At the risk of making a Hansen-esque comment I'm going to confidently say Chelsea are not going to win the league, no chance. CL and FA Cup are the best they can hope for, with the latter being the more realistic hope.
IF Chelsea win against Utd in both games, the gap is 4 points, Utd keep drawing, they'll drop FAR more than 4 points against teams other than Chelsea.
To say it CAN'T happen is madness, gaps of bigger than 10 points have been turned around several times in the EPL, and from much later on in the season IIRC, this is positively early in the season and 10 points is VERY little at this stage. Especially as this is this years Utd, who are frankly rubbish very very frequently.
I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry whenever I hear that we're signing Carroll for £35m.
Even if this lad lives up to his full potential and with the English premium, he'd still barely be worth £30m.
But why, if he scores 20 goals a year, for a decade, how on earth would 35mil be a bad price? If he scores more than Torres does for the next 3 years, would Torres not be the one who was bad value. IF he's great, he'll be worth the money, if he's rubbish, he won't be if he turns into an average premiership goal scorer, the deal will eventually be good or bad based on how long he plays, or if you sell him and get a decent price.
The real thing is, everyone automatically goes "English so he's massively overpriced" then instantly suggest his real value is some ridiculously low value.
I'm not sure he's worth 35mil, but, I'm fairly sure based on how he's played, which is FAR more important than his goal tally, he's worth considerably more in potential than 15mil some people think.
If you watch him play, he's a bulldozer, he antagonises defences, he gets in their faces and pushes them around, he has immense strength a goal threat and is great in the air. By him being difficult to handle he makes more space for other people to run into. His movement is very good, he's got a good shot on him, he's pretty damn fast for a guy his size.
LIke I said, I think his price goes up because theres few strikers his size who actually perform well, Llorente doesn't score that much but he pushes around defences and causes problems. Crouch is like a very very very very bad Carroll and look how much he's gone for in the past.
Crouch has gone for circa 10mil his last couple transfers, he's old, slow, can't pass, can't head, can't jump, is weak is crap and looks like he's going to snap in half any second. Carroll is much younger, much much better, has pretty much matched Crouches highest scoring season in the prem already.
Villa/City fans correct me if im wrong but he was the type of player we were trying to keep away from Newcastle, self centered and disinterested when things dont go his way and even at the best of times doesnt really pull his weight.
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