This EPL season could be Red Devilled
Since Sir Alex Ferguson won his first EPL title with Manchester United in 1993, he has gone through only one barren season in terms of winning it back.
United could not win back their own during the three seasons between 2003 to 2006 when Arsenal won the 2003/04 EPL without losing a single league game in the entire season. Then Jose Mourinho masterminded Roman Abramovich’s riches to guide Chelsea for their first league title in their centenary season of 2004-05 and followed it up with another in the next season.
There are no clear favourites to win the league this season and any one going on a longer winning streak and holding up against the pressure could be crowned champions of England. The world is witness to Sir Alex’s expertise in this dimension many a times in his reign at Manchester United. There is an atmosphere of optimism and confidence around the club this season and they want to win back the coveted EPL title this season more than they ever did.
Sir Alex will be celebrating his silver jubilee at Manchester United on 6th November along with his 69th birthday on the 31st of December. However, he is still hungry as ever to keep doing what he loves the most – winning titles.
This could well be the last season for Old Trafford servants Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Garry Neville and Edwin Van Der Saar. They will all want to end their celebrated careers on a high by getting one last league winners’ medal before finally hanging up their playing boots.
Winning this season’s league title will take Manchester United ahead of their great rivals Liverpool in terms total top-flight championships wins in England. Sir Alex will love to get this illustrious landmark out of his way by concentrating on winning one last European Championship before stepping down from Old Trafford’s throne.
Wayne Rooney will once again be the key factor for Manchester United, mounting any serious challenge for the title this year. He scored 34 goals last season including 26 in the EPL and just missed out on the Golden Boot award to Didier Drogba. After the disappointing World Cup campaign with England this summer, he would be up and running again to give his critics a shut up call.
Like Wayne, other Manchester United internationals went through woeful World Cup campaigns for England. French Captain Patrice Evra was in the thick as well for the infamous unrest in the French camp. Plus, Nemanja Vidic also left South Africa with his Serbian side after the group stages. Michael Carrick did not get any chance in South Africa while Rio Ferdinand and Nani could not play because of injuries. All these players will be desperate to get back to their winning ways.
The only Manchester United player who could make a name for himself in South Africa was the newly signed Mexican striker Javier Hernandez a.k.a Chicharito. He has come to the squad as a breath of fresh air and much is expected of him to take some burden off Rooney at the front.
Manchester United was unlucky with injuries in the previous season which proved to be crucial in the race for the league title which they eventually lost to Chelsea by only a single point. There were matches when as many as nine of their established defenders were on the treatment table while Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher partnered in central defence (It would have been rather interesting to see if Chelsea players like Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack had to do the same for their team). Odds are extremely slim that Manchester United will have to experience this curse ever again and one good run of clean sheets like in 2008/09 season will hand them their 12th title in the Premier League era.
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