First Half Review of 2010-11 Premier League
The 2010-11 Premier League started in August with reigning champions Chelsea preparing to defend their title against some resurgent teams, namely the cash-heavy Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and, of course, Manchester
United – who were still ruing the loss of the 2009-2010 title by a single point. Therefore, everyone was looking forward to another great season of football with more than four competitors for the first time in almost a decade.
Chelsea had a great start to their title defence as they kept their winning momentum alive. All the other teams, including Manchester United, City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur kept on facing difficulties. At one point,
when Chelsea had increased their lead to five points, it seemed as if the Blues would win once again. United, their closest rivals, were managing to stay close by avoiding losses, but they have a lot of unnecessary draws (8 so far, out of which 7 are at away
fixtures).
Unfortunately, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786’s run of form did not last long as they faced crisis after crisis causing them to tumble. It all started with the surprise exit of Ray Wilkins, the assistant manager of Chelsea. After this incident, Chelsea
went on one of their worst runs which saw them winning only one match in nine. During this time, they had some terrible results including their losses against Sunderland, Arsenal and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809. However, with a recent victory against Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea
has broken the curse and is now looking in good shape.
Manchester United are the only unbeaten team in the Premier League and they are sitting comfortably on top of the table. This unbeaten run and the best home form have enabled Manchester United to be on the top spot after Chelsea
was hit by the crisis. The surprise performer for United is http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299, who has already scored 5 goals and made 9 assists.
Arsenal have also managed to stay close to the title, but despite having plenty of opportunities to take the top spot, the Gunners have failed to do so. First, Arsenal had a chance to take the spot from Chelsea and then from Manchester
United, but they always fell short. Therefore, once again the winning mentality of the young guns is under question, as it has been pointed out on a number of occasions this season. Even the captain of the side, Cesc Fabregas, and the manager, Arsene Wenger,
have raised these questions. In the end, Arsenal missed another opportunity in their last match against Wigan Athletic and are still lacking that finishing touch, so to speak, that will lead them to the top of the table.
Last season, Liverpool was replaced by Tottenham Hotspur on the last spot for the Champions League. This season, Tottenham started their Champions League campaign on a high note as they finished on top of their group, ahead of
the current holders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan. However, the Spurs failed to continue this great form in the league as they faltered time and again and dropped crucial points. At one point it seemed that the North-London side did not have enough strength to challenge in
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 as well as in Europe. Towards the end of the year, the situation did improve and the Spurs are once again close to the fourth place.
The team that has replaced the Spurs in the top four is Manchester City. However, despite spending a lot of money in the summer transfer window, City have managed (only) a second place so far. This is not good by City’s standards,
as they have some quality players in the squad. The recent series of victories is a good sign and fans are hoping that it would continue into the next year as well.
The next half of the Premier League is going to be more interesting as five teams are fighting for the top spot. It has been made obvious in recent weeks that even smaller teams can get results in big matches if they have the right
kind of determination. Therefore, it will not be an easy road for the big clubs who would face tough resistance, even from the teams from relegation zone (as was seen by 17th placed – and barely above relegation zone - Birmingham City recently holding
Manchester United to a 1-1 draw.)
Tags: