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Back in action Man United strong favorites to retain title
Posted: Friday July 30, 1999 02:26 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Manchester United may have been a little quiet in the transfer market, replacing goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel with Mark Bosnich. But that's a sure sign that manager Alex Ferguson is happy not to tinker with his all-conquering team. After an unprecedented triple triumph of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup last term, Manchester United goes for more glory this season, although the added distraction of FIFA's world club championship in January looks like it is forcing United out of defending the FA Cup title. The bookmakers rate United as evens favorite for its sixth Premier League title in eight years with Arsenal, runner-up last term, as second favorite. The two powerhouses meet on Sunday in the traditional curtain-raiser to the season, the Charity Shield, and Ferguson's team will be out to gain a psychological boost by winning at Wembley. United expects to be without tough midfielder Roy Keane, who is nursing a leg injury, while the Gunners aren't likely to field French striker Nicolas Anelka, who wants to leave the club but has turned down a 22 million pound (US$35.2 million) transfer to Italy's Lazio. The Gunners also may be without captain Tony Adams, goalkeeper David Seaman and Dutch stars Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars, who have all picked up pre-season injuries. But manager Arsene Wenger will be keen to field his new signings -- Brazilian defender Silvinho, hired from Corinthians, and Ukrainian defender Oleg Luzhny (Dynamo Kiev). While United and Arsenal meet at Wembley, the other Premier League clubs are gearing up for the August 7 start with warm-up games. Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli, who has quit playing to concentrate on running the team, has signed French World Cup star Didier Deschamps to add more stability in midfield and Blackburn striker Chris Sutton to beef up the attack. Leeds manager David O'Leary, whose young team wound up fourth last season, has added three more English youngsters, Michael Duberry (from Chelsea), Michael Bridges (Sunderland) and Danny Miller (Charlton) to the squad as his team tries to break into the top three. Liverpool's French manager Gerard Houllier has been one of the busiest in the transfer market, hiring Aboubacar Camara (from Olympique Marseille), Sami Hyypia (Willem II), goalkeeper Sander Westerveld (Vitesse Arnhem), Erik Meijer (Bayer Leverkusen), Vladimir Smicer (Lens), Stephane Henchoz (Blackburn) and Dietmar Hamman (Newcastle). He has also sold erratic goalkeeper David James to Aston Villa, Steve McManaman has gone to Real Madrid while midfielder Paul Ince is thinking over a move to Middlesbrough. After a mediocre season, Ruud Gullit has strengthened the Newcastle squad with Alain Goma (from Paris Saint Germain), Elena Marcelino (Real Mallorca), Franck Dumas (Monaco) and Kieron Dyer (of division one Ipswich). Of the three promoted clubs, Sunderland appears to have the best chance of surviving. Manager Peer Reid has strengthened his defense by signing experienced Arsenal defender Steve Bould while Bradford has raided neighbor Leeds by signing defenders David Wetherall and Gunnar Halle and winger Lee Sharpe, as well as Chelsea midfielder Andy Myers. Watford, which has former England manager Graham Taylor in charge, has reduced its spending to just Notts County defender Des Lyttle. Taylor's team, whose president is rock star Elton John, is rated the 1,000-1 outsider to win the title, and that means it is favorite to go down. Other notable moves include Costa Rican star Paulo Wanchope transferring from Derby to West Ham, the Hammers' Israeli midfielder Eyal Berkovic going to Scotland's Glasgow Celtic, Dutch midfielder George Boating leaving Coventry for Aston Villa, Swedish midfielder Stefan Schwarz, a former Arsenal player, joining Sunderland from Valencia and Moroccan star Mustapha Hadji arriving at Coventry from Deportivo de La Coruna. Kevin Campbell finally ended his unhappy spell with Turkey's Trabzonspor and turned his loan deal with Everton into a full transfer while Stan Collymore, who spent the last two months of last season receiving counseling for stress, has joined division one Fulham from Aston Villa on loan. The Scottish Premier League season starts a week earlier on Saturday and defending champion Rangers hosts Kilmarnock, while its biggest rival, Celtic, visits Aberdeen on Sunday.
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