One More Football Preview

In the spirit of all the other football previews that are going on right now, let’s take a look overseas for one more.
Manchester United is the defending European Champions after beating Chelsea in the Champions League Final. They are also the back-to-back defending champions of the English Premier League. And this year they seem to be just as solid as ever. They were able to thwart of an attempt by Real Madrid to steal away Cristiano Ronaldo meaning they will hold to arguably the world’s best player for at least one more year. And with Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and the rest of the lot still looking as good as ever, the Red Devils look to be favorites at home and abroad.
Their main rival will again by Chelsea. They retained every player of importance to them like Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba and surprisingly didn’t sign any big name players. They seem for the first time in the Roman Abramovich era to have found a squad they are comfortable with.
Arsenal and Liverpool round out the top four again with Cesc Fabregas and Steven Gerrard lead the two sides respectively. Neither club as won a trophy in a couple of years and the waters seem to be getting a little uneasy in North London and on Merseyside.
Real Madrid has won the last two La Liga titles and has the squad to do it again this year. They still have Fabio Cannavaro, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sniejder among others. They seem to have found the discipline they were missing in the first part of the decade with their “Galaticos” signings.
Barcelona, in the meantime has gotten away from what made them the most attractive club in Europe just a few years ago. They have stopped playing with any type of unity or teamwork and it looks like everyman is for himself as they continue to crowd their attack with too many star names. Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o both seem to be past their best days and they lost Ronaldinho. They still have other solid players like Xavi and Carles Puyol but as a team they have lost their way.
Milan were the guys that picked up Ronaldinho and that instantly makes them the best team in Europe. Their attack may get a little congested with him, Kaka and Clarence Seedorf but they have always been a club with the discipline to handle their players in the right way. And as always, they’ll get pushed by Inter and Roma.
And here’s a surprise, Bayern Munich and Lyon are probably going to win their respective leagues in Germany and France.
On this side of the ocean, David Beckham continues to suffer in relative anonymity. He is still a solid player and solid endorsers of many products but it will take more than him to make football big in the United States. Something we all knew back when he signed.