BlueChampions - The Blog of the Champions of England!

Last part of the series by Blue Winner. Now we come to the part that made the difference last season. He believes that this would be a season where our defence will rule over the rest. Also to break the suspense, he thinks we will win the title by 6 points (wonder how he arrived at this?!). Nice to hear, would be even nicer to witness it happen.

Man Utd

A position in which Manchester is talented. Neville is past the peak of his powers but still solid in the defence. Going forward he is some threat but he can be, and has been, underwhelming. In the centre are the impossibly named Nemanja Vidic as well as Rio Ferdinand.

Vidic was stellar last year prior to injury and replaced Wes Brown quite well. He is fearless in the air and seems ready and willing to throw himself after any ball and risk further injury. He is quickly becoming one of the better central defenders in the Premiership. His inclusion in the Premiership Team of the Season last year speaks to that.

Rio Ferdinand joined Vidic on the Team of the Season. He has long been a solid central defender of some renown. We are all well acquainted with Ferdinand so there is little to say about him. He also excels in the air and makes a strong compliment to John Terry in international play.

Patrice Evra joined the Red Devils last year, struggled to begin with and then settled in near the end of the season. Evra goes on the attack in much the same manner of Ashley Cole, just without quite as much as skill. Evra is a nice player for the Manchester squad and could quite possibly get better this year. Wes Brown and John O’Shea will also see some time on the back line for Sir Alex. The two of them are competent but cannot be counted on in full time duty without taking a step down from the starting four. God only knows what will come of the Gabriel Heinze situation.

Chelsea

Here Chelsea shines. Terry and Carvalho are world class. Ashley Cole is stellar when healthy and Tal Ben-Haim and Paulo Ferreira will stabilize the right back situation. In the centre Terry and Carvalho are even better than Vidic and Ferdinand. Terry dominates the air in a way that is surely among the best around the globe. Carvalho is his perfect foil with speed and aggression on the ground and a panache for going forward. It is challenging not to rave so nonsensically about Terry as to completely lose any credibility. He is simply one of the best in the world. That is all. Carvalho is not far behind. This is a position of considerable strength for Chelsea. The addition of Alex only helps.

On the outside Chelsea is also strong, finally. Cole is healthy and as threatening going forward as can be hoped. He seems to have some connection with Drogba that has helped the two link several times already and promises to again this season. A full season of Ashley will be a vast improvement over the scramble of last season. Wayne Bridge begins the season injured but can occasionally spell Cole out left.

On the right things are even rosier. Diarra is but an afterthought and the Cannibal experiment has, blessedly, ended. Ben-Haim looks to be the best choice at the outset of the season. Ferreira is more of a threat coming forward but is also not as solid in the defence. For a free addition he will be as useful as any that could have been made with the millions of Roman Abramovich. Glen Johnson will provide depth and can play either wing. Johnson was disappointing against Manchester and may struggle to find his way into the rotation.

Slight Edge: Chelsea. The four across the back right now are as good as can be found anywhere in the world. Manchester has talent, but not as much.

Goalkeepers

Man Utd

Edwin Van Der Sar has minded the net for ManU for what seems like an eternity now. His contract expires in 2008 so it would be in his best interest to be at his very best this season. Last season Van Der Sar began to show what appeared to be some signs of age. His reflexes seemed slower and he did not exude confidence between the posts. VDS himself said that his consistency was not what it should be. ManU attempted to remedy that by adding Ben Foster from Watford, only to see Foster lose a good portion of this coming season to injury. Backup Tomas Kuszczak is solid but untested by the rigors of a long campaign.

Chelsea

Petr Cech. What more need be said? Well, Cech is undeniably among the top 10 keepers in the world, quite probably among the top five and possibly the very best. Cech remains young at 25 and seems fully recovered from the freakish injury of last year. Cech is at his best when aggressive and he rarely fails to be aggressive. His presence is the single most important piece of the puzzle for Chelsea this year. With him, multiple silverware is possible. Without him, it is not.

Major Edge: Chelsea, no one in the world would select VDS ahead of Cech.

On the field, Chelsea is better in defence and Manchester better on the attack. In the middle of the field a lot will rest on the play of Hargreaves and Mikel. If either of them can show himself to be a top class player he could well tip the balance toward his side.

The shape of each team will play toward the strengths. Chelsea will, to the consternation of the clamouring hoard that desires Beautiful Football, sit back and defend and be content to win games 1-0 and 2-0. Manchester will pin back the ears and come on the all out attack in an attempt to force teams into nothing but defence. Each side excels at what it does. No two teams are so perfectly suited for their particular style of play. Now all that remains is to see who can maintain that edge for the next nine months. Here the pick is Chelsea, matching the margin of last year at six points.

And so he concludes, Blue Winner!