Boris Becker backing Arsenal or Chelsea for Premier League title

Boris Becker – Youngest Wimbledom Champion

Three-time Wimbledon Champion, Boris Becker is of the opinion that either Arsenal or Chelsea will win the Premier League title this season.

Boris believes that despite having an almost-decent squad, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool do not have the structure or strength in depth to challenge Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger for the title.

‘Boom Boom’ Becker proudly dons his Chelsea scarf and regularly travels to The Blue’s games, despite serving ten years as a director at Bayern Munich.

He told the ­Daily Star ­Sunday: “I get on with Jose Mourinho and am a big fan of his. I am a great ­admirer of his work. If he took up ­tennis he would be a champion.

“He ­understands sport, he knows how to treat personalities.

“He knows what it is all about.”

Five of Boris Becker’s German compatriates are at Arsenal. About Arsenal’s chances, he said, “I also have to say I like Arsene Wenger. I like how he runs Arsenal.

“I can’t see beyond those two clubs for the title.

“City will be a threat but have not yet gelled as a team.

“Liverpool have fewer quality players to pick from, so they always seem to me have to rely on their starting eleven.

“They don’t have the strength in depth of Chelsea or Arsenal.

“United have to recover. You do not want to see United in the middle of the table. It seems odd. Taking over from Sir Alex was the most difficult job in football for ­whoever took the role.

“The new manager was on a hiding to nothing. Even Jose Mourinho would have found it hard because Sir Alex was in a class of his own.”

Becker was faced with a choice early in life to either become a footballer or a tennis player, and he chose to go with the latter.

Boris still has a soft spot for Bayern Munich where he was an active director for ten years

But Becker’s first love will always be Bayern Munich, where he spent ten long years as an active director, shaping the club’s policies. He admits that he had divided loyalties when ­Chelsea and Bayern fought out the Champions League Final in 2012.

He said of his Chelsea bond: “I know former Chelsea?managers ­Gianluca Vialli and Ruud Gullit very well, so I was kind of rooting for them in the Champions League until they played the club closest to my heart.

“Bayern versus Chelsea in the Champions League Final, now that was a pretty uncomfortable night for me.

“In the end, I ended up feeling deflated and ­disappointed.

“Yes, I was rooting for Drogba and Frank, but this was a chance for Bayern to win the ­biggest trophy of them all in club football on home soil.

“It is not something that comes along too ­often in your career and now that moment is gone forever.

“To be one-nil up until the 89th minute, have so much bad luck in a game you ­dominate and still find a way to lose on penalties, it doesn’t get much tougher than that.

“I have rooted for Bayern since I was a little boy but fate seemed to play a hand in Chelsea’s win.

“It was great to see Bayern back in the Champions League Final at Wembley ­earlier this year.

“Their game against Dortmund was a great advert for German football. I was there and the atmosphere was wonderful. But did it make up for what was a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity in Munich?”

Because of his extensive football knowledge and love for the game, Boris Becker is often called upon by German television to talk about football.

He explained his footballing background, saying: “As a youngster I was a striker. I felt I could’ve made it in the Bundesliga.

“It was a toss of the coin choosing which way I went, between football and tennis.

“It was very close and I played until I was 15 but as I got older I got better and better at tennis and trained more for it.

“The area I came from was near ­Stuttgart and so I could have possibly gone to them.”

And showing a flash of humour he ­added: “I study the game and like to think I know a little bit more about it than your average fan.

“That may be why German TV ask me to pass comments on football games, even though I am just an old tennis player.”