Bayern Munich will win the Champions League this year

I know I'm a bit late here but I want to reply to Sir Jackie Chiles's first post:
Excuse me?!Morientes and Guti ok?! Are you kidding me?!These 2 players could start(and score) in any other Europeen team!They are more than just ok!
That said I don't see Madrid as Euro Champions.They are(very) week on D and all you need to beat them is a good striker!
The fondations(?) of a good team(in any sports) is it's defense!


ALA

 

I think that there were some other issues that were keeping Morientes out of the side last year. He seemed to score nearly every time he played for the Spanish national team, but still couldn't get near the Real side.

Incidentally, Inter have denied the Vieri move.

Chelsea don't have any world class players? But you think Newcastle are an outside bet for the Champion's League?

Chelsea have Desailly, Hasselbaink, Petit, Veron, Duff, Gronkjaer, and decent young talent in Carlton Cole, Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, John Terry...

Their squad isn't exactly chopped liver now.

 

It's not unrealistic to pick Chelsea as a darkhorse for CL success...the talent's there, and they've got the skill with the likes of Veron (about the only place he's played well the last 2 seasons) to make the difference in Europe.

Newcastle hasn't done anything this summer to make me confident in them, and they've got some bad influences in their club that are worrying them (Craig Bellamy, etc..)

The best bet in my book would be with the Italians or Bayern.

Any predictions on the EPL season?

 

Desailly declined noticeably last year - Terry should replace him. I expect Terry to be great someday, but probably not next year.

Hasselbaink sucked last year. He wasn't even "good," much less world class.

Petit was world class... for Arsenal. Merely good, now.

Veron is an enigma. On his day, he's superb. Too often, he disappears. Maybe this will be his year. Seems to save his best for Italian sides.

Duff... almost everyone thought Chelsea overspent for him - at 18m. He's an excellent winger/forward. But his shot isn't great, and his crosses are only good, not spectacular. His positioning is at times dubious, and he relies on his pace too much.

Gronjaer - since when has *anybody* considered him world class? He disappears for *months*... decent winger, but little more.

I like Carlton Cole and Wayne Bridge... but world class? I did say Chelsea had great depth. I criticized their lack of truly world class players, so these guys are irrelevant. Joe Cole, I'm not entirely sold on. He has great technical ability, but struggled against poor opposition frequently. Ranieri might be good for him, though, because he was tactically misused last year and played too far back. World Class? Really?

Terry needs another couple of years... I do realy like him in the lon run to be a great player.

Chelsea are a very good team, but let's not go over the top here. Their squad finished a distant 4th in the EPL last year, far behind the 2 leaders. They were eliminated from the UEFA cup by Viking, a frickin' Norwegian team!

They brought in some good players, one eccentric but occasionally great player, and 3 good prospects for the future.

A good team, but definitely not a CL contender. IF they make the quarters, they should cal it a good season.

EDIT: On Newcastle...

They're my darkhorse because Shearer is a rea difference maker, Jenas and Dyer might be the best young midfield in Europe... and like Chelsea, are brimming w/depth and prospects.

I don't think they're actually much more likely than Chelsea to win it all (just slightly)... but if they can find a good holding player (or if Bowyer rediscovers his form of old), it wouldn't utterly shock me. I don't think they're the best team in Europe - but if thinsg fell their way, I could see it happen.

I think they've been sort of forgotten in the excitement about Chelsea, the decline of Arsenal, and the perpetual buzz around Man Utd.

 

Either Fergie has gone senile or he has something up his sleeve, and I hope it isn't Kleberson.

Duff is definitely on Makaay's level. He carried Ireland in the Cup and did it without any showboating, just like Makaay does for Deportivo. But Deportivo is a better team than Ireland's national squad IMO and Duff also carried Blackburn who really belonged about 10 slots lower without him in the lineup. Duff is like a healthy and less trouble prone Roy Keane. Duff will become the team leader and with Veron, and Cole, that is going to be one mean midfield. Especially with Ranieri touting Veron as the best in the World. It is like me pappy always said, never let a man down who has faith in you.

But still, the front of Makaay and Pizarro and Elber, with Ballack running the show and with Kahn the Wall in Goal, I will definitely be putting some euros on the Bayern Boys. That is a scary team.