Tom Doyle :: TALK

Manchester United started the season on a high by thrashing Fulham 5 goals to 1. Although it seems like an impressive scoreline, it was in fact a pretty dismal display by Fulham.

The game itself was liking watching a preseason friendly. United completely dominated every part of the field and within 20 mins were 4-0 up. Fulham just weren’t in it. It’s no wonder they are one of the favourites to go down this season.

United however looked really good. Their passing, moving and pace looked as good as it was in their hey day. But there were a few dodgy defensive errors that would have been punished by a stronger side. That worried me a little, but you could also put that down to lack of concentration due to the score in which they were winning by.

In other games at the weekend I was impressed with Chelsea. They were back to their old selves with what they call their skeleton squad. If this is not their first team, we should all be worried!!

Liverpool and Arsenal on the otherhand got off to a poor start. Liverpool just didn’t play as well as they did against Chelsea in the Charity Shield. But they did dominate the second half and looked pretty good.

An interesting start to the season, but if Liverpool or Arsenal want to be taken seriously this season they need to stop dropping points against lower teams!

Rooney and Scholes have each been handed a 3 game ban for their sendings off in the Amsterdam Tournament.

How the FA can justify this is beyond me. Would they have issued a 3 match ban if this was to have happened in a different competition? unlikely…..

Ok, Scholes deserved to be sent off, two rash challenges that we have all come acustomed to when watching Paul Scholes. But Rooneys sending off was totally unjust. He should never have been sent off at all.

But yet again, the FA think that they should be judge and jury on this and have made a decision on something that really has nothing to do with them.

It’s no wonder talk of a European super league still exists…

That time of year again, the launch of the Premiership Season 2006-2007 was marked with the traditional Community Sheild event.

This year it was the turn of Liverpool and Chelsea. A game that you think would provide immense entertainment. Chelsea ready to showcase their new signings Ballack and Shevchenko  to the preimership. While Liverpool were ready to show the rest of league that they have what it takes to be a serious contender for the leaugue this season.

Ballack had a warm welcome to the premiership. Only 6 minutes into the game, he had earned himself a yellow card for a rash challenge. Fifteen minutes later he was taken off with an injury to his hip.

Throughout the first half Liverpool looked the betterside. You could see that they really wanted to win this game and fought for everything in the middle of the park.

Chelsea to me looked like they had lost their shape as they tried to facilitate Ballack and Shevchenko. 4-3-3 just didn’t seem to suit them very well. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t drop Ballack deeper into a diamond shaoe formation to that he could be creative behind Shevchenko. But then again, maybe that’s what Lampard was supposed to be doing??

There were two moments of brilliance in the first half… Riise’s goal, which although was put down to a Goalkeeping error by commentators, was an outstanding goal in my opinion. To take the ball from his own box and score the way he did was fantastic. Even if the keeper did save it, it still would have been a magnificent effort.

The second moment of brilliance came from Shevchenko. You just knew he was going to score the moment the ball was played through the air to him from Lampard.

All in all, I thought Liverpool totally dominated Chelsea throughout the game and thoroughly deserved the win.

Chelsea to me looked over confident, lacking creativity and out of shape.

If this is the team we should all fear this season we have nothing to worry about. I do expect Chelsea to sort out these problems though and go ahead and win the premiership again this season.

My predictions for the premiership this season are:

1. Chelsea
2. Man United
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
I think United and Liverpool will be very close, but Chelsea will walk away with it again.

Manchester United have yet to make any major signings this summer and the fans are getting worried!

However, Alex Ferguson reckons the team we currently have is good enough to challenge for the title this season…. It’s affirmative, Alex has lost the plot….

How can he think that we can compete against the likes of Chelsea to regain the title? Not only do we have the likelyhood of relying on Darren Ferguson again this season in Midfield, but we are also letting one of the best strikers to ever don a Man United jersey to leave Old Trafford.

Apparently Ferguson has €75m to play around with this season and yet he has no plans for it except to try and lure Michael Carrick from Tottenham… what an awe inspiring signing that would be eh?

I reckon he’s going to try keep this money to spend on his retirement party at the end of the season

But one good thing did come over Man United’s 3 nil will over Celtic last night, Paul Scholes. He scored twice last night and showed some of the great flair that we have missed all last season at old trafford. I look forward to seeing him line up at the start of the season!

Newcastle release a statement to the stock exchange saying the purchase of Damien Duff had only cost them £5m.

Quite an extraordinary price when you consider Chelsea bought him for £17 million!

What a great deal for the Toons, I imagine Martin Jol is bitterly disappointed at missing out on Duff after all his hard work!

I can’t believe Man United didn’t seem interested again…..

I’m just not with Alex Ferguson’s way of thinking at all. He refuses to let an arrogant and spoilt child leave Old Trafford. This, even after all the problems he has created and the lack of team spirit the boy has.

Yet onn the other hand, he’s happy to let one of the greatest strikers Man Untied have ever had in Ruud Van Nistelrooy, leave Old Trafford. Ruud was again United’s top scorer for the season with 26 goals. Ok it’s a long way from his 44 goal season he had on his second year at united, but then again we play a different style of football now that we have very little delivery from the wings. To score 26 goals with the way United have been playing is a major feat.

Ferguson - you’re getting old, I think it’s time to quit….. As each season goes by, you seem to get worse, give it up before you ruin United like Souness did to Liverpool.

With great dismay I read today that Ronaldo is not leaving United. Why Ferguson insists on keeping this player at United is beyond me.

Ok, yes I agree, he is one of the most talented young players in the world at the minute. However, for me that is just not enough to warrant a position in one of the greatest clubs in the world. Football is a team game, one player does not make a successful football team. What makes a successful club, is great teamwork.

Since he joined United, I have never been a fan of his. I always felt his whole attitude towards the game was completely different than any other player United have ever had. He is self absorbed, arrogant and immature.

It is completely obvious the unrest at United last season was down to this guy. United now look likely to depart with one of the greatest strikers they have ever had in Ruud Van Nistelrooy and this seems to stem from a training ground bust up between himself and Ronaldo.

Any true Man United fan will remember the European Cup game when Ryan Giggs was substitued and you could lip read what he said as him came off. “What about fucking him?” asked Giggs, pointing in the direction of Ronaldo. If there is no repspect between the players for each other, it just won’t work.

Fergie - please wake up, I know you are getting old, but surely can see this lad is ruining your once great team…..

Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have been relagated to Serie B. This follows the outome of the match fixing scandal that has rocked Italian football. On top of relegation, Juventus will start next season with a 30 point deficit and they have been stripped off their last two Seria A titles the team had won.

Lazio will be docked 12 points next season, while Milan have got away with a 15 point deficit for the start of the season. The full details of the whole debacle have yet to come to light but it is thought to include referee’s and officials too.

What a sad end to a truly great career!! One of the greatest players to ever play the beautiful game.

I have always had huge respect for Zinedine Zidane - his ability was next to none. However, I did think he went missing in some games and was easily rattled if he was aggrivated. I first noticed this when Zinedine played against my other favourite, Roy Keane. Every game the two met in, Keane always came out on top. It wasn’t because Keane was more talented than Zinedine, it was a simple case of Keane letting Zidane know who’s boss.

But no matter what we say - you can’t take it away from him. A truly great legend that will be sadly missed.

And what a sad way to end a career, but then again if someone insulted me by calling me Zinedine Kilbane, I’d probably have headbutted them too!