With the transfer market almost over, let's put the soccer board's brightest minds (haha) together and rank this fucker. I'll provide an easy template to follow: 1. Barcelona 2. Manchester United 3. Real Madrid . . . . . 4. 5. I can't decide who to put at 4 and 5. The last several years I felt comfortable having Arsenal and Chelsea to round out the top five, but Arsenal went full retard and Chelsea has taken a step down as well. City hasn't proven anything other than being able to beat up Jews and Swans, and no one else really stands out as far as I'm concerned.
1. FC Barcelona 2. Real Madrid 3. Manchester United Fighting for 4th and 5th: Manchester City, AC Milan, Chelsea and Inter.
For 4th and 5th, I was thinking City and Milan at the moment. Inter has taken a pretty big step down, IMO. They may be there on the fringe, but they are not nearly what they were two years ago + they sold Eto'o. Don't really see Zarate and Forlan making up for that. Madrid and United is sort of tricky... United has the better defense but Real Madrid still has a better midfield, IMO. Would like to see Barcelona, Real Madrid, and United all knock the shit out of each other somehow while we struggle to get past Arsenal or some shit in the Round of 16.
Having been paying to what Serie A much, but I will start now. Also when UCL starts it will be a great indicator. Right now you cant look over what City has done with their new additions. Also gotta keep an eye out for one German team (Bayern or Dortmund).
1. Barca 2. ManU 3. Real Madrid 4. ManCity Haven't been able to watch much soccer lately, but I've seen those teams play and would currently put those four in that order. Of course, I did see ManU and ManCity against Spurs' totally hapless back four, so maybe it's not safe to make any real judgments based on their performances. I agree with what someone else said, though: 2-4 are about the same level.
im not as knowledgeable as yall...but as a beginner... 1. Barca 2. Real 3. United 4. City 5. Milan So I agree with some...
just wanna bump this thread because apparently a lot of people disagree with Real Madrid in the top 3
No one disagrees with that, they just aren't dominating the sport, man. They are either second or third... Milan clearly #1 after humiliating the fags in Barcelona.
I didnt say they were. Not once. Just that Spain as a country is. Now you are not gonna argue that are you?
I truly believe that they are #2 currently based on the small sample size we got for this season, which could be very wrong. I had City as far as 3rd but I will have to drop them. I think a good gauge will be after the UCL group stage and a couple of months of league play. But I am confident that Madrid and Barcelona will still be #1 and #2 and that 2 English teams and an Italian team will round the top 5. My best guess would be: 1. Barcelona 2. Real Madrid 3. Man U 4. AC Milan 5. Chelsea/City
Fuck that Real Sociedad should be up there in #2 spot. When was the last time Barca blew a 2 goal lead in 2 minutes?
Quit being a homer chile, Man U are clearly #2. I'll give you #3 but that is your ceiling right now unless a shift in the rivalry occurs which hasn't happened yet. Man U- EPL champions last year. Been in 3 of the last 4 CL finals and the other year they had a Robben wonder goal knock them out and gave up a terrible goal in Munich in the 90th minute. Real- Copa del Rey title. 1 semifinal in the CL. Every other year didn't make it past round of 16. Quite clear who have the better resume plus Man U have started out this year strong.
Even looking at last year I would still put Real Madrid at #2. They lost La Liga to Barcelona and the UCL to them too. The 2 semifinal legs were very competitive which is much more than can be said about the final in which United was destroyed. Even this year in the SuperCup they played them tough. I would even argue that they completely outplayed them in Madrid and should have won. To what they have shown so far this year wouldnt change my mind on that. Manchester United has looked impressive, specially considering the squad they are putting out there is not full of familiar names and is very young so I will give them props (as a matter of fact I posted in their thread to tell them so), but I dont believe it will last the whole season for them. They dont have the depth they once had to compete on all fronts and it showed in Portugal. We will see how they react against Chelsea this weekend. Like I said, there is still a lot of season to be played but I will put Real at #2 because of the way they are playing and how they have looked so far. One thing is clear though, Arsenal wont be in the top 5 after losing both Fabregas and Nasri.
I was about to seriously overreact, thought you meant top 5 in England for Arsenal. I agree. Bayern are playing remarkable, you got Dortmund still, Real, Barca, and at least 2 teams in England will be ahead so no Arsenal aren't top 5 unless something crazy happens. I think you seriously overrate Nasri though, he hasn't played well for months now. Been dropped by France, was shit for Arsenal the last 3 months, had 1 good performance for City which Dzeko deserved a lot of credit, and was not good vs Napoli. I think we have more than enough to replace him and our D is better but Cesc even w/ his injury problems was a huge loss. Clear we aren't a top 5 team in the world right now or top 10 at this point. You also gotta factor in with Man U that TSO has had about 10 games to try and figure out Barca and hasn't done it yet. Barca have made Man U look awful even w/o cheating twice, think it's Fergie mostly getting outclassed by Pep. If he had as many chances as TSO has had I think he could come up with more than 1 win so far. Real are playing Barca tough but until they overcome that barrier I don't view them as the #2 team and don't think many others do either. The good thing for TSO is he has a lot of chances as it's clear that they'll be going through each other for mostly every title, also gives Pep more chances to make the gap bigger though.
I really don't understand how the Benfica game showcased our lack of depth this year. The midfield was the problem, and four of those five players started the champions league final four months ago. They were either coming back from injury or simply couldn't get minutes because they aren't in our current first choice eleven. Overall I think seven of the starters were the same as Wembley.
Man U have incredible depth. They have a 20 goal in league scorer who doesn't see much time plus Welbeck who to me fits Man U's new up tempo style more than Hernandez. Forward and defensive depth I think they are the best team out there. Got plenty of wings as well. Their problem to me is when they hit Barca or another team playing really well they still don't have very good central midfielders. Cleverly is good but not seeing him shining vs the best teams, not a big fan of Anderson, and Carrick is Carrick. Giggs is a good playmaker but that's about it in his old age. He can't hang with up tempo teams imo. That and not convinced about De Gea is what I'd call Man U's weaknesses.
Ando had his first full preseason since he arrived at United. So far he's played excellent. We'll see if it lasts.
Should have said midfield depth for man u. They do have great depth at other positions and SAF is a master at adjusting players so i will give them that. I just think their mid has overperformed so far and it will hurt them in the end. Should have worded it better.
My criticism of Anderson is while no doubt he is playing well right now as the whole team is, what happens when the games get ugly as you know they will. No team wins more ugly games than Man U. Personally I'd rather have Carrick who is a decent tackler and will block shots for the ugly games.