With one game to play and the Premier League title Chelsea’s to lose, looking down the table throws up some interesting shifts in the football map of England as Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool all have reason for celebration and concern.
The Final Games
Chelsea host Wigan on Sunday in a match that they will be aiming to win to secure Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s first Premiership title. With a strike force of Drogba and Anelka and Malouda and Kalou on the flank one of the remaining questions is if there is space in the team for Joe Cole. The Londoner Cole will need to play the game of his life to force his way into England National Team coach Fabio Capello’s plans for this summer in South Africa.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United face Stoke in the 38th league fixture of this season and will be entering this battle with all guns blazing. Whether Rooney will get a full 90 minutes is up for debate. Owen Hargreaves is still in doubt having played roughly one minute of League football this year due to horrendous injuries. There is currently one point in it between the Manchester United and Chelsea.
Arsenal to Stay in Third Place?
By any reckoning, Arsenal have had a poor season. So early on they were leading the league but any pundit could have predicted their fall from the top spot. Arsene Wenger’s teams play beautiful football but have season after season left them questioning, when do this youngsters start to flourish? Wenger claims to be building for the future but by all accounts they have been doing this for the better part of a decade and have scant reward to show for it. There will be some serious soul searching in the changing rooms and in the Director’s office should Tottenham leapfrog Arsenal into third place on the last day of the season. Arsenal face a Fulham side clearly with one eye on the upcoming Europa League Final against Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham’s Remarkable Turnaround
Not in your wildest dreams would you have predicted Tottenham’s rise up the table into fourth place. This improvement to fourth from bottom spot was solely orchestrated by the superb management of Harry Redknapp. He now has a fantastic squad at his disposal with the likes of Defoe, Huddlestone and Palacios who on their day are a formidable lot. Their game versus Manchester City was enormous for both sides as it defined the last Champions League place in the EPL and Redknapp’s players pulled it off. It would be farfetched to say that Tottenham will do anything in the Champions League, perhaps reach the knockout stages but they will come back to the EPL with knowledge and greater maturity. They have a new stadium in the works and fans scent the blood of the north London rivals Arsenal.
Manchester City’s Millions
Former coach Mark Hughes would probably have got Manchester City into the same place as they are now with Roberto Mancini. We all know that Mancini was brought in as a statement of intent to make other clubs and more importantly prospective players sit up and take the unfashionable side of Manchester seriously. They will be desperately disappointed in having missed out on the coveted fourth spot, but will be taking the good with the bad. They are in fifth and have a good squad and some excellent players in Johnson, Tevez and Adebayor and know that their owners will throw money at the problem allowing Mancini (if he is still in with a job) to further strengthen the side.
Liverpool Slump
Everything about this season has been a disappointment to Liverpool. Coach Rafa Benitez will most likely already be negotiating a move elsewhere and plenty of unsettled payers will go as well. For a squad of such quality including Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun, sixth place (if they beat Hull tomorrow and Aston Villa slip up versus Blackburn) is just not good enough. There is much to be studied about their failures as a club and the more discerning fan will tell you that they have done little better than under previous coach Gerard Houllier.
Richard McColl - I am a freelance writer from deepest darkest London but for the past 10 years or so I have been maintaining my extended "writing break" in ...
