With the idea of a Chelsea juggernaut dispelled, the English Premier League title race has resumed its usual form, bad news for fans who were hoping 2010-11 would give us something different. Arsenal and Manchester City, each five points back, give those fans reason for hope, but with Manchester United now only two points back of the Blues, the league season is starting to look like another Chelsea-United affair.
English Premier League: Manchester United Plays To Type, Emerges As Chelsea’s Main Competition
Manchester United has assumed their place in the English Premier League title race. Arsenal and Manchester City remain in the picture.
With a derby against City looming, United put in an lackluster performance against Wolves on Saturday. Predictably, they still won, getting a late Park Ji-Sung goal to post a 2-1 win:
The Asian Footballer of the Year candidate’s second goal leaves United only two points back of Chelsea, and while cynics will note United failed to impress, recent history puts that criticism into a different perspective.
Manchester United rarely looks good at this point of the year, employing a philosophy that provides a unique and equally successful contrast to Chelsea's. As the Blues allocate most of their resources to the top-end of the talent spectrum, their roster relies on fewer (though more talented) players, sacrificing depth. Arguably all of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and Florent Malouda would be United's best player, not to mention the likes of Ashley Cole and José Bosingwa. After a summer's rest, that array of talent is ready to start each season at a sprint, explaining their strong starts over the last two years. As the season winds down, results deteriorate, and the campaign's success is defined by whether the squad can regroup in time to salvage the hot start. At least, that's how the thinking goes.
In the interim, the teams with the greater depth are afforded time to catch-up, That's where Manchester United comes in. Since Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid, Manchester United has entered each campaign with little idea of what their team will become. Last year, their focus emerged early as Wayne Rooney's hot start gave them a pillar to build around. This season, United's had to spend the season's first two months redefining themselves. In both cases, Alex Ferguson has had to use the early part of him campaign to evaluate United's depth and determine his best squads, formations, and tactics.
Last season, the differing approaches of Chelsea and United played to a practical push. This season, we look on-track for the same, though the leagues two other title contenders have plenty of time to get involved.
Arsenal, however, took a step away from the title this weekend, though their 0-1 loss to Newcastle should not surprise. Yes, the Gunners won 0-4 at St. James' in League Cup, and yes, Arsenal had outscored Newcastle 16-1 over the clubs' last five meetings. But when you look at Arsenal's three preceding home performances, Arsene Wenger's team was ripe for an upset.
The first of those performances was the loss to West Brom, a result that looked like the seasonal slip Arsenal's incurred since the move to the new Emirates. But that slip has turning into a prolonged fall, starting with a 2-1 win over Birmingham City where the Gunners give up the first goal. Then, Arsenal needed an 88th minute goal from Alex Song to beat West Ham, 1-0. Given those results, the mid-week loss at Shakhtar ,and the fact the Newcastle United is arguably better than all those sides, a loss to the Magpies was always a possibility.
Despite the worries Gooners should have over their club's recent results, Arsenal's title hopes are as alive and well as ever. Ultimately, they didn't lose ground this week, and with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner all returning to health, there's reason to expect improvement. At some point, Thomas Vermaelan will be back, and when he is, Arsenal's squad is as good as any in the league.
There’s every reason to think Arsenal to make a second half run to parallel last years. This year, the question is whether the Gunners will be able to prolong their title chase, take some points from Chelsea and United, and close their season strong. Their current slump is worrisome, particularly now that they’ve picked up a loss, but this is still a team that beat City 0-3 at Eastlands - the one positive performance that has broken-up an otherwise disappointing string of results.
Ironically, considering they picked up three road points this weekend, Manchester City’s future is less certain. After their 0-2 win at The Hawthorns, City has matched Arsenal’s 20 points, but the way they garned their points engendered as many questions as hopes.
For a team desperate to find a goal scorer to complement nascent talisman Carlos Tévez, Mario Balotelli’s first half brace provided a glimpse of the how great City can be. However, any idea that Citizen plans could be tailored around the erratic Italian were scuppered in the 63rd minute. That’s when Balotelli saw red. He’ll miss three matches, leaving Roberto Mancini in search of a player who can more reliably buttress the attack.
Unfortunately, City's other options are insufficient (for a title contender). James Milner's not a goal scorer. Long term, he should be used ahead of Gareth Barry (if at a different position) - not to supplement the attack. Adam Johnson's more effective as a change-of-pace rather than a starter. Emmanuel Adebayor's inclusion would require a tweak to Mancini's preferred tactics, and even if El Mancho is willing to adjust, Balotelli should still be the best option, both short on long term.
While it’s disappointing words like “should” still surround Balotelli, Sunday’s red card could be a harbinger of another downturn for the talented attacker. It was just over one year ago that another Balotelli red card, accumulated in Kazan during Champions League play, further strained the relationship between him and then-coach José Mourinho (at Internazionale). That was just one of many on-and-off the field incidents that landed Balotelli to Manchester, but with the attacker continuing to act out, it’s worth considering whether the same troubles which undermined his Inter career have followed him to England.
Regardless, Balotelli is somebody who can not be relied upon as a regular starter, leaving City to continue their search for goal scorer to complement Tévez.
Until City finds that goal scorer or Arsenal goes on a run, this campaign looks to mimic the last year’s. Should it will play out like 2007-08 and 2008-09, this season will further the notion that the English Premier League is Chelsea, Manchester United, and then a gap. It’s been over six years since another club won the league, and while England’s duopoly is nowhere near as profound as Spain’s, it’s taken only eleven match days to distinguish the Premier League’s top two.
It’s a distinction that goes beyond money, where Manchester City now out-distances Chelsea. It’s more than player acquisition and development, the reason why Arsenal has been able to stay close with the league’s top two.
Nobody has a core group of players with the talent, character, and cohesion of Chelsea’s. Nobody has somebody who can manage a season like Alex Ferguson.
Until another club can emulate one of those traits (as Arsenal did at the beginning of the last decade), England will remain a two horse race.
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