EPL season just about starting with Community Shield Cup on Sunday 10th August 2008

With a long transfer saga between Real Madrid and Manchester United now finally over with Christiano Ronaldo commiting to MU for a minimum of another season 2008-2009, I'm really excited and looking forward to another 9 months of English Premier League matches every week! That is one thing I look forward to each and every weekend after my hectic work week in week out, lazing about on my comfortable sofa alone with a serving of junk food and a drink to match. Everything will be focussed on the match of the day, my support for Manchester United as it embarks itself to defend its premiership title and its European Championship. Not a single thing will bother me, not even the most urgent of things as I watch contently munching my food and enjoying the only thing that pleases me more than Manchester United beating its rivals every week. Come to think of it, even if Manchester United loses a game, I will still be looking forward to another weekend of matches...I guess its just the excitement of the EPL that just does it for you. The thrill of victory and the pain of defeat, and the boring draw....all that allures you to watching it every single week. My hats off to EPL for which I believe to be the most exciting football league in the World! Don't get me wrong, the Spanish La Liga, the Italian Serie A are also up there in terms of technicality and skills with all its wonderful players playing there, but EPL just clinches it for me in terms of pure adrenalin rush as if I am playing in it too.

The EPL promises a more exciting season ahead with all the transfers going around and competition being more and more tighter than ever! The top teams in the EPL especially Chelsea who recently signed in Midfield Maestro Deco and their want for Mr Robinho from Real Madrid will be an interesting team to watch. Liverpool who signed up Robbie Keene for 20million pounds from Hotspurs, whose aggressiveness and determination could just be the right man to pair up with the very exciting Fernando Torres might be a more formidable opponent than last season. I have to also give a warm hard of applause for Mr. Wenger of Arsenal who has been a patient man since their move to the bigger Emirates Stadium building his young Arsenal players to one who for almost half the season looked like they were going to grab the Premiership last time around. With Eduardo recouperating from his injuries, I'm sure they will also be a top four team to watch this season too.

Other teams to watch is the Totenham Hotspurs in particular, as they have the services of the Ex-Barcelona Wonderkid, Giovanni Ramirez Dos Santos of Mexico, and Gareth Bale. Coached by a quiet but good coach in Juande Ramos, together with Dorian Dervitte and Ledley King now fit and ready for this season with Jonathan Woodgate, Luca Modric , Darren Bent, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas and excellent striker Berbatov, they could just be the other team outside the top four who has a good chance of breaking the top four stranglehold of the EPL.

Portsmouth is another team to watch as well. Having included Peter Crouch to partner Jermaine Defoe upfront with some prominent players from Ex-Arsenal, Liverpool & Chelsea as well as other in the league such as Sol Campbell, Lassana Diarra, Papa Bouba Diop, Sylvian Distin, in-form keeper David James (who is now taken back into the England Squad), Glen Johnson, Nwankwo Kanu, Lauren, Nugent and Djimi Traore, they should be a formidable experienced force to be reckoned with.

Manchester United has a big strong squad for this next season, right up to number 28. However, it would be nice to add on an all and all striker within their ranks in Berbatov as Tevez is the only all out striker within the team currently as Rooney is recovering from a bad virus and Saha is just ain't doing it. Otherwise, MU still has the same team as last season. With a combination of experience and youngsters in Ronaldo, Anderson, Nani, Carrick, Hargreaves and the ever experienced Paul Scholes and Giggs marshalling the centre, Wes Brown, Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, and Neville protecting the back with the excellent goal stopper in Van Der Sar, I think we might just clinch the title again!

MU youngster to watch: Ben Foster (goalkeeper), Fabio & Rafael Da Silva (Left & right backs), Danny Wellbeck and Rodrigo Possebon.

MU First Team:
(1) Edwin Van Der Sar (Goalkeeper), (2) Gary Neville (Rightback-Captain), (3) Patrice Evra (leftback), (4) Owen Hargreaves (Midfielder), (5) Rio Ferdinand (Centreback), (6) Wes Brown (Centreback), (7) Christiano Ronaldo (Midfielder), (8) Anderson Oliveiro Bio (Midfielder), (9) Louis Saha (Striker), (10) Wayne Rooney (Striker), (11) Ryan Giggs (Midfielder), (12) Ben Foster (Goalkeeper), (13) Ji Sung Park (Midfielder), (15) Nemanja Vidic (Centreback), (16) Michael Carrick (Midfielder), (17) Luis Carlos Almeida Da Cunha Nani Bio (Midfielder), (18) Paul Scholes (Midfielder), (21) Fangzhou Dong (Striker), (22) John O'Shea (Centreback), (23) Jonathan Evans (Centreback), (24) Darren Fletcher (Midfielder), (25) Danny Simpson (Rightback), (27) Mikael Silvestre (Leftback), (29) Tomasz Kuszczak (Goalkeeper), (30) Lee Martin (Midfielder), (32) Carlos Tevez (Striker), (38) Tom Heaton (Goalkeeper), (39) Fraizer Campbell (Striker), (47) Danny Welbeck (Striker), (98) Fabio Da Silva (Leftback), (99) Rafael Da Silva (Rightback).

MU Players breaking into First Team:
Rodrigo Possebon (Midfielder), Craig Cathcart (Centreback), Evandro Brandao (Striker), Ron-Robert Zieler (Goalkeeper)