Real Madrid, Manchester United, FC Barcelona. Where are these clubs heading ?
By Mani Honigstein
6 Comments
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Summer is in full swing and we are all waiting for the 2009-2010 seasons to start. La Liga will be the key focus next year with the titans Real Madrid and Barcelona fighting for the crown. In general Real Madrid keeps us busy this summer. When they built the first Galacticos, Real Madrid took it easy and basically added one super star each year. Now it seems that  Perez does not have the time and buys all the stars in one season. The craziness seems to have no end, no global recession is going on and transfer amounts are skyrocking.
So what will happen with some of the big clubs in the next season?
1.       Real Madrid: For some reason I believe that it will take time to form this team. They will have problems in the beginning and get nervous about it. They spent too much money, so anything less than winning La Liga will be unacceptable for them. So far they have not bought any star for the defense, which was their real problem last year. So it looks like they are making the same mistakes they did in the early decade. Back then their focus was on Zidan, Figo, Ronaldo, paired with Roberto Carlos and Raul. But it was really when they bought david Beckham that the whole team did not make sense anymore. As a Barcelona Fan I am almost hoping that they will perform poorly next season. 
2.       FC Barcelona:  So far Pep Guardiola did not buy any news stars. The Barcelona team destroyed any other national or international team, so it is hard to imagine that they could play even better. Iniesta, Xavi, Eto'o, Henry. Leo Messi. Together with a solid defense around Puyol and Pique. At the same time this current team won everything and you almost need to buy some players just for the sake of change. The players from this season will not be that hungry anymore next season. This is the only real danger I see for the club for next season. Other than that, Barcelona is my favorite for the La Liga title and should at least get to the Semi Finals in the Champions League.
3.       Manchester United: Manchester lost their prince. Cristiano Ronaldo was pretty much the dominant figure in Manchester in the last 2-3 years. He performed outstanding things and in my opinion they will miss him more than they believe. They still have Wayne Rooney, but Berbatov had a poor second half of the season. Ronaldo made the difference for them to the other clubs in the Top 4. With a bit of more stability Liverpool could really make it this time. Also Arsenal looks promising in my opinion and we need to see how Ancelotti will do at Chelsea. I was shocked to hear today that Benzema was not going to Manchester, but to Barcelona. It will be a very difficult year for the Red Devils.
Other teams to watch will be Juventus Turin and AC Milan. In my opinion with Kaka gone, Milan will fall apart completely. They have in Beckham and Ronaldiho two stars who have already seen their best days. Juve will be interesting because I know Diego's strength from Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.
One more month and everything starts all over again.
(and I managed to write a blog without mentioning FC Bayern…not bad)
6  Comments
02.07.2009 22:14
Hi, Mani. Congratulations on not mentioning the FCB - do you think they have a chance at the Champions League? Otherwise, I agree with you - and my favorites are Barcelona. As for these three, I would include Chelsea as the "underdog favorite" (that is, as far as winning statistics is concerned, not "purchasing power" to buy players)
By  Touchdown23
02.07.2009 23:46
Good article Mani, i can´t wait to see "el classico" this season. You´re right, real needs time to become a team, which will cost them a few points in the beginning. I hope barca is sitll hungry and able to keep their perfomance on the same high level as they did it last season. It´s about time for liverpool to win the premiership and they are my favourite english team. I have no idea about how man u will act without CR. They are still a top team but they´re also became some kind of "regular" now.
03.07.2009 05:46
barca ll b hot to handle wid i guess vilaa wld come and dat makes dem doubly difiicult to handle dey r having a good pool of team players wid some extraordinary talent...................i truly bel dey ll win d la liga..................For real i dont think dey ll stand a chance to win i personally dont give dem a very good chance to win d league............dey r still fragile at d back.....dey r havin so much individual talent......for me i think dere ll b dayys wen dey score 5 or 6 and dere ll b days wen dey ll concede 4 or 5.......for barca dey r a consistent team......I HOPE AND PRAY BARCA SHD WIN D LEAGUE ONLY FOR D SAKE OF FOOTBALL.................TO SHOW THAT U CANT WIN WID INDIVIDUALS BUT WID A TEAM.....AND ALSO TO SHOW FOOTBALL IS NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY.....for man united and as a fan of united i dont no wats goin on dere i m really frustrated by dis year transfers.......i always wonder y d hell we cant buy a big established player.................
03.07.2009 10:14
(and I managed to write a blog without mentioning FC Bayern…not bad) - You did it atlast - but what the heck - throw some bavarian flavour in there....Real Madrid- don't know why they wanted Ronaldo so bad...What they really needed was a solid defence line....Liverpool is too Gerrard and Torres depended...And they need to come out of the habit of draws with lesser teams...My Prediction Bundesliga - Bayern Spain - Barca (hopefully) England - Liverpool France - OL And just curious - how do you rate Metzelder - He seems to be on the way to Besiktas...Why not bundesliga
03.07.2009 19:00
barca wont win the cl this season 4 the same reason man utd, and no other club could... accumulated fatigue... seen the no. of extra games they need to play this season?
04.07.2009 09:56
its barca ..oly real will have a problem of to many ..naturally consumin time for players to settle.....................by tat time guess barca will be ahead .....with easy co ordination as much changes have not taken place......................
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