Why Do Manchester United Keep Winning?

This is probably the question on most people lips this season. On paper I wouldn't say they have a far stronger line up than either Chelsea, Arsenal or even Manchester City. As everyone keeps saying they haven't played well consistently this season, but why does the table say otherwise? Is it more advanced training methods? Is it they are tactically superior? I'm not so sure. What I think it is, is what many in the game call a winning mentality.

The first time it was brought to my attention was after an interview with former United Keeper Ben Foster and what he explained as the differences between Birmingham and Manchester United.

"It's just a bit more relaxed at Birmingham than it was at United," said Foster. "A club like United is cut-throat, win at all costs, whereas here you know you're not going to win every game but the players that we've got, we battle for 90 minutes and don't give someone a second breath. There is more pressure at United, without a doubt. Even if we drew it was the end of the world, two points dropped, regardless if we got back into it in the last minute."

This pressure to win and reluctance to accept anything other than a victory is what has driven United this season. Foster might not have been comfortable with the "cut throat" environment at the club but this is what has made United the most successful English side in the last two decades.

This season United have been under the cosh for long periods of games numerous times but have come out out with points from all of them bar the game against Wolves. When you see Sir Alex Ferguson after a defeat you can see that it has visibly affected him, and this ethic is transferred to the players. One example of this is Rio Ferdinand's attitude towards a game against Aston Villa in which United trailed 2-0 but grabbed two late goals to ensure the gained a point from the fixture in comparison to the England national sides' performances.

"Finding the formula, you could say, is part of management. The manager has it at Manchester United.

"You look at the game on Saturday [against Aston Villa]. We're down, he sends on two attacking players and that puts you on the front foot.

"You respond to that. It stems from the manager, you don't want to go into the dressing room and face him if you've left something on the pitch.

"But that said, it's not just management. Up till now as players we've not done our bit. There's no hiding from that."

This shows a collective winning mentality, a manager who has instilled a winning mentality into his players and players who understand the managers expectations of them, add a bit of fear of the manager into this and you have a formidable unit. Regardless of the quality of the players a well drilled team can cause anyone problems. With the scouting systems teams have these days its also possible to have reports on the mentality of players which I feel United do particularly well.

Tottenham striker Jermaine Defoe pointed out his experiences with some Manchester United players when asked what his team needed to become title challengers.

"I think it’s important to have that winning mentality, the mentality that the United players used to have.

"I remember when I first got into the England squad, all my mates would ask me what it was like training. I used to tell them, ‘You know what? It’s mad’. Because the Man United players, the likes of Rio, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Becks, even in training and in little five-a-sides, wanted to win every game.

“And if they didn’t win they’re moaning and moaning, it was amazing. Sometimes they’d still be talking about it over dinner."

This winning mentality is further enhanced by Ferguson's willingness to sell any player who isn't willing to buy into the collective team ethic. The players who have fallen include Paul Ince, Lee Sharpe, David Beckham and Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Players like Nani, Anderson and Wes Brown have all been frozen out for various reasons but have returned and have been noticeably improved players.

This season has shown why Ferguson runs the club in the way he does. On paper rivals Chelsea and Arsenal have equal quality but it is visible neither have same discipline and drive to win, from the way their seasons have panned out so far.

The Premier League... Has It Really Declined?

Former Spurs and Chelsea midfielder Gustavo Poyet has recently come out and spoken about the decline of the Premier League. Speaking to Reuters Poyet said,

"I'm a bit critical of the Premier League this year, I know people may not agree with me but I don't think it's one of the best Premier Leagues in the last few years -- to be honest I think it's one of the worst. Maybe it's more competitive and interesting but at the same time I would say there is not one team that is really better than the rest. Some say the other teams are getting better but in my opinion the top teams this year have got worse."

So what about Manchester United this season? They've gone into the year unbeaten and are through to the second stage of the Champions League without losing a game, where do they stand in Poyets opinion?

"Look at United, they are not even playing well but they are top. They deserve to be top, don't get me wrong, but if they are top without being at their best what's happened to the rest?

There is also a comparison to the major European leagues and a critique of the matches between the "Big Four" this season from Poyet.

"Look at any other league. If you go to Spain, Barcelona are top because they are absolutely fantastic. If you go to Italy, the same, the teams that are top there it's because they are doing so well and playing good football."

Poyet also said some of the matches between the leading clubs in England had been poor.

"I've been very disappointed," he said. "Apart from Arsenal v Chelsea, all the rest including the Manchester derbies and Arsenal v Manchester City, were awful.

"You expect more but it's even difficult to pick the best player in England. The Premier League has to be careful.

"I think the best players in the world give you something every week to be happy about. In Spain you watch Barcelona and Real Madrid every week and (Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo are always, always giving something," added Poyet.

"The fans will think the money they paid for their ticket was worth it. If I go to Manchester every week it's difficult to pick a player ... the same at Chelsea, and I could go on.

"Only (left winger) Gareth Bale at Spurs has been exceptional."

Now it's all well and good making statements about the demise of the big four, but where is the proof? Have they really dropped off? Well I'm going to have a look if this is a case by comparing Chelsea and Manchester United this season so far and from the 2007-2008 season...

At the end of the 2007-2008 season English football was at its zenith, Manchester United were European Champions after beating Chelsea in the final of the Champions League. Out of the semi-finalists in the Champions League that season three out of the four sides were English. At the end of that tournament none of the English sides had been beaten by foreign opposition...

2007-2008 Reserves: Foster, O'Shea, Pique, Park, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson, Saha

During this season Manchester United had their strongest squad in the last twenty years and this showed in their achievements winning both the Premier League and the Champions League. Its obvious from the reserves that there was plenty of quality cover for rotation or in case of injuries. There is also room for tactical switches, for example Saha was an alternative as a direct centre forward instead of the "false nine" role Cristiano Ronaldo player. Or if Alex Ferguson wanted to play a convential 4-5-1, Rooney and Tevez could go off for Nani and Park. This was a great squad as well as an exceptional first 11.

Current Reserves: Kuszczak, Fabio, Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Gibson, Giggs, Scholes, Valencia, Hernandez, Berbatov

This season only Rooney from the attacking triumvirate is at Manchester United, with Ronaldo and Tevez being replaced by Nani and Valencia or Park. Now the first team is still made up of players from the 2007-2008 squad. Those players who are now in the first team weren't able to get in the side in 2007-08 so this either is a decline or the players have now developed to the stage where they are now good enough for first team football. The only changes have been the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez.

My next case study is Chelsea the side who finished runners up in the PL and CL in 2007-2008 season.

2007-2008 Reserves: Cudicini, Belleti, Bridge, Alex, Mikel, Ballack, Kalou, Wright-Phillips, Anelka, Pizarro

If you look at the current team in comparison to the one in the season under Avram Grant, just like Manchester United there has been very little change to the first team.

Current Reserves: Turnbull, Ferreira, Bosingwa, Bruma, van Aanholt, Ramires, Zhirkov, Benayoun, Kalou, Sturridge

The only changes from the side in 2007-2008 is that Carvalho, Makelele and Joe Cole have left and been replaced by former squad players Mikel, Alex and Anelka. With Chelsea, their reserves have diminished noticeably this season, in 2007-2008 their reserves were made up of established internationals. This season they have Turnbull, van Aanholt, Bruma and a declining Paulo Ferreira. These players wouldn't have got near the first team in previous seasons.

This season Chelsea's decline can be seen through their results - they currently lie fifth in the table having already lost 6 games out of twenty one. Two seasons ago having Chelsea or Manchester United lose six games in a season was unthinkable, but this season they have both looked beatable on numerous occasions.

2007-2008 League Table

If you look at the table from 2007-08 there is a clear gap between the big two and the rest of the Premier League with there being a massive 20 point gap between Chelsea and Everton. Arsenal and Liverpool as usual pushed them close but failed to upset the duopoly.

Current League Table

The current table shows how close the current league is. There doesn't seem to be such as gap between the big four and the rest. Why is this? Have the rest improved? Or have the big clubs declined? Well I think its a bit of both but the one overriding factor I feel is that Chelsea and Manchester United have both stagnated. What I mean by stagnation is that their decline has followed the frugal spending of their owners. They have both sold players but have failed to replace them and improve their squads.

Spending Figures 2006-2011

If you look at the spending figures for the Premier League for the last five years the three biggest spenders have been Spurs, Man City and Sunderland. Two of those are now the top four and the third is 6th compared to 15th where they finished in 2007-2008. Chelsea and Manchester United are 10th and 14th in the spending figures respectively and this can be seen in their performances...

One thing that does point to a lowering of standards in the Premier League overall is how easy the promoted sides have found it. In past seasons the promoted three would steal points off teams around them and write off the games against the big four. Blackpool have beaten Liverpool twice this season, Newcastle have beaten Liverpool, Arsenal and grabbed a respectable draw against Chelsea and finally West Brom have beaten Arsenal and drawn away to Manchester United.

Conclusion

I personally feel that this season the Premier League is weaker than it has been in the previous 5 years. I think the money has dried up at clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. The likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona have also done a good job of hoovering up talent from various clubs leaving very little for the English sides. This was reflected in the nominees for the Ballon D'or where hardly any British based players were given any sort of recognition.

Villas Young Guns Looking Ready To Fire?

Well I know everyone's talking about the performance Sunderland put in against Chelsea, which I admit was a very impressive one. But my personal favourite performance of the weekend was Aston Villa against Manchester United. This Villa side looked fired up and put Manchester United to the sword for eighty minutes of the match.

 

When I saw the Villa line up, I was surprised as I'd not really heard much about Barry Bannan or Martin Hogg. They were up against the experienced pairing of Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick, and outworked and outplayed them for most of the game. Like most people I was hoping they were English unfortunately only one of the pair is. Bannan is a Scotsman and a very impressive one, he has an eye for a pass which is very useful if you have aggressive forward thinking wide players like Marc Albrighton and Stewart Downing. Hogg is a ball winning energetic midfielder who is hungry for success after suffering a serious knee injury not too long ago. With the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Luke Young, this Villa side look like a very handy side on the break.

Downing was looking very dangerous and gave Wes Brown a torrid time, he looks a different player to last season when he really struggled to make an impact. I've seen Albrighton play before in the Europa league where he looked very impressive showing pace, skills and also crossing ability. The way the national team is currently performing these two should be serious contenders for places in Capello's squad. 

We all know what Young and Agbonlahor are about, Young with his dribbling and trickery and Agbonlahor with his lightning pace. Young won and converted a penalty and Agbonlahor did a good job of stretching Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic who had to constantly watch the space behind them.  

Villa hit the woodwork a number of times and got forward with pace and in numbers Manchester United couldn't handle. This game should've been over before Federico Macheda's goal which swung the flow of the game in Manchester United's favour, maybe a more experienced side may have been able to close the game out. I feel that with the right guidance this Villa young team could be a real threat to opponents and a blessing for the national team.

Not A Bad Round For English Clubs... Champions League+Highlights

Well, well, Spurs have put in the performance of the round against Inter at White Hart Lane. Beating Rafa Benitez's side 3-1 with Gareth Bale putting in a man of the match performance, I'm sure Douglas Maicon is glad they won't play again in the near future. With Spurs winning 1-0 at half time after Rafael Van Der Vaarts cool finish the game was still in the balance, but an explosive second half perfomance from winger Bale who chipped in with two assists left Inter reeling.

In the other game in the group Dutch side FC Twente put in a shock performance to overturn German side Werder Bremen 2-0. But the talk of this group is a very impressive result from Tottenham, who look set to qualify from their group.
 

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Tottenham	4	2	0	0	7	2	4	7
2	Inter	4	2	0	0	8	3	3	7
3	Twente	4	0	2	0	3	3	-1	5
4	Bremen	4	0	1	1	2	4	-6	2

Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Inter Milan  (highlights)

Van Der Vaart 1            Eto'o 1

Crouch 1

Pavlyuchenko 1

Manchester United put in a professional performance against Turkish side with Darren Fletcherbreaking the deadlock before half time. In the second half surprise signing Bebe and Frenchman Gabrielle Obertan both scoring to kill the game off. No surprises in this group United looking like they've already qualified and Valencia not too far behind them
.

P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Man Utd 4 1 1 0 1 0 5 10 2 Valencia 4 1 0 1 3 1 6 7 3 Rangers 4 1 1 0 2 1 -2 5 4 Bursaspor 4 0 0 2 0 7 -9 0

Bursaspor 0- 3 Manchester United (highlights)
                        Fletcher 1    
                        Obertan 1

                        Bebe 1


Chelsea who I feel are the best equipped of the English sides to win the tournament, smashed Russian side Spartak Moscow with Nicolas Anelka looking particularly deadly and the talismanic Didier Drogba returning from suspension. Games at Stamford Bridge are looking like mere formalities these days and this one was no different when Anelka opened the scoring with a classy finish from the a tight angle. Two goals from defender Branislav Ivanovic and a penalty from Drogba finished off last seasons Russian Premier League second placed side.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	4	2	0	0	6	1	10	12
2	Spartak Moscow	4	1	0	1	3	2	-1	6
3	Marseille	4	1	0	1	1	1	5	6
4	MSK Zilina	4	0	0	2	1	11	-14	0

Chelsea 4 - 1 Spartak Moscow (highlights)
Anelka 1        Bazenhov 1
Drogba 1
Ivanovic 2

Finally the only English defeat of the night, Arsenal lost away to Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Theo Walcott put the Gunners ahead after a wonderful pass from Jack Wilshere put him through on goal with only the Keeper to beat. But and own goal from Craig Eastmond and and well timed finish from Arsenal old boy Eduardo meant Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season in Europe. Still favourites to go through but this performance was a stark reminder of the threat the teams in their group pose.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	4	2	0	0	11	1	11	9
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	4	2	0	0	3	1	1	9
3	Braga	4	1	0	1	2	3	-6	6
4	Partizan Belgrade	4	0	0	2	1	4	-6	0

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Arsenal (highlights)
Eastmond (OG)            Walcott (1)
Eduardo (1)

Well overall a relatively good week for English sides with 3 our of four notching up wins. All still look like they will go through. I feel this weeks player of the week from the sides has been Gareth Bale (i would also have a look at Benfica left back Coentrao who put in a spectacular performance against Lyon), I wrote an earlier article on him concluding he has more to do to prove his class at the highest level and he looks like he may be on his way to doing that. Team of the week has to be Tottenham after defeating the current champions Inter I feel they may be starting to find their feet in Europe's premier club competition.
 

Why Spurs Lost Against Manchester United

Okay after seeing Tottenham's performance against Manchester United I felt that Harry Redknapp was shown up as a poor tactician for the umpteenth time. The are three big games in which he was shown up, against Werder Bremen, Inter Milan and yesterday against Manchester United. I'll be concentrating the the game again Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

Cudicini, Bassong, Palacios (Jenas 66), Kranjcar, Cordeiro Sandro, Pavlyuchenko (Keane 63),  

Crouch (Van Der Vaart 77)

The first thing I noticed was that Redknapp decided to start without a recognised holding midfield. He did this in the past against Werder and Inter and paid for it, this time it was at Old Trafford against United. Jermaine Jenas is an energetic box to box midfielder not a holding midfielder with both Sandro and Palacios sitting on the bench I feel this was tactical error by the Spurs manager.

Another issue I saw in the Spurs midfield was the presence of Lennon, Modric and Van Der Vaart. Three midfielders who aren't known for their defensive capabilities. Add Bale in who is now an attacking winger, there is very little protection for the back four in game where most teams would expect long periods of pressure.

With Chelsea and Arsenal who all play with one up front have holding midfielder which stops them from being over-run in midfield. All the teams who've taken points from United started with combative ball winning midfielders Fulham (Etuhu), Everton (Fellaini), Sunderland (Cattermole) and West Brom (Mulumbu). With no holding midfielder tracking him Nani had one of his more positive games for United as he exploited the spaces between the Spurs lines. 

The decision to play Robbie Keane also baffled me. Just like during his short unsuccessful spell at Liverpool he was asked to play up front on his own. Keane is a good forward but he doesn't have pace, aerial ability or physical presence, therefore Vidic and Ferdinand had an easy afternoon. Both Lennon and Bale failed to provide him any support during the game and were fairly anonymous.

Kuszczak, Brown (Rafael Da Silva 64), Smalling, O'Shea, Scholes (Berbatov 64), Obertan (Hernandez 87), Tiago Bebe

If you look at Manchester United's midfield Carrick sat deep spreading possession to different areas of the pitch with Nani switching flanks trying to stretch play. In the middle Fletcher and Park (tucking in from the right) are more energetic and mobile defensively than Van Der Vaart and Modric and they can get forward maybe not as well as the Spurs pair but I feel their role was to negate them. I feel that this was were the game was lost for Spurs.

Redknapps substitutions showed that he was trying to rectify the errors made with the starting line up, he brought on Palacios for Jenas but was unfortunate enough to have Van Der Vaart injured and had to bring on Crouch emptying midfield further, especially as United had brought on Scholes for Berbatov 10 minutes earlier.

All in all i feel that Redknapp was on the back foot from the start due to his selection of no holding midfielder and Robbie Keane as the sole striker. I can see that Redknapp is starting to veer away from the 4-4-2 he was so used to but the striker he has dropped is for an attacking midfielder rather than a holding one.  

This Seasons Dream Team... So Far...

Well when there's nothing of note to write about why not create a dream team? This seasons been an interesting one if it was a normal one Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard would've scored a million goals between them and people would still think that Glen Johnson is a good player. Well have a look below and give me your thoughts and suggestion if you can do better?

Dream Team So Far...

Bench: GK - Joe Hart,CB - Alex, LB - Gareth Bale,
DM - Nigel De Jong, CM - Paul Scholes, AM - Rafael Van Der Vaart, CF - Darren Bent

1.GK - Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers)

Has been very impressive this season in a relatively unimpressive Blackburn side. Lost his confidence after a poor end to his time at Spurs and with England a few years ago. Sam Allardice has brought the best out of the Yorkshireman even to the degree that Fabio Capello recalled him to the England Squad only for Robinson to announce his international retirement. 

2.RB - Branislav Ivanovic - (Chelsea)

Not the most creative and attacking full back but solid and dependable also a threat at set-pieces. May lose his place to the returning Jose Bosingwa but is a very good centre half so expect to see him back in the Chelsea side. Scored the winner against Blackburn in a game with had draw written all over it.

3.LB - Ashley Cole (Chelsea)

Has just been proclaimed the worlds best left back by his manager Carlo Ancelloti... where has been the last 3 years? Cole is as dependable in the opponents half as much as in his own. Is one half of a deadly left sided double act with Florent Malouda who we'll discuss later.

5.CB - Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

He's been the only reliable player in a strangely shaky Manchester United defence. The Serb has the habit of winning any aerial duels and uses his imposing physique to its maximum. Is also a very good leader from the back as shown when United have been missing Rio Ferdinand their usual captain.

6.CB - Titus Bramble (Sunderland)

Yes... This isn't a typo and it isn't April fools. Bramble has played some of his best football under Steve Bruce at Wigan and now Sunderland. He is currently at the heart of the best defence in the league outside the top four and hasn't shown any of his trademark concentration lapses.

4.DM - Yaya Toure (Manchester City)

Imposing central midfielder with the strength of a brutal centre half and the touch and passing of a number 10. He is here after he took on Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Ramires and... Won. He is a instrumental part of Mancini's side and looking like he's played in the Premier League for years.

6.CM - Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

The only Arsenal midfield who can pass forward with intent. Unable to get into Spain's national side but has been at his imperial best this season. Arsenal fans are probably counting their blessing after Barcelona failed in their traditional summer smash and grab.

7. RM - Samir Nasri (Arsenal)

9 games 5 goals and 3 assists in all competitions... Need I say more? Continuing his good form from the end of last season and has become a major player and also back up play-maker when Fabregas is injured.

8. LM - Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Has had a very good season supporting Didier Drogba, scoring 7 goals combined in league and cup matches. Who would've thought 2 seasons ago he was labeled a big money flop. Chelsea's patience has been rewarded.

10. SS - Carlitos Tevez (Manchester City)

I feel he is a world class centre forward with the attitude of a limited centre half. He will run all day for the team but the also score the goals needed to be a top class forward. Has recovered well from a unsuccessful world cup. Manchester City's captain and top scorer is definitely worthy of a place in this team.

9. CF - Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney and Drogba make up what i feel is the big three in Premiership strikers. This season its been a "big 1" with Drogba being absolutely unplayable in some games. With 6 goals and 5 assists in his 8 games so far I think he could already be a possible footballer of the year.

Any doubts? 

Champions League halfway point of the group stages

So here we are at the halfway point of the the sometimes controversial and irritating group stage of the Champions League. I can see where the critics are coming from the stage is drawn in way which favors the big boys, I personally think its quite interesting seeing teams who in the old fashioned knock out cups would've got knocked out early play a few times.

Uefa Champions League : Group A Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Milan	3	2	1	0	10	5	5	7
2	Tottenham	3	1	1	1	9	7	2	4
3	FC Twente	3	0	2	1	4	7	-3	2
4	Werder Bremen	3	0	2	1	3	7	-4	2

Group A not looking too bad for spurs, although in the game against Inter they were outclassed they still have been gathering points against the weaker teams. I think Spurs and Inter should go through in the order they sit in now. Interesting fact of this group is the Werder Bremen's Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic has played for two of the other teams in this group in Serie A for Inter and in the Dutch First Division for Twente. Who knows maybe North London is his next port of call?

Uefa Champions League : Group B Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Lyon	3	3	0	0	6	1	5	9
2	Schalke 04	3	2	0	1	5	2	3	6
3	Benfica	3	1	0	2	2	4	-2	3
4	Hapoel Tel-Aviv	3	0	0	3	2	8	-6	0

Lyon are looking very good in Group B. I expected better from Benfica one of the more attacking teams in the tournament, but Schalke and Lyon looking favorites to go through although I wouldn't rule out Benfica with an attack made up of Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo they're always a threat. Hapoel Tel-Aviv definitely the worst side in the tournament this year Israel football is starting to become Europe's whipping boy.

Uefa Champions League : Group C Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Man Utd	3	2	1	0	2	0	2	7
2	Rangers	3	1	2	0	2	1	1	5
3	Valencia	3	1	1	1	5	2	3	4
4	Bursaspor	3	0	0	3	0	6	-6	0

Well Manchester United are practically through but its looking interesting in the fight for second place between Rangers and Valencia. I think if Rangers finished their chances against Valencia at Ibrox they would've been favorites. But at the moment I think Valencia will do it by beating Rangers at the Mestalla.

Uefa Champions League : Group D Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Barcelona	3	2	1	0	8	2	6	7
2	FC Copenhagen	3	2	0	1	3	2	1	6
3	Rubin Kazan	3	0	2	1	1	2	-1	2
4	Panathinaikos	3	0	1	2	1	7	-6	1

Barcelona the former champions given an easier group this year than last year look like they will qualify. Rubin Kazan are a team that interest me they met Barcelona on three occasions and haven't lost once, but still haven't been through to the knock out stages. I'm hoping they make it through this year but I think Copenhagen's good start will be hard to overturn. Panathinaikos have been very disappointing considering the amount of money in Greek football I would expect them and rivals Olympiakos to fare better in Europe.

Uefa Champions League : Group E Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Bayern Munich	3	3	0	0	7	3	4	9
2	Basle	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3
3	CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca	3	1	0	2	5	6	-1	3
4	Roma	3	1	0	2	3	6	-3	3

This looks like last years Bayern have already gone through bar a collapse of epic proportions. The other three are looking unpredictable, on paper you would think that Roma should qualify but looking at Roma's history in Europe I wouldn't put your house on it. I think Cluj might do it after their fighting performance again Bayern.

Uefa Champions League : Group F Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	3	3	0	0	8	1	7	9
2	Spartak Moscow	3	2	0	1	4	2	2	6
3	Marseille	3	1	0	2	1	3	-2	3
4	MSK Zilina	3	0	0	3	1	8	-7	0

Chelsea are looking formidable at the moment winning all three of their games without even breaking a sweat. Spartak and Marseille aren't the best sides in the competition but I wouldn't class them in any way an easy task. I was hoping Zilina would do better after knocking our Sparta Prague and Celtic in the qualifiers. I'm hoping Spartak go through, I think Russian football has had a raw deal due to the different calenders their domestic league and the rest of Europe follow and it would be nice to see them do well.

Uefa Champions League : Group G Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Real Madrid	3	3	0	0	5	0	5	9
2	AC Milan	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
3	Ajax	3	1	1	1	3	4	-1	4
4	Auxerre	3	0	0	3	1	5	-4	0

Well this group to me looked the most interesting just because of names involved. Real Madrid, AC Milan and Ajax, three of Europe's historical heavyweights. Ajax aren't in that league anymore but haven't disgraced themselves at all and are still in with a good shot of qualifying to the knock-outs. Mourinho's Madrid I think are looking like they will win the competition. His teams always have the habit of peaking at the right time whilst Milan are looking like they're on their way to joining Ajax in the history books.

Uefa Champions League : Group H Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Arsenal	3	3	0	0	14	2	12	9
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	6
3	Braga	3	1	0	2	2	9	-7	3
4	Partizan Belgrade	3	0	0	3	1	6	-5	0

Our final group look like they've got an east v west battle going on. Arsenal should qualify after scoring 12 goals in 3 games that a ridiculous 4 per game. Shakhtar are looking like they'll go through but I would rule out Braga who knocked out Seville in the qualifying stages, they really do have a penchant for the spectacular, I'd call them a Youtube team, take a look at the goal against Celtic.