Fragments of Fear

(Image from here)
Let's get the Liverpool knocking out of the way early doors. Rob Kelly on The Telegraph blog reckons that Liverpool will win the title by "5 or 6 points," from Chelsea...

Somewhat unbelievably, the most cantankerous old man in football, Sir Alex Ferguson, has already dismissed Liverpool’s hopes of winning the Premier League. Yet if the Overlord of English football feels it necessary to lay into Rafa Benitez’s side without a ball of the new season being kicked, it surely only means one thing: Liverpool are a major threat to Manchester United’s hegemony.

Ferguson’s critical assessment - “Liverpool have just had probably their best season for 20 years, finished up with 86 points and still finished four adrift. It will be hard for them to match that, let alone improve. Other teams will read Liverpool better” - is borne out of fear.

"Fear?" I don't think so. That "it surely only means one thing," should really be followed by the words, "that Sir Alex was asked a question about Liverpool..." He follows with:

For while the Anfield club have just lost a key figure in Xabi Alonso, it does not come close to the impact United will feel without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Which may well be true, but why did Liverpool come up short last season? The depth of their squad. Our loss may have been greater but we have the squad to cope better with loss than Liverpool.
I also find it amusing that all these journalists who spent last season slagging off Ronaldo, saying he wasn't bothered, that he was too big for his boots, a show pony, a flat track bully, now see him as the greatest loss a football club has ever had.
I'm sure there'll be a lot more articles like this one in the coming week or so, read them, store them away for reference later in the season. (I'm pretty confident) They will make sweet reading then...
Elsewhere, The Daily Star has some quotes from Sir Alex on Owen that I reported on yesterday, so won't bother with again. The Sun has those same quotes but the article also contains some others. David Gill on Owen:

United chief executive David Gill revealed they were planning to sign Owen for several months before swooping at the beginning of July.

Gill said: "Watching from the sidelines, I've been delighted. He's enthusiastic and very happy to be here.

"We had discussed signing him for a while as we were aware he was out of contract at the end of the season.

"So he was someone we had kept an eye on and I hope he'll prove to be a great signing."

And Anderson has some words on the Community Shield:

"To win the Community Shield will have a double value. It will be a blow in the face for Chelsea and will also show there is life after Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

"During the summer, Fergie insisted we forget the absent players because we have a team project.

"Anyway, this summer Wayne Rooney has been sensational. Being next to Owen will help him become the best striker in the Premier League.

"This season is very important to me. I want to play as often as I can in the first team to show my international coach Dunga that I should have a place in his World Cup squad next year."

And that's the lot for today.