Early Musings, Starting XI style...
1) What happened to the transfer market?
- Del Horno seems like a no-brainer (sorry if I'm letting the cat out of the bag but you weren't the only one who noticed him)
- Hleb looked like a keeper in preseason (yes, I've already seen two Arsenal pre-season matches - I've got a sickness, lets move on) but does he start?
- Crespo is being treated like a newbie, but who knows how he and Drogba will split up minutes.
- Not many other new guys who are guaranteed to start
2) Speaking of sicknesses...I'm actually bullish on Charlton
- Bent has 5 pre-season goals and is the early candidate to be this season's Dean Ashton making the transition from the Championship to the Prem.
- Spector (injured in training yesterday) has been playing well in the middle of the defense
- Ambrose hasn't hurt himself yet and seems to be playing on the wing in what appears to be something between a 4-3-3 and a 4-5-1
3) Sickness, Part III - Could Blackburn actually score a little with Bellamy, Pederson and Emerton in the offense? Would look a lot better with a real target player in the mix, or even Emil Heskey but Bellamy, if healthy, will certainly be better than Dickov. Combine that with the air-tight defense that emerged after Ryan Nelsen came over from DC United and you might have a full-fledged revival. And anyone who doesn't see this coming hasn't been paying attention - sign Dean Ashton and this club has a chance at a UEFA Cup spot. If not, they'll finish between 8th and 10th and it'll still be an improvement.
4) Reyes and Cristiano are both listed as midfielders this season - woohoo!!
5) Peter Crouch already hurt himself - out at least 3 weeks
6) Philosophy question...if Lauren Robert crosses a ball in the woods and no one is there to head it, does he have any fantasy value? And what's the over/under on how long until he starts whining about the fact that his team sucks?
7) Emre, Parker and Milner seem to be looking good in pre-season for NUFC but can you stomach the risk of an opening away match at Highbury?
8) Strange year, the teams at the top are definitely treading water while some of the 2nd tier (Liverpool and Tottenham) clubs seem to be catching up a bit.
9) How is it that Everton have a) Wayne Rooney money; b) Thomas Gravessen money; and c) Champions League money and can't figure out a way to buy ANYONE? Milan Baros? They already have Marcus Bent playing the "run really fast and distract the defenders while not scoring many goals" role. Shouldn't they at least have gotten in on the Tottenham rush to buy every young English player available? Those purchases all seem to have been made for under 2 million.
10) Rooney and Ronaldo both crocked (both ankles) vs. Antwerp, Saha theoretically fit, Ruud scored a hat-trick vs. a terrible squad after going 0 for Asia, Roy Keane goes 90 and manages not to get in a fight with SAF - stay tuned for more on Glazer-Our-Lives.
11) Fearless Prediction: A week from Saturday will be the last day that anyone on West Ham United will cost 16+ (that's right ladies and gentlemen, for the low low price of just over 16, you can have Roy Carroll - you loved his antics at Old Trafford, now see what he does without Rio, Keano, Heinze and Co. protecting him).
And a bonus...
12) Farewell to the Evergreens - Henry, Lamps, Heinze and Cech we'll miss you until Yahoo screws up and your prices drop way below your value
Happy Shopping
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