In the last few weeks we have seen the pendulum shift dramatically in this seasons title race. Manchester City so consistent in the opening half of the season, with remarkable home form and in David Silva, a player who was just about unplayable.
So how has this shift occurred? The lazy view is to blame the enigmatic Mario Balotelli for frequently ill disciplined and chaotic contributions in most matches leading to a dampening of morale and eventually their downfall. Keep in mind though that City’s form hasn’t been at all bad throughout the season. After a 1-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park in late January, they then won four on the bounce before losing away at Swansea. They responded with a fine win at home to an inform Chelsea side and earned a decent point away at Stoke. Last week saw them drop points at home to Sunderland before succumbing to Arsenal at the Emirates on Easter Sunday. Granted, City should be winning at Swansea but given that only Man United and Everton have won there this season, you can see the difficulty that they or any side might encounter. Their recent 3-3 draw at home to Sunderland was a disastrous result but those two games aside, City’s form has been quite consistent and it may be that a lot of us are overlooking the sheer might of Manchester United’s surge since January…
Since a 3-0 defeat at Newcastle on January 4th, United have won eleven league games and drawn one, a blistering run which has burnt off City. Then again, we have come to expect this from United and Sir Alex Ferguson when they face a new threat, my mind wanders back to the ’95/96 season when Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle raced into a twelve point lead by January of 1996. On New Years Day United were beaten 4-1 by Spurs at White Hart Lane, after that they went on a relentless run of consistency inspired by Eric Cantona, saw off the challenge and won that seasons Championship. In the treble winning season of ’98/99, Sir Alex and his charges faced a new challenge in the from of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal who had won the league the previous season. Following defeat to Middlesbrough in Christmas of ’98, several players have quoted Fergie as saying, “Right, let that be the end of it now…” United then went unbeaten across all competitions for the remainder of the season. Recent years has seen them fight off a strong and successful challenge from Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and stem a slightly weaker challenge from a very talented Liverpool side under the stewardship of Rafa Benitez. The common denominator? Sir Alex Ferguson and that unrelenting, incessant competitiveness that runs deep inside of him.
All of us, myself very much included were urging Sir Alex last summer to spend big in central midfield. When the dust has settled on this season, he may very well reflect that Paul Scholes has been brought out of retirement to aid this years title quest and that reinforcements will be needed. However last summer, despite being linked with Wesley Sneijder, Luka Modric, Samir Nasri and the rest, he recognized that their was little value for money for players in that position. He went with what he had along with the addition of Scholes and plunged several young players into the midst of an intense title race with a high spending rival. Players like, Danny Wellbeck, Chris Smalling, David De Gea, Phil Jones, Rafael and Jonny Evans have all performed very well and each one will take extreme confidence from the season and essentially will only get better.
I now see United embarking on another period of dominance, especially if or rather when they secure this seasons title. A couple of additions but not many will reinforce what they already have. As for City, significant investment is again needed in certain areas but this breeds the problem of establishing familiarity and continuity amongst a group of players. Their improvement is there for everyone to see and they have had a fantastic season so Roberto Mancini must stay and be given more time.
For Manchester United, they will will be crowned champions within the next few weeks, I don’t herald it as Sir Alex’s greatest achievement because nothing matches the treble of 1999, however in terms of domestic rivals, pipping Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City trumps seeing off Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea and Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool. All hail Sir Alex Ferguson except for the boy Roy from Mayfield Co. Cork.
danoneill1986 