What a weekend! Never mind the previous hype surrounding the supposed photo finish between Man City and Chelsea, now we’ve gone round the bend and this 200 metres sprint is heating up with 70 metres to go, and lanes two, three, four and five are the ones to watch.
It’s Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City sprinting to the finish line. Can Van Gaal come from behind to win this? Can Mourinho hold on to the lead he commanded from the blocks? Would Pellegrini rue his race tactics? Can Wenger’s experience at winning a top four spot for many years help him to finally win the top spot?
There are seven games to go and I am sure there’ll be more twists and turns before the Premier league champions are crowned, but one can’t ignore the statements and the upsets of this weekend.
Arsenal’s demolition of Liverpool (they were really bombed off the park) on Saturday had set the pace for a pulsating weekend.
The way Arsenal pressed Liverpool and didn’t allow them to get into any rhythm surprised me, as they took the game to Liverpool from the go. Yes Liverpool came back on the counter and Markovic was wasteful with his pass to Raheem Sterling, which for me was the turning point in that game. Had that goal gone in, I am sure we would have seen a different result, but then again the margins at this level are very minute and almost invisible.
Manchester City had to hug the headlines, and if they couldn’t by topping the table, they had to do it by fluffing their lines at Selhurst Park. This team is talented, forget the media hype surrounding their ages, they still have it in them, but I think Pellegrini always gets it wrong when it comes to formation and team sheet.
Why was Milner on the bench yesterday and not Dzeko? Why was Zabaleta not on the pitch? Zabaleta could have not only pushed Bolasie back, he would have put in telling crosses for the sharks to feed on. And Milner? He brings steel, wit, endless running, crosses, and support to the table that Dzeko does not. The wisdom of two strikers is understood, but perhaps a Bonny and Aguero would have brought the preferred and necessary force to the game yesterday. Sorry Manuel, this team is too big for you perhaps and the quest to rotate the squad incessantly means the quality of service is varied according to personnel. For me, Manuel has probably ensured that City would fail to land silverware this season.
Jose Mourinho understands how to win championships; a moderate squad that keeps the players happy, a competition for starting places, a few young men and established experience across all the departments in the team. Would all that be enough this season as we near the finale? Chelsea have continued to lead the Premiership from day one and all Jose needs now is focus and commitment throughout the whole team. Loic Remy has consistently proven that Jose has not given him a fair deal to him all season, Oscar is playing himself close to the exit doors, as I have said for many months now that he doesn’t look the same player, I wonder if Fabregas’ arrival and dominance has rendered him irrelevant or less important in the scheme of things. I suspect he needs a couple of big games before the end of the season, otherwise Jose might be tinkering with him at the end of the season. Cuadrado is finding the pace hard to contend with and simply struggling, you can’t fault his efforts though and Fabregas is tiring from the hectic winter schedule he is no longer used to, after his sojourn at the Nou camp. Costa? Oh well, they had to know he was playing too many games with his fragile hamstring.
Van Gaal? I have repeatedly said from the beginning if the season when United were struggling, that he would turn the team around and I have been proven right, the master tactician is doing wonders at Old Trafford. No team would relish a trip to Old Trafford now, except, perhaps their noisy neighbours who they entertain this weekend. For City, it’s a do or die game on Sunday, and the winners would be Chelsea and Arsenal, if they can capitalise by winning their games at Burnley and Loftus Road respectively.
The last 70 metres promises to be exciting!
THE SCRAP FOR POINTS BEGIN
QPR away at Albion?
Leicester at home to West Ham?
Crystal Palace against Man City?
Sunderland against Newcastle at the Tyne derby?
Who would have given them these games a few months ago? But as the available points reduce and the relegation battle heats up, don’t be surprised if we get more of these results in the upcoming fixtures.
It’s a battle for survival, for existence and relevance; players fighting for new contracts, players trying to avoid relegation clauses in their contracts, clubs’ fears for Premiership revenue loss(es) and sponsors, managers trying to secure their jobs, coaching staff holding on to their daily livelihood and shareholders and fans demanding for more and better, it’s squeaky bum time, and don’t we all love it!.