Manchester United are looking very strong, but with 33 league games still to be played, is everyone getting a bit carried away?
We have been aware for a while now at CollinsBeans that pundits and analysts of football in this country are hindered somewhat by short-termism. Not very imaginatively or elegantly, I like to call it the “last game” syndrome. What I mean is that whatever a team does in its last game, that seems to completely engulf the expert’s opinion (and I use the term expert lightly). We see this all the time. One team plays well and they are destined for great things. Another has an off day and loses, and they are certainties for relegation. And this trend is no more lucidly illustrated by the reaction to yesterday’s game at Old Trafford, which to be fair, did live up to Sky's super, superb, sensational, grand slam Sunday hype.
This time last season, Chelsea were off to flyer, scoring goals for fun and destroying everyone in their path. Admittedly they had played some of the league's weaker teams, but pundits and fans around the country weren’t concerned by that and declared the title race over. Chelsea were nailed on winners. They were playing so well that no one would be able to stop them.
We all know that it didn’t quite work out that way; Chelsea stuttered badly and Manchester United took advantage to win one of the lowest standard Premier Leagues in history.
This time it’s United who are setting the pace. Now I must state here that I am not claiming Alex Ferguson’s men are going to offer a repeat performance. They look a very strong side and the overall standard this campaign appears much higher. Manchester United are justifiably favourites for the title, and are indeed my own tip for glory come May. However, I think we all need to draw breath, and not declare this season’s title race over after five games.
No one likes a self-promoter, but I would like to point out that I made a similar comment about drawing breath following the crazy hype surrounding Gareth Bale last winter (http://collinsbeans.blogspot.com/2010/11/gareth-bale-very-exciting-but-shall-we.html). Bale had a good few games, and is clearly a great talent, but suddenly we were all told he was the world’s second best player after Lionel Messi, that he was worth £40 million at the very least. Subsequent injuries and loss of form put things back into perspective a little.
Manchester United have started the season very well. No one can argue with five wins from five and a plus 17 goal difference. They have a strong squad, with Phil Jones and Ashley Young in particular looking like superb additions. Yet I just can’t help feeling the widespread sentiment that the title is over is a tad premature.
Yesterday’s game was a case in point. It was without doubt an utterly bizarre encounter, extremely high on entertainment but often very low on quality. And South West London bias aside, I think it’s fair to say that on another day, Chelsea might have won. 21 attempts on goal, two open goals missed, and two offside goals against them. Now clearly United must be credited for taking their chances, but it was by no means a convincing performance from the champions.
Going forward they do look just a little bit tasty, with Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney, Nani and Javier Hernandez capable of causing most defences a severe problem. At the back, Phil Jones is a fantastic prospect, with strength and skill in abundance. Yet, and I clearly risk breaking rank with the United fan club here, I’m still not convinced by the midfield. Anderson had a dreadful game, giving the ball away regularly, and Darren Fletcher – usually so effective in these fixtures – just wasn’t able to break the play up in midfield. If Manchester United do have a weakness this season, the centre of the park is where it lies.
Focussing on the Chelsea performance momentarily, and I am aware that my prejudice may come through here, I thought it was actually quite an encouraging display and also very significant. You certainly couldn’t call Chelsea efficient, functional or boring – words often associated with the side of previous years. This really did mark a new approach, with all the focus on passing and creativity rather than power and organisation. This was the future of Chelsea, with Juan Mata at the heart of everything that was good. Ramires, Mata and dare I say it, Fernando Torres, produced a performance full of energy, creativity, crisp passing and style. Compared to the dismal defeat at the end of last season, that was an exciting team to watch.
Clearly there is work to be done and my one criticism of the Andre Villas-Boas team selection and strategy was the absence of a holding midfielder. Raul Meireles is a fine player, and an excellent signing for Chelsea I think, but he is not a man for breaking up play. I understand why Villas-Boas omitted John Obi Mikel – he wanted quick distribution of the ball, something Mikel does not provide – but the back four was worryingly exposed. Maybe now is the time for Barcelona cast-off Oriol Romeu to be tried out. My own theory is that David Luiz could operate brilliantly in that holding position, but I’ll leave Villas-Boas to decide on that.
It was such an odd game yesterday, one that Manchester United could have won 6-1, but equally one that Chelsea could have emerged victorious from. United go marching on, and it’s hard to see them being stopped at the moment. But we’re five games in. The Champions League has barely started, the FA Cup is still to come, there will be injuries and suspensions for all teams to deal with. It’s a long time until May.
Can we hold off on handing over the trophy just yet?
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