London calling for title
Mon Nov 02 01:10PM
With just under a third of the season gone, it looks like the Premier League title could be heading down south to London.
Arsenal have played the best-looking football so far and I would love to say they were my favourites to win the league, but that label has to go to Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti's side have lost two away games, one deservedly at Wigan and one unluckily at Aston Villa, but they have been the most consistent.
They put paid to their away hoodoo with a 4-0 win at Bolton, and they have been scoring plenty of goals and killing teams off. Even when they are not at their best they seem to ease past their opponents.
Every manager since Mourinho has come in and continued to play with roughly the same direct, physical approach, but Ancelotti has got them playing with more freedom.
He has got my nemesis Didier Drogba playing well, and they are less reliant on Frank Lampard than they used to be. Chelsea look the best-equipped to deal with the absence of key players.
We know all about Liverpool's woes without Steven Gerrard and with a half-fit Fernando Torres, and you wonder what Manchester United would do if they were missing Wayne Rooney. Likewise, take Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie away from Arsenal and it's not clear where the goals are going to come from.
I know Drogba has been playing exceptionally well, but I think Nicolas Anelka can step into that central striking role if required - as he did last season and will have to again during the African Cup of Nations.
In midfield, they will also lose Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel in January but they have exceptional strength, with Joe Cole coming back as well as Yuri Zhirkov who has hardly played.
Arsenal are a joy to watch, but you know they are going to concede goals. They have a good centre-back pairing in William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen, but goodness help them if either of those get injured because they have Mikael Silvestre and Philippe Senderos as back-up, and neither player inspires any confidence.
They also lack experienced players who know what is required to win silverware.
That doesn't have to be an obstacle if you have the right blend of players in the squad, but I think there are one or two fragile characters at the Emirates who would benefit from a Patrick Vieira-type figure in the dressing room.
Manchester United are winning games without playing well. While it is important that teams can do that occasionally, United seem to be doing it every week and they are worryingly short of their usual spark.
Wayne Rooney cannot do it by himself. Dimitar Berbatov needs to maintain his recent improvement and show some real consistency, while more is required from wide players like Antonio Valencia and Nani.
They have defensive problems to boot, and had a makeshift pairing of Wes Brown and Jonny Evans in the centre on Saturday.
You can never write them off, of course, but it is very rare that a team wins four in a row and this could be the year they get caught out.
Report Donney and get him banned. His comments are retarded!
From ban_donney on Mon Nov 02 01:14PM"Likewise, take Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie away from Arsenal and it's not clear where the goals are going to come from."
like maybe from other 15 players? arsenal have more scorers than any other team u idiot
From ighnaz_mx on Mon Nov 02 01:19PMone word... Arshavin??
but i agree with the article nonethelessFrom willi_yam12 on Mon Nov 02 01:21PMA fairly objective and reasonably observent article, Paul. I agree with your assessment and its nice to see you take off those Utd tinted specs every once in a while. Well Done!
From im_castor_troy_uk on Mon Nov 02 01:26PMVery stupid article,a little boy can see these things in the teams...
From dobromir_kantev on Mon Nov 02 01:29PMgooooooofor fulhams hunglar on January window to widen your squad(AW) i am aspufiker@yahoo.com from Ethiopia( Jimma University)
From aspufiker on Mon Nov 02 01:32PMsod off parker the title is staying where it belongs...glory glory man united...mr p is a turncoat who has lost the plot!
From stuartxland on Mon Nov 02 01:32PMstuatxland shut your gob , the title is coming to london
From csinclair366 on Mon Nov 02 01:39PMA good article this time around parker!!!
From lb4real2000 on Mon Nov 02 01:39PMHa ha ha!!!! One things for sure, the title is definitely NOT headed to London now that Paul "Kiss of Death" Parker. Parker predicted Liverpool would win the title last season and also predeicted Chelski to win it the year before
From surindersingh99 on Mon Nov 02 01:42PMI'm not sure Chelsea will be able to cope when they lose Drogda, Essien and Kalou in January...
From mary_e_crowther on Mon Nov 02 01:48PMThis article is coooooooooool by me.
From lb4real2000 on Mon Nov 02 01:59PMnasri, diaby, arshavin, walcott, eduardo, bentnar and vela can all score goals.lol
From frankiefrankstar1 on Mon Nov 02 02:10PMmore dribble from a united bench warmer
From sirkeithbrennan on Mon Nov 02 02:11PMarsenal went on a long deafeatless run at the begining of 2009 with no cesc and at times missing van persie ....
also its a good thing chelsea can cope because half their team are at the african nations early next yearFrom w_n_hall on Mon Nov 02 02:36PMLiverpool should replace Xavi Alonso. I think that Gareth Barry was a solution, but is too late now
From dandascal on Mon Nov 02 02:37PMeach year each year they say Chelsea is going to win it from the beginning of the season . but have we won it ? no !
From georgesazar15 on Mon Nov 02 02:44PMIt staying put sorry for the rest of the prem but it at home at Old Trafford!!!!!!!!!
From keithjoneskj on Mon Nov 02 02:54PMChelsea is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From viranyipeter on Mon Nov 02 03:02PMDidn't you know arsenal had 15 different goal scorers! Do you know how many goals do the two center backs have between themselves? to be precise we have arshavin, Walcott, Nasri, Vela, Bendtner, Rosicky etc all capable of being match winners!!!!
From eliasroro on Mon Nov 02 03:04PMMan U are moterfokker
From viranyipeter on Mon Nov 02 03:04PM"Likewise, take Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie away from Arsenal and it's not clear where the goals are going to come from."
remember last year?? 15 matches without Fabregas and no losses...From laszlofiam on Mon Nov 02 03:07PMChelsea or Arsenal in with a chance...Liverpool too inconcistent and United are fading...
From mead726 on Mon Nov 02 03:10PMOnly 1 club that's going to win the league and that's ARSENAL!!. Man U, Chelsea & Liverpool you bunch of cheats, we are in good form. We have beaten Spurs, now who's next? You 3 will slip up and we will take over and maintain it. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!
Simon
Market Rasen
From simonwarner91 on Mon Nov 02 03:10PMThere's nothing wrong with Donney's comments. If you don't like them then don't read them, simple!
From rilez on Mon Nov 02 03:12PM"take Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie away from Arsenal and it's not clear where the goals are going to come from."
Oh..i don't know, maybe from the other 14 players who have scored so far?...maybe
From ulyssepasquier on Mon Nov 02 03:24PMwhat nonsense is this? I now believe you're completely clueless in what you say...take Cesc and Van Persie out of the Arsenal squad and you'll have to deal with Arshavin, Eduardo, Walcott, Bendtner, Diaby, Rosicky!! etc..Arsenal has more quality cover for the important positions than any other team in the premier league, the only player in the squad that could prove essentially difficult to replace at the moment is Alex Song! Looking at Chelsea on the other hand If the lose Drogba and Anelka, I wonder who can score goals for them! As for Man Utd. injuries to Vidic and Rooney would make them an average team!!
From planetlanda on Mon Nov 02 03:30PMParker back to his 'best'! "Carlo Ancelotti's side have lost two away games, one deservedly at Wigan and one unluckily at Aston Villa"!!!!!! On the day, Villa could have won by 5. Chelsea were unlucky! Yeah Right! Parker should not comment on games where he has seen 10 minutes on MOTD at most. It must have hurt bad that he had to wait until paragraph 13 before mentioning his beloved Man U-re!
From steveandjay68 on Mon Nov 02 03:32PMRubbish article. Without Cesc and Van Persie we have Arshavin, Rosicky, Diaby, Eduardo, Nasri, Walcott, Bendtner etc who are potential match winners, Wenger is not idiot like you Parker, and thats why you have resulted in writing rubbish column and not coaching!
From planetlanda on Mon Nov 02 03:38PMleave donney alone
From joebooth61 on Mon Nov 02 03:57PM
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