Barclays Premiership Title-A Two Horse Race

Recently the manager of English premier league club Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson stated that in his opinion the race for the 2011/12 Barclay’s premiership title will be between six clubs, Manchester united, Manchester city, Chelsea FC, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. Sir Alex most of the time is right however this time I respectfully disagree with the great man.

Four games into the season and a clear outline of a picture is developing and it does not suggest a six team horse race. The two Manchester clubs are light years away from the rest of the competition; both clubs have maximum twelve points from four matches, with a combined scoring record of thirty three (33) goals and just six ( 6 ) against. If this pace is sustained we should expect a historical Barclay’s premiership season to unfold between these two bitter rivals and neighbors.

Obviously there will be some twist and turn in the race during a thirty eight (38) game season and I expect Chelsea to provide that. They were Manchester United’s main title challengers for the last five to six years and the new man in charge Andre Villas-Boas has stated that the premiership title is a priority. However, Chelsea has gone through seven (7) managers since Abramovich took over and I believe this instability has finally caught up with the London club. They have started the season well in terms of points collected ten (10) but the team’s performance has been disjointed and lacking in flowing football.

Arsenal got an 8-2 shellacking at the hands of Manchester united and it will take months for the physiological wounds to heal. The team suffered during their nerve racking 1-0 win over Swansea on Saturday….Wenger said “we just wanted to get over the line”. That sounds like a trauma victim saying “I’m taking it day by day”. In my opinion Arsenal are already out of the title race.

Tottenham got hammered by the other Manchester club city 5-1 at home which laid bare the illusion that Tottenham are capable of mounting a title challenge. They are already nine (9) points behind the two Manchester clubs although they have a game in hand. However fighting for fourth has always been Tottenham’s ambition and contending for the title is not an objective.

Liverpool is a completely different animal, contending for the title is the feverish wish but winning the title is the ultimate ambition. It has become the Holy Grail for the club and its fans. A quiet optimism developed after the two wins and a draw in August but after Saturday’s defeat at Stoke the optimism seems misplaced and sadly the team looks like it is out of the title race, they are already five (5) points behind.

So was Sir Alex having a laugh or just trying to be nice.


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