Leicester City can win the English Premiership this year!
And why are we surprised? Is it not the most consistent team that wins a tournament? It is not only about style and flair, you have to be consistent. If you consistently play badly, and lose and draw, don’t expect to win. No one gave Leicester City a chance at the start of the season. Their odds were 5,000-1. Imagine that. If you bet $1 on them to win, and they did, you would be getting $5,000.
They struggled in their first season last year and very few gave them a chance of surviving another season, much less being in the top half. Being in the top four was unthinkable and first, unimaginable. Yet, with 13 matches left, they are five points clear of their nearest opponent.
The obvious question is what has happened to the usual top four to six teams who have fought out regular Champions League/ Europa League positions for the last 20 years or more.
Chelsea (Defending Champions)
From the first match, where the ill-fated one, Jose Mourinho got it all wrong with a spat with a female doctor Eva Carneiro, it has been a season of misfiring. Mourinho was axed in an embarrassing episode, that led many Chelsea followers to seek console in each other’s arms.
Since his removal, Chelsea has not lost a match. The problem, is that they have only one two and drawn six, which based on their place in the table (14th) on Mourinho’s ousting, has improved only marginally to 13th.
At the moment, their title chances have evaporated, despite the fact that they have generally the same winning team from 2015. The players, especially Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, looked a shadow of themselves under Mourinho and that has cast a dark shadow fill which has affected the spirit of the club in a negative way.
Manchester City (runners up)
With Chelsea in the doldrums, Manchester City was the team everyone expected to win this title, given the quality and the depth of their squad. They have played better football in the Champions League than in the Premiership. It has been a case of Jekyll and Hyde for these former champions. One day their football is spectacular and other, the players appear to go through the motion.
The inconsistency of Yaga Toure and the injuries to David Silva, without a doubt, have hindered them and when you remove Vincent Kompany, the captain and main pillar in defence, together with injury prone Sergio Aguero, the replacements have struggled. Manchester City have not been helped by the fact that they are still involved in four competitions which is stretching their thin resources.
It cannot have helped, either for Manchester City to announce that Pep Guardiola will assume the job from next season for three years, even as current manager Manuel Pellegrini fights to get things right.
That is a clear case of shooting yourself in the foot, as now even some of the players will be questioning their own future at the club, which is not good motivation.
Arsenal – (3rd place)
At one stage in the latter half of 2015, Arsenal were playing some of their best football and were favourites to win the title given the stuttering performances from the so called “top” clubs. But as is the case within recent years, Arsenal have apparently lost momentum and from being leaders at the start of the new year, they have struggled to score goals in three consecutive matches (0-0 with Stoke), (1-0 loss to Chelsea), (0-0 with Southampton).
The fact that two of these matches were home also signals a worrying sign. Before this, after coming from behind twice against Liverpool to lead 3-2, Arsenal managed to concede a careless equaliser in extra time.
And while excuses like other teams can be made for injuries and their effect, the plain truth is that Arsene Wenger must again seriously question his future and his influence on these players, who lose confidence quickly and appear to be in a free fall at the moment.
One is never certain which Arsenal team will show up. At the moment, it is this lack of creativity and goal scoring power that is holding Arsenal back. With Theo Walcott a shadow of himself and Alexis Sanchez just returning from injury and still no Santi Carzola, too much rest on the shoulders of Mezut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey.
Manchester United (4th place)
A proven coach in Louis Van Gaal, millions of pounds invested in players and yet still the team is underperforming, with abject performances and worst yet, if you are a Manchester fan, with no zeal, no style and absolutely no flair.
A dull boring team going nowhere it appears and while it would appear rather harsh to blame all of these bad performances on the coach, he must be blamed for some of the strategies adopted by the team and without a doubt the formations employed.
Several players were being asked to play out of position, and Manchester United have suffered dearly for that, especially at Old Trafford, which was considered a fortress in previous years.
Liverpool
Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers after a poor start and employed German coach Jurgen Klopp who has had mixed results. At the moment, they are still trying to understand the German’s strong frontal pressing game but when they are on sound, Liverpool can give the strongest team a lot of competition. It should be very interesting to watch the Capital One Final between Liverpool and Manchester City.
Tottenham Hotspurs
Tottenham Hotspurs have also been a revelation this season under coach Maurico Pochettino, playing both attractive football going forward with Harry Kane and Dele Alli in particular catching the eyes. They cannot be written off, as they lie in second place in the table, and have the pedigree to win it all.
So in the next four weeks, we should have a clearer picture of where the 2016 English Premiership title is going and it should be quite interesting particularly for the neutrals.
AP