon to be competitive they must not sell their top players, regardless of financial benefits.

 

[Gunnersgoal22]

England: Fabregas looks like he'll have a great season. Also Babel, if he starts, and Micheal Owen.
Spain, I really think Arjen Robben will tear up the league if he stays healthy. Also look out for Sjneider and Rossi.
As for Germany and Italy I think Ribery will develop into the best player in the Bundesliga and Giuly I think will be great at Roma.

 

[BayernBoz]

As for Germany I think Ribery will develop into the best player in the Bundesliga.

Ribery is the best player in the Bundesliga.

 

[Filipower]

biaaaaaased

 

[BayernBoz]

 

[ShiftyPowers]

New guy, paragraphs are your friend.

When you finish a thought, it makes it a lot easier on us readers if you hit enter twice and then begin a new paragraph.

That way, the text is not all clumped together and a strain on the eyes.

 

[Theodorakis]

we`ve got the latest instructions from Shifty*my and now we shall continue...

 

[micke_mouseX]

I'l keep that in mind next time .

 

[ogsimon]

Watch out for Carlos Vela @ Osasuna.

Should be interesting to see him against Barca at the weekend

 

[Tizmo]

No one ever talks about Arsenal. I think we have a really good team this year and a stronger teams without Henry.

 

[micke_mouseX]

Arsenal is a team full of promising young players managed by one of the best coaches in recent history.
Of course Arsenal is a team that year after year are a serious contender in any competition, and the departure of Thiery Henry could be interpreted as the end of an era at Emirates Stadium, of course Henry brought speed, surprise and most of all goals for the team and an Arsenal team with an in form and injury free Henry is always a force to be reckoned with.
Time will tell if Henry's leave will benefit the team or not.

 

[Tizmo]

Even when Henry AND van Persie were injured last season, we still played well. Now that van Persie is back and in much better form, I think Henry's departure is a benefit. The players have got much more responsibility and willingness to fight on.

 

[Dipanjan]

good sig Tizmo.