NOTHING TO FEAR

Since the start of the season the talk has been of the 'Big Four' becoming the 'Big Five', with City's new found riches catapulting them into the British elite.

Yet as the first phase of the Premier League campaign draws to an end a different question has surfaced. Has the Premier League become weaker?

Firstly, it was Arsenal who were to be the ones to fall away, criticised for making no high profile signings and losing the experienced Toure and powerful Adebayor.

At the moment Liverpool look like they are the team to be thrown out of the big boys room suffering from the loss of Gerrard and injured Torres.

Digging deeper, one could put forward a case for United not looking convincing needing a controversial goal to beat City and not really looking like Champions in other games so far this season.

Further proof can be seen after another round of Champions League games tonight with Europe's elite on show. The Madrid Milan games have shown a high level of skill and along with Barcelona one could argue that the domination of the Champions' League last four by English clubs looks certain to be broken - for this year at least.

Liverpool are looking like a team on the ropes without both Gerrard and Torres they are distinctly average and Benitez looks like a dead man walking. Arsenal although talented and aesthetically pleasing have already been beaten by both Manchester teams this season and have looked far from an elite team for a few years now.

United have lost to Burnley and Liverpool already, drawn with Sunderland and scraped wins over Wolves and City. More importantly they have not looked dominant in Europe so far this term.

All of the above teams have weakened squads and look poor man for man when compared to Barca, Madrid and Milan this year.

The only real challenge to them on paper lies in London in the shape of Chelsea. Their squad, although ageing, is the strongest in the Premier League if not Europe, and they have been playing like champions too.

So maybe the emphasis shouldn't be on a new Big 5 but on a weaker Premier League at the top end. Only time will tell if this is true and if the rest of the league has made inroads on the 3 weakened teams.

One thing is for certain though, with only Chelsea definitely on another level, City should fear nobody and try to be in contact come the African Nations Cup when the Londoners' resources will be tested to the max. Of United, well any United fan will tell you that should Rooney be ruled out for a long period of time they'd be nervously looking over their shoulders and in the same position as Liverpool.


Premier League Top 4 Squads

UNITED
Number Name Nat Pos Height Weight Date of Birth Birth Place Previous Club
1 Edwin van der Sar NED G 1.97 83 29-10-70 Voorhout Fulham
2 Gary Neville ENG D 1.79 74 18-02-75 Bury None
3 Patrice Evra FRA D 1.75 76 15-05-81 Dakar Monaco
4 Owen Hargreaves ENG M 1.80 74 20-01-81 Calgary Bayern Munich
5 Rio Ferdinand ENG D 1.89 82 07-11-78 Peckham Leeds U
6 Wes Brown ENG D 1.85 75 13-10-79 Manchester None
7 Michael Owen ENG F 1.73 70 14-12-79 Chester Newcastle U
8 Anderson BRA M 1.76 69 13-04-88 Porto Alegre FC Porto
9 Dimitar Berbatov BUL F 1.88 79 30-01-81 Blagoevgrad Tottenham H
10 Wayne Rooney ENG F 1.78 78 24-10-85 Liverpool Everton
11 Ryan Giggs WAL M 1.80 68 29-11-73 Cardiff None
12 Ben Foster ENG G 1.88 80 03-04-83 Leamington Stoke C
13 Park Ji-Sung KOR M 1.75 70 25-02-81 Suwon PSV Eindhoven
14 Zoran Tošić SRB M 1.71 69 28-04-87 Zrenjanin Partizan Belgrade
15 Nemanja Vidić SRB D 1.88 82 21-10-81 Užice Spartak Moscow
16 Michael Carrick ENG M 1.86 74 28-07-81 Wallsend Tottenham H
17 Nani POR M 1.75 66 17-11-86 Praia Sporting CP
18 Paul Scholes ENG M 1.70 72 16-11-74 Salford None
19 Danny Welbeck ENG F 1.85 73 26-11-90 Manchester None
20 Fábio BRA D 1.72 65 09-07-90 Petrópolis Fluminense
21 Rafael BRA D 1.72 65 09-07-90 Petrópolis Fluminense
22 John O'Shea IRL D 1.90 75 30-04-81 Waterford Waterford U
23 Jonny Evans NIR D 1.88 77 03-01-88 Belfast None
24 Darren Fletcher SCO M 1.83 83 01-02-84 Edinburgh None
25 Luis Antonio Valencia ECU M 1.81 78 04-08-85 Lago Agrio Wigan Ath
26 Gabriel Obertan FRA F 1.86 79 26-02-89 Pantin Bordeaux
27 Federico Macheda ITA F 1.83 76 22-08-91 Rome Lazio
28 Darron Gibson IRL M 1.80 83 25-10-87 Derry None
29 Tomasz Kuszczak

 LIVERPOOL
 1 Diego Cavalieri BRA G 1.89 86 01-12-82 São Paulo Palmeiras
2 Glen Johnson ENG D 1.82 70 23-08-84 Greenwich Portsmouth
4 Alberto Aquilani ITA M 1.84 73 07-07-84 Rome Roma
5 Daniel Agger DEN D 1.87 75 12-12-84 Hvidovre Brøndby
8 Steven Gerrard ENG M 1.88 83 30-05-80 Whiston None
9 Fernando Torres ESP F 1.83 70 20-03-84 Madrid Atlético Madrid
10 Andriy Voronin UKR F 1.77 79 21-07-79 Odessa Bayer Leverkusen
11 Albert Riera ESP M 1.88 83 15-04-82 Manacor Espanyol
12 Fábio Aurélio BRA D 1.78 75 24-09-79 São Carlos Valencia
15 Yossi Benayoun ISR M 1.78 70 05-05-80 Beersheba West Ham U
16 Sotirios Kyrgiakos GRE D 1.92 85 23-07-79 Trikala AEK
18 Dirk Kuijt NED F 1.84 77 22-07-80 Katwijk Feyenoord
19 Ryan Babel NED F 1.85 78 19-12-86 Amsterdam Ajax
20 Javier Mascherano ARG M 1.78 77 08-06-84 Rosario West Ham U
21 Lucas BRA M 1.79 74 09-01-87 Dourados Grêmio
22 Emiliano Insúa ARG D 1.73 82 07-01-89 Buenos Aires Boca Juniors
23 Jamie Carragher ENG D 1.85 83 28-01-78 Bootle None
24 David N'Gog FRA F 1.90 79 01-04-89 Gennevilliers Paris St-Germain
25 José Manuel Reina ESP G 1.94 94 31-08-82 Madrid Villarreal
26 Jay Spearing ENG M 1.68 70 25-11-88 Wirral None
27 Philipp Degen SUI D 1.88 82 15-02-83 Basel Borussia Dortmund
28 Damien Plessis FRA M 1.92 76 05-03-88 Neuville-aux-Bois Lyon
31 Nabil El Zhar MAR M 1.75 72 27-08-86 Alès St-Etienne
32 Stephen Darby ENG D 1.82 79 06-10-88 Liverpool None
34 Martin Kelly ENG D 1.91 77 27-04-90 Bolton None

ARSENAL
1 Manuel Almunia ESP G 1.91 86 16-05-77 Pamplona Celta Vigo
2 Abou Diaby FRA M 1.88 75 11-05-86 Paris Auxerre
3 Bakari Sagna FRA D 1.76 72 14-02-83 Sens Auxerre
4 Cesc Fàbregas ESP M 1.77 69 04-05-87 Arenys de Mar Barcelona
5 Thomas Vermaelen BEL D 1.82 75 14-11-85 Kapellen Ajax
6 Philippe Senderos SUI D 1.90 84 14-02-85 Geneva Servette
7 Tomáš Rosický CZE M 1.78 67 04-10-80 Prague Borussia Dortmund
8 Samir Nasri FRA M 1.77 75 26-06-87 Marseille Marseille
9 Eduardo CRO F 1.77 70 25-02-83 Rio de Janeiro Dinamo Zagreb
10 William Gallas FRA D 1.83 72 17-08-77 Asnieres Chelsea
11 Robin van Persie NED M 1.83 71 06-08-83 Rotterdam Feyenoord
12 Carlos Vela MEX F 1.76 72 01-03-89 Cancún Guadalajara
14 Theo Walcott ENG F 1.75 68 16-03-89 Newbury Southampton
15 Denílson BRA M 1.78 68 16-02-88 São Paulo São Paulo
16 Aaron Ramsey WAL M 1.78 76 26-12-90 Caerphilly Cardiff C
17 Alexandre Song CMR M 1.84 76 09-09-87 Douala Bastia
18 Mikaël Silvestre FRA D 1.84 82 09-08-77 Chambray-Les-Tours Manchester U
19 Jack Wilshere ENG M 1.70 65 01-01-92 Stevenage None
20 Johan Djourou SUI D 1.91 83 18-01-87 Abidjan Etoile-Carouge
21 Łukasz Fabiański POL G 1.90 84 18-04-85 Kostrzyn nad Odrą Legia Warszawa
22 Gaël Clichy FRA D 1.81 72 26-07-85 Toulouse Cannes
23 Andrey Arshavin RUS M 1.72 71 29-05-81 St. Petersburg Zenit St. Petersburg
24 Vito Mannone ITA G 1.94 73 02-03-88 Desio Atalanta
27 Emmanuel Eboué CIV D 1.78 72 04-06-83 Abidjan Beveren
28 Kieran Gibbs ENG M 1.78 64 26-09-89 Lambeth None
30 Armand Traoré FRA D 1.85 82 08-10-89 Paris Monaco
32 Fran Mérida ESP M 1.75 70 04-03-90 Barcelona Barcelona

CHELSEA
1 Petr Čech CZE G 1.96 90 20-05-82 Plzeň Rennes
2 Branislav Ivanović SRB D 1.82 78 22-02-84 Sremska Mitrovica Lokomotiv Moscow
3 Ashley Cole ENG D 1.72 67 20-12-80 Stepney Arsenal
5 Michael Essien GHA M 1.78 84 03-12-82 Accra Lyon
6 Ricardo Carvalho POR D 1.83 76 18-05-78 Amarante Porto
8 Frank Lampard ENG M 1.83 90 20-06-78 Romford West Ham U
10 Joe Cole ENG M 1.76 73 08-11-81 Camden West Ham U
11 Didier Drogba CIV F 1.89 91 11-03-78 Abidjan Marseille
12 Mikel John Obi NGA M 1.84 85 22-04-87 Jos Lyn
13 Michael Ballack GER M 1.88 85 26-09-76 Chemnitz Bayern Munich
15 Florent Malouda FRA M 1.81 73 13-06-80 Cayenne Lyon
17 José Bosingwa POR D 1.83 75 24-08-82 Kinshasa FC Porto
18 Yuriy Zhirkov RUS M 1.80 75 20-08-83 Tambov CSKA Moscow
19 Paulo Ferreira POR D 1.82 76 18-01-79 Lisbon FC Porto
20 Deco POR M 1.74 73 27-08-77 São Bernardo do Campo Barcelona
21 Salomon Kalou CIV F 1.84 77 05-08-85 Oumé Feyenoord
22 Ross Turnbull ENG G 1.93 85 04-01-85 Bishop Auckland Middlesbrough
23 Daniel Sturridge ENG F 1.88 76 01-09-89 Birmingham Manchester C
24 Nemanja Matić SRB M 1.94 82 01-08-88 Šabac MFK Košice
26 John Terry ENG D 1.86 91 07-12-80 Barking None
30 Rhys Taylor WAL G 1.88 85 07-04-90 Neath None
33 Alex BRA D 1.88 92 17-06-82 Niterói PSV Eindhoven
35 Belletti BRA D 1.79 74 20-06-76 Casacvel Barcelona
39 Nicolas Anelka FRA F 1.85 77 14-03-79 Versailles Bolton W
40 Hilário POR G 1.88 86 21-10-75 São Pedro da Cova Nacional [POR]

  CITY
1 Shay Given IRL G 1.88 84 24-04-76 Lifford Newcastle U
2 Micah Richards ENG D 1.80 83 24-06-88 Birmingham None
3 Wayne Bridge ENG D 1.79 81 05-08-80 Southampton Chelsea
4 Nedum Onuoha ENG D 1.83 78 30-11-86 Warri None
5 Pablo Zabaleta ARG D 1.74 74 16-01-85 Capital Federal Espanyol
6 Michael Johnson ENG M 1.83 79 24-02-88 Urmston None
7 Stephen Ireland IRL M 1.75 68 22-08-86 Cork None
8 Shaun Wright-Phillips ENG M 1.66 64 25-10-81 Greenwich Chelsea
10 Robinho BRA F 1.72 60 25-01-84 São Vicente Real Madrid
12 Stuart Taylor ENG G 1.96 86 28-11-80 Romford Aston Villa
14 Roque Santa Cruz PAR F 1.87 80 16-08-81 Asunción Blackburn R
15 Javier Garrido ESP D 1.78 75 15-03-85 Irún Real Sociedad
16 Sylvinho BRA D 1.73 66 12-04-74 São Paulo Barcelona
17 Martin Petrov BUL M 1.80 76 15-01-79 Vzatza Atlético Madrid
18 Gareth Barry ENG M 1.83 79 23-02-81 Hastings Aston Villa
19 Joleon Lescott ENG D 1.88 83 16-08-82 Birmingham Everton
25 Emmanuel Adebayor TOG F 1.91 75 26-02-84 Lomé Arsenal
27 Benjani Mwaruwari ZIM F 1.82 78 13-08-78 Bulawayo Portsmouth
28 Kolo Touré CIV D 1.83 76 19-03-81 Sokoura Bouaké Arsenal
31 Adam Clayton ENG F 1.75 75 14-01-89 Manchester None
32 Carlos Tévez ARG F 1.71 75 05-02-84 Ciudadela West Ham U
33 Vincent Kompany BEL D 1.91 91 10-04-86 Ukkel Hamburg
34 Nigel de Jong NED M 1.74 72 30-11-84 Amsterdam Hamburg
35 Scott Kay ENG M 18-09-89 Denton None
36 Javan Vidal ENG D 1.78 68 10-05-89 Manchester None
37 Gunnar Nielsen FRO G 1.91 89 07-10-86 Blackburn R
38 Reece Wabara ENG D 28-12-91 None
39 Craig Bellamy WAL F 1.75 69 13-01-79 Cardiff West Ham U
40 Vladimir Weiss SVK M 1.75 68 30-11-89

THE COMPETITION

BARCELONA
1 Víctor Valdés ESP G 1.83 78 14-01-82 Hospitalet de Llobregat Barcelona B
2 Daniel Alves BRA D 1.73 64 06-05-83 Juazeiro Sevilla
3 Gerard Piqué ESP D 1.92 85 02-02-87 Barcelona Manchester U
4 Rafael Márquez MEX D 1.82 74 13-02-79 Zamora Monaco
5 Carles Puyol ESP D 1.78 80 13-04-78 La Pobla de Segur Barcelona B
6 Xavi ESP M 1.70 68 25-01-80 Terrassa Barcelona B
8 Andrés Iniesta ESP M 1.70 65 11-05-84 Fuentealbilla Barcelona B
9 Zlatan Ibrahimović SWE F 1.92 84 03-10-81 Malmö Internazionale
10 Lionel Messi ARG M 1.69 67 24-06-87 Santa Fe Barcelona B
11 Bojan Krkić ESP F 1.70 65 28-08-90 Linyola Barcelona B
13 José Manuel Pinto ESP G 1.85 82 15-11-75 Puerto de Santa Maria Celta Vigo
14 Thierry Henry FRA F 1.88 83 17-08-77 Les Ulis Arsenal
15 Seydou Keita MLI M 1.83 77 16-01-80 Bamako Sevilla
16 Sergio Busquets ESP M 1.89 73 16-07-88 Sabadell Barcelona B
17 Pedro ESP F 1.69 64 28-07-87 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Barcelona B
18 Gabriel Milito ARG D 1.79 80 07-09-80 Bernal Zaragoza
19 Maxwell BRA D 1.75 73 27-08-81 Vila Velha Internazionale
21 Dmytro Chygrynskiy UKR D 1.90 81 07-11-86 Izyaslav Shakhtar Donetsk
22 Eric Abidal FRA D 1.86 75 11-07-79 Lyon Lyon
24 Yaya Touré CIV M 1.91 90 13-05-83 Sokoura Bouaké Monaco

REAL MADRID
1 Iker Casillas ESP G 1.85 79 20-05-81 Madrid Real Madrid B
2 Álvaro Arbeloa ESP D 1.83 76 17-01-83 Salamanca Liverpool
3 Pepe POR D 1.86 72 26-02-83 Maceió FC Porto
4 Sergio Ramos ESP D 1.83 73 30-03-86 Camas Sevilla
5 Fernando Gago ARG M 1.78 69 10-04-86 Ciudadela Boca Juniors
6 Mahamadou Diarra MLI M 1.83 76 18-05-81 Bamako Lyon
7 Raúl ESP F 1.80 68 27-06-77 Madrid Real Madrid B
8 Kaká BRA M 1.86 83 22-04-82 Brasília Milan
9 Cristiano Ronaldo POR F 1.86 75 05-02-85 Funchal Manchester U
10 Lassana Diarra FRA M 1.73 68 10-03-85 Paris Portsmouth
11 Karim Benzema FRA F 1.82 74 19-12-87 Lyon Lyon
12 Marcelo BRA D 1.74 73 12-05-88 Rio de Janeiro Fluminense
13 Jerzy Dudek POL G 1.87 78 23-03-73 Rybnik Liverpool
14 Guti ESP M 1.85 76 31-10-76 Madrid Real Madrid B
15 Royston Drenthe NED D 1.67 67 08-04-87 Rotterdam FeyenoorD
17 Ruud van Nistelrooy NED F 1.88 80 01-07-76 Geffen Manchester U
18 Raúl Albiol ESP D 1.87 74 04-09-85 Valencia Valencia
19 Ezequiel Garay ARG D 1.89 83 10-10-86 Rosario Racing Santander
20 Gonzalo Higuaín ARG F 1.84 75 10-12-87 Brest River Plate
21 Christoph Metzelder GER D 1.94 84 05-11-80 Halten Borussia Dortmund
22 Xabi Alonso ESP M 1.83 75 25-11-81 Tolosa Liverpool
23 Rafael van der Vaart NED M 1.75 74 11-02-83 Heemskerk Hamburg
24 Esteban Granero ESP M 1.79 77 02-07-87 Madrid Getafe

MILAN
1 Dida BRA G 1.95 85 07-10-73 Irarà Corinthian
4 Kakha Kaladze GEO D 1.86 76 27-02-78 Samtraedia Dynamo Kiev
5 Oguchi Onyewu USA D 1.92 91 13-05-82 Washington Standard Liège
7 Alexandre Pato BRA F 1.79 71 02-09-89 Pato Branco Internacional
8 Gennaro Gattuso ITA M 1.77 77 09-01-78 Corigliano Rangers
9 Filippo Inzaghi ITA F 1.81 74 09-08-73 Piacenza Juventus
10 Clarence Seedorf NED M 1.76 76 01-04-76 Paramaribo Internazionale
11 Klaas Jan Huntelaar NED F 1.86 80 12-08-83 Drempt Real Madrid
12 Christian Abbiati ITA G 1.91 92 08-07-77 Milan Monza
13 Alessandro Nesta ITA D 1.87 79 19-03-76 Rome Lazio
15 Gianluca Zambrotta ITA D 1.81 76 19-02-77 Como Barcelona
16 Mathieu Flamini FRA M 1.78 67 07-03-84 Marseille Arsenal
17 GianMarco Zigoni ITA F 1.88 80 10-05-91 Verona Treviso
18 Marek Jankulovski CZE D 1.83 82 09-05-77 Ostrava Udinese
19 Giuseppe Favalli ITA D 1.81 77 08-01-72 Orzinuovi Internazionale
20 Ignazio Abate ITA M 1.80 73 12-11-86 Sant'Agata De' Goti Torino
21 Andrea Pirlo ITA M 1.77 68 19-05-79 Brescia Internazionale
22 Marco Borriello ITA F 1.80 73 18-06-82 Naples Genoa
23 Massimo Ambrosini ITA M 1.82 72 29-05-77 Pesaro Cesen
25 Daniele Bonera ITA D 1.83 74 31-05-81 Brescia Parma
30 Marco Storari ITA G 1.87 76 07-01-77 Pisa Messina
31 Flavio Roma ITA G 1.92 89 21-06-74 Rome Monaco
33 Thiago Silva BRA D 1.83 79 22-09-84 Rio de Janeiro Fluminense
44 Massimo Oddo ITA D 1.82 76 14-06-76 Città Sant'Angelo Lazio
49 Davide Di Gennaro ITA F 1.80 72 16-06-88 Milan Genoa
50 Filippo Perucchini ITA G 06-10-91 Bergamo None
51 Rodney Strasser SLE M 30-03-90 Freetown None
58 Simone Verdi ITA F 12-07-92 Broni None
77 Luca Antonini ITA D 1.82 70 04-02-82 Milan Empoli
80 Ronaldinho BRA M 1.82 80 21-03-80 Porto Alegre Barcelona


INTER
1 Francesco Toldo ITA G 1.96 90 02-12-71 Padova Fiorentina
2 Iván Córdoba COL D 1.73 70 11-08-76 Medellín San Lorenzo
4 Javier Zanetti ARG D 1.78 75 10-08-73 Buenos Aires Banfield
5 Dejan Stanković SRB M 1.81 75 11-09-78 Belgrade Lazio
6 Lúcio BRA D 1.88 84 08-05-78 Brasília Bayern Munich
7 Ricardo Quaresma POR M 1.75 75 26-09-83 Lisbon FC Porto
8 Thiago Motta BRA M 1.88 77 28-08-82 São Bernardo do Campo Genoa
9 Samuel Eto'o CMR F 1.80 75 10-03-81 Nkon Barcelona
10 Wesley Sneijder NED M 1.70 67 09-06-84 Utrecht Real Madrid
11 Sulley Muntari GHA M 1.79 76 27-07-84 Accra Portsmouth
12 Júlio César BRA G 1.86 79 03-09-79 Rio de Janeiro Chievo Verona
13 Maicon BRA D 1.84 77 26-07-81 Criciúma Monaco
14 Patrick Vieira FRA M 1.92 82 23-06-76 Dakar Juventus
15 Rene Krhin SVN M 1.89 78 21-05-90 Maribor Maribor
18 David Suazo HON F 1.82 75 05-11-79 San Pedro Cagliari
19 Esteban Cambiasso ARG M 1.77 78 18-08-80 Buenos Aires Real Madrid
20 Joel Chukwuma Obi NGA M 22-05-91 Lagos None
21 Paolo Orlandoni ITA G 1.86 78 12-08-72 Bolzano Piacenza
22 Diego Milito ARG F 1.83 78 12-06-79 Bernal Genoa
23 Marco Materazzi ITA D 1.93 92 19-08-73 Lecce Perugia
25 Walter Samuel ARG D 1.83 83 23-03-78 Firmat Real Madrid
26 Christian Chivu ROU D 1.84 81 26-10-80 Reşiţa Roma
30 Mancini BRA M 1.83 82 01-08-80 Belo Horizonte Roma
39 Davide Santon ITA D 1.87 77 02-01-91 Portomaggiore None
45 Mario Balotelli ITA F 1.89 88 12-08-90 Palermo Lumezzane
46 Luca Caldirola ITA D 01-02-91 Desio None
47 Denis Alibec ROU F 1.87 77 05-01-91 Mangalia Farul Constanţa
48 Lorenzo Crisetig ITA M 20-01-93 Cividale Del Fruili None
49 Mattia Destro ITA F 20-03-91 Ascoli Piceno None
51 Vid Belec SVN G 06-06-90 Maribor Maribor
52 Antonio Esposito ITA D 05-09-90 Naples Spezia
53 Luca Tremolada ITA M 25-11-91 Milan None
54 Simone Dell'Agnello ITA F 12-04-92 Livorno None
55 Samuele Longo ITA F 12-01-92 Vidor None
56 Marek Kysela CZE D 10-07-92 Viktoria Plzeň
57 Sebastian Carlsen SWE M 09-01-91 Helsingborg Helsingborgs IF
58 Giulio Donati ITA D 05-02-90 Pietrasanta None
59 Andrea Romano' ITA M 23-07-93 Como None
60 Riccardo Cocuzza ITA M 27-01-93 Vizzolo Predabissi None
89 Marko Arnautović AUT F 1.92 83 19-04-89 Vienna FC Twente