Mourinho Mummbles About The EPL Top Team For 08/09

Old animosity never dies easy and that certainly is the case with former Chelsea gaffer, Jose Mourinho and Arsenal gaffer, Arsene Wenger. Mourinho has came out with his thoughts on who will lead the Premier League this season and the Gunners are not holding the Special One's attention. Everyone that is a fan of the English game knows that while Mourinho was at Chelsea, Wenger and he were not on the best of terms with each other. This has been pointed out even more so in the "talk show" produced by Setanta Sports, where a puppet of Mourinho takes calls from other Premiership gaffers, including Wenger, whom Mourinho labels simply as, " voyeur."

While that is all in good fun, Mourinho's comment was a bit startling. He likens Liverpool to be more effective in the premiership over an Arsenal team, whom after a shaky start, went on to win their qualifier for the Champions League. Rafa's Reds drew the Belgian team Standard Liege. I didn't get a chance to see the match here in the states but looking at the information from ESPN soccernet, the game almost ended up being a 1-0 victory for the side many soccer fans have probably never heard of.

Two questions to be asked here are: can Arsenal pose a threat after having a handful of there stars depart during the transfer window, and can Liverpool convince theirselves that they have a chance to win the League?

Although Arsenal have done some major moving during the transfer window, the Gunners have the better roster between the two teams. Now, I know a roster isn't everything in most cases. How you use the roster is the key to winning a game. Players like Bacay Sagna and William Gallas in defense will start off the foundation for what will likely be a strong side again this year. Also the team has play makers like Cesc Fabregras, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Theo Walcott making sure that the action on the attacking end of the pitch goes off. Mourinho is quick to rush Arsenal, who not only put up a strong showing in Europe last season but were demolishing teams in the early going in the Premiership.

Can Liverpool even muster a dream of winning the League. Sure. Soccer is one of the most unpredictable games in the world. Underdogs come out and hammer home wins that leave fans stunned and managers searching the want ads on Monday mornings. However, with Liverpools not so bright showing in Europe last season, many have posed the question if the Reds are ready to start winning domestically again. My opinion is that they can't. They have a great team but the consistent are fielding far better squads than Liverpool can hope to put out there at this point in the game. As a keeper, I have a great respect for Pepe Reina, he makes penalty saves look like a walk in the park and any keeper knows that it's never truly 50/50 against a strong striker. Fernando Torres is an amazing striker who simply needs time to develop and he didn't get that last season. For what it's worth, yes, Liverpool have a team that can do great things but I think Jose is jumping the gun on them by a season or two when he claims that they will do well domestically.

As I mentioned above, the ball will be kicked off and everything from there is a toss up. Does Mourinho know what he's talking about? Maybe. Every coach weighs in on who they think will take the league but in this case, Mourinho should be focusing on Seria A where he starts his new career this season instead of focusing on rivalries from an old life.