Charlie Klein
Round nine of the Barclay's English Premier League brought into sharp reality the nature of the title race this term. Liverpool, robbed of their only world class players, lost to a red balloon at Sunderland and were thoroughly outclassed by a team that finished 16th in the table last season. Chelsea lost it's second consecutive away fixture to Aston Villa on two poorly defended corner kicks. Manchester United won 2-1 on an own goal from Bolton's Zat Knight and Luis Antonio Valencia's first goal in the red of Manchester. Thus, the top four in the EPL are Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal. Liverpool currently sit in eighth.
While I do not think that Liverpool will finish eighth, their stranglehold on a top four position seems to be in major doubt. Gaffer Rafa Benitez has been horribly out of touch tactically this season and again picked a dysfunctional side for a tough away fixture. His inability to sign squad players to provide adequate cover for Gerrard and Torres' absences combined with his rotation policy has led to increased frustration on the part of many Liverpool fans. What's more, Liverpool have already lost twice as many games as they did last season, where they failed to collect a point on only two occasions. Liverpool are not winning the league this season. If anything can be learned from the first nine rounds of 09/10, it is that the top four teams are no longer safe bets to comfortably win 80 percent of their games.
Chelsea began the season in similar to form to the likes of which Luis Felipe Scolari was able to inspire from the Pensioners at the start of 08/09. And yet their past two games have revealed obvious chinks in the armour of what many believed to be a bulletproof outfit. Chelsea's age is beginning to show in addition to their less than impressive defensive form. Chelsea will still challenge for all honours this season, but the loss to Aston Villa is indicative of their inability to win 'ugly.'
This season is not going to be about 6-1 thrashings of relegation fodder. That is why I still do not view Arsenal as a serious title contender. Their 3-1 win over Birmingham at home, while a good result, still does not identify the Gunners as major threats to United's crown. Champions are often defined and made by their capability to win under any circumstances. Manchester United's history is defined by such moments, whether they be the famous 2-1 1999 Champions League Final win over Bayern Munich or defeating Manchester City in the 96th minute on a goal from Michael Owen in the last Manchester derby.
Manchester United's ability to grind out results that they may or may not deserve is unquestioned. The match at home versus Sunderland is a perfect example of this unique capability. Down 2-1 in stoppage time, Patrice Evra bursts into the box and haphazardly fires a horrid shot into the box, which is deflected by Anton Ferdinand into the back of the net to save a key point from the jaws of defeat. Another example of this is the match at home to Arsenal. United turned in one of their worst performances in recent memory and yet still managed to snatch the all-important three points. It is this intangible concept that pushes United on to a fourth consecutive EPL title.
The boys in red have all of the necessary qualities to repeat as champions for the fourth consecutive season. The amount of squad depth that Sir Alex Ferguson has available to him is truly ridiculous. One only needs to look at the possible starting central midfield options to come to the same conclusion. Ferguson's first choice central midfield pairing so far this season has been Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes, and yet the pairing that started versus Bolton of Anderson and Michael Carrick did a fantastic job in their stead. Add returning midfield dynamo Owen Hargreaves to the mix and Sir Alex has quite a selection headache. All of those five central midfielders could be considered world class or to have that potential.
Many people inside and outside the game of football said that United would struggle to score goals without Crisitiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez leaving the club in the summer window. Thus far, how clear for all to see is the fact that United are again top of the table without either. The goals continue to come from a diverse group of men. Dimitar Berbatov has settled into life at United and his goal versus Sunderland was absolutely brilliant. People thought United would fall without old buddy (Ronaldo), but they just keep scoring.
Do not be surprised at all if when you see Manchester United at the top of the table come the business end of the season. Of the top four sides, United has played the most difficult schedule and has managed to simultaneously keep up with the sides at the top. The defining fixtures are still to come, as United visit Anfield next weekend and then go to Stamford Bridge on November 8th. And yet with the return of Owen Hargreaves thinks look to be getting better for the Red Devils of Manchester.
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