Contenders of EPL 2012 Part I: Manchester United

Now that new season of the EPL is set to start, let’s take a look at the title contenders for this season. Today, we are going to take look at Manchester United. Last season, the Red Devils failed to win the EPL title, even through they got a good start to the season, starting off with a win against Manchester City in the Community Shield match, beating them 3-2 even after a bad 1^st half. Then, they defeated Tottenham 3-0 in their 2^nd match, and then beating dangerous Arsenal with a massive score-line of 8-2. It was tremendous football on display by United, until they met Manchester City at Old Trafford one fine Sunday, facing a 6-1 defeat. They also lost their free-flowing passing game, but were soon back to winning ways, and kept on City’s tails till they lost to Newcastle and Blackburn, and City gained the lead.

Things weren’t impressive in the European Cup either. A draw against Benfica turned into a struggle for qualification. After only managing wins against Otelul Gulati, the last group match against Basel was a must-win for both teams, and unfortunately, Basel totally out-played Manchester United to progress to the knockouts. United fans were very disappointed, and so was manager Alex Ferguson. Change of year saw United picking 12 straight victories in the Premier League. United were soon again top of the table, having an 8-point lead. The match against Chelsea where United were trailing 3-0, but fought-back to draw 3-3, showed they still had desire left to win the League. But there was soon another turning-point in the league for United, after a 4-4 draw against Everton, allowing Everton to draw match with 2 late goals. And a 1-0 defeat against City in the last stages of the league took the Title away from United. United failed it make it their 20^th title overall and 2^nd in row. Last season was also a huge disappointment for United fans in European Football, as they were expected to dominate with ease; instead they were knocked-out in the group stage, and performed equally bad in the Europa league, losing to Athletic Bilbao.

2012 Season – Having lost league to their neighbors , United manager Alex Ferguson soon started to look for ways to strengthen his squad. Already buying Borussia Dortmund’s Japanese star, Shinji Kagawa. Kagawa has a great vision for goal, and has quick feet movement too. This means that Rooney would play with Kagawa in place of Welbeck, with Kagawa operating behind Rooney.

Another buy Ferguson has made is that of attacking mid-fielder Nick Powell, who just turned 18 this year. Powell who plays for England-U18’s can strike the ball really well from long distances, reminiscent of Paul Scholes. Powell’s ability of controlling the ball, for a player so young is a joy to watch, when combined with his mind to the read game. And this tiny youngster could turn out to be the bright future for Manchester United.

With the opportunity of signing Van Persie, Alex Ferguson will be keen, and you could imagine what a duo of Rooney and Van Persie would do in making opposition defenses break. United have also been in contact with Everton defender Leighton Baines to fill the option for the left-back position, with Fabio moving to QPR on loan, and Evra having an off-color season as well. Baines was very good last season with Everton, and his free-kicks are the best in the Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson started to strengthen the United way back in 2010, after Manchester United faced defeat to Barcelona, at the Champions League, and signings this season look good for taking Manchester United back to winning ways.

In the next part, we will have a look at the Champions of the Premier League – Manchester City