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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 2268926, member: 405"] I haven't yet watched the United game, but saw the scoreline. My impressions of the first weekend for the contenders is that Arsenal still look very much like Arsenal - loads of attacking talent, but lacking conviction in defense. Sanchez in the stands looked very disinterested, and his girlfriend absolutely bored. I thought maybe Wenger could convince him to give this season a shot and then walk for free if he wasn't convinced to stay by their success this season. But that already looks a lost cause. City should have done a lot better at Brighton. Yes, it was a great atmosphere, but Brighton had so little offense to "threaten" City, I'm surprised it took City 70 minutes to break them down and get their first goal. Of course the second one came only 5 minutes later, and then it was game over, but City is not yet who they will become. I still think they could use one more central defender, but on paper they have the best squad by far. I thought Liverpool had pulled off the double comeback, but again they capitulated at the very end. They really, really need another central defender even more than City. It's inexplicable that they haven't signed a holding midfielder, a central defender and a left back after the window has been open for over a month. They are not going to make the top 4 without further reinforcements. I really like how Liverpool play, and I really like Klopp. I hope they can add a couple good players to the squad. They need it to be real contenders. Spurs looked lethargic before getting the late win. They, too, seem to be suffering a bit within the squad for having no new faces at all after having sold Kyle Walker for 50M Pounds and now Danny Rose also talking about the exit door. Ugh. They are solid and deep in midfield and central defense, but they need another winger or two, and they need a convincing alternative to Harry Kane up front. Jannsen has not impressed, and you can't count on Son getting you 14 goals again next season. Daniel Levy has to open his checkbook and buy a couple good players, just for the mentality of the squad, to tell them "Yes, we are trying to win trophies here." That brings us to Chelsea. Wow, three games in a row with red cards - and two of them against Burnley! Ugh. Chelsea's defense capitulated after that first goal. How shocking to see Chelsea down 3 at the half, getting booed off the pitch. Courtois was tentative in the goal, and should have come out for one goal, and then didn't get another that was very save-able. Luiz was right to be yelling at Courtois. I thought that the other 2 defenders, Rudiger and Christensen, played pretty well after Gary Cahill was sent off, once you gave them that 20 minute disaster that happened. They were good in the second half. I like Rudiger's athleticism a lot. He's a quicker version of Zouma, but not quite as strong. Christensen seemed pretty good to me. I don't think Conte has to go out and buy yet another central defender, like he thinks he does. I think Michy didn't do a great job leading the line against a team he should have been a threat against. I thought that Morata was very good once he got in there. Willian didn't have enough creative players to interchange with in the absence of Victor Moses, along with Hazard and Pedro, who are out due to injury. Kante just isn't a threat in the final third. The sale of Matic to United is especially galling, since they obviously have no one lined up to replace him, and the young academy players who might have provided depth have been sold or loaned out. Chelsea only had 15 or 16 senior players on the roster for this game. That's appalling. You can't even make out a full bench with so few players. They are going to have trouble making the top 4 if they don't get a few more guys in here. Although I have to say that Conte complaining to the media about the lack of players is hurting morale of the ones who remain. It's not the way to build up mental strength to win a championship. He's undermining it to protect his own reputation. As for United, I think that Mourinho has built a team that can win it. Getting Matic to be the enforcer in their midfield is an excellent addition. I have not yet watched their 4-0 demolition job from Sunday, but will be doing so later. They have great athleticism, they got younger in this transfer window, and if you give them one more guy who can play on the wing (especially at left back), they are going to be really tough to beat. Manchester United's biggest challenge may be Mourinho himself, who has shown a tendency to be self-destructive and overly negative. If he can keep it together and not bitterly complain about every referee decision that goes against them, United ought to be serious contenders this season. [/QUOTE]

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