Monday Morning Manager - WK32
How much do managers matter? This weekend presents significant evidence on both sides of that particular argument starting with the weekend’s marquee match-up at Old Trafford. Let’s take a look at a few places where clubs have made changes and a few where they haven’t and see if there’s any anecdotal evidence that a different manager makes a big difference.
After a season of the David Moyes disaster at Old Trafford, Manchester United brought in a far bigger presence in the form of Louis Van Gaal. Van Gaal came in with a reputation of taking some time to settle and he lived up to that reputation as United, through injuries and poor play, stumbled through the first half of the season. Their big off-season purchases, which were presumably Van Gaal choices, have largely been disasters with Falcao, Di Maria, and Shaw being the biggest busts. In fact, it has been David Moyes’ two purchases – Fellaini and Mata – as well as his embarrassing almost-purchase, Ander Herrera, along with the holdovers from the reign of Sir Alex who have been leading United through their March-April run. United will almost certainly finish the season in the Champions League places after their massive win against City on Sunday. The magnitude of that accomplishment is exaggerated somewhat though because the top of the Premier League was stronger last season. Transport this season’s Manchester United group to last season and they’re in fourth by a single point over Arsenal with Everton five points back but with a match in hand. Transport last season’s United forward to this season and they’re right in the mix with Liverpool, Spurs and Southampton with a shot of catching City for fourth if they continue to stumble.
Verdict: United’s new manager has helped but the impact will only be significant if this current run is sustainable and he starts doing better in the transfer market.
On the other side of Manchester, the evidence runs counter. City have the same manager, and mostly the same players, as last season and they’re a shell of their title winning selves. Whether it is the notion that the message gets old or the manager “loses the room”, it isn’t entirely clear what has gone wrong at City. The transfers haven’t gone well but that was just as true last season as it has been this season. The players are getting a little bit older but it isn’t like they should have hit some age-related plateau simultaneously. You could argue that the rigors of a World Cup summer have been difficult on City and there could be some validity to that given Chelsea’s recent downturn in fortunes (we absolve Arsenal of this concern because so many of their players missed significant chunks of the season due to injury and United’s because they haven’t had European competition or even much of the League Cup to tire them out).
Verdict: It’s hard to say what’s going on here but what is clear is that at this point last season, City were nine points ahead of their current pace so while changing an unsuccessful manager doesn’t always guarantee different results, keeping a successful one is no guarantee either.
In the slightly less rarified air occupied by Crystal Palace and West Brom, we find our next bits of evidence in this investigation. Crystal Palace are probably Exhibit A for the notion that a manager matters a great deal in a mid-table pack where squad quality is probably pretty similar across the board. Palace has gone through four managers over the course of the past two seasons and their performance over the first halves (approximately) of each of those seasons with less accomplished managers (Ian Holloway and Neil Warnock) has stood in stark contrast to their performance with the more accomplished Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew. The players have turned over some during that time but the correlation between managerial appointment and on-the-field performance is too much to dismiss.
At the same time as Alan Pardew is showing what a big difference a managerial improvement can yield, Tony Pulis’ current charges are showing that it isn’t all down to the manager. West Brom experienced a mini-revival under Pulis and we all expected that they would be one of the tougher marks in the Premier League over the balance of the season based on Pulis’ reputation. Not so as they have conceded 7 goals over their past two matches while facing rotten teams (QPR and Leicester City). Just when we thought we had a sense of the value of bringing Pulis in, West Brom, perhaps because they feel that safety has been achieved, throw that notion right back in our faces.
Pivot once more though and you look to St. James’ Park where Alan Pardew’s old club, Newcastle, have been struggling mightily since their old manager left/was run out of town by dissatisfied supporters. Pardew will likely never be confused with Sir Alex Ferguson but Newcastle’s post-Pardew meltdown has added fuel to the notion that he did remarkably well to get the results that he did.
Verdict: It still isn’t clear but what is clear is that Alan Pardew provides a significant improvement over a caretaker manager.
Finally, we come to the cases of Southampton and Spurs and the man who made the leap from one to the other after a successful run with the Saints last season. I remember discussing the Pochettino appointment with our largely Spurs-loving team over the summer and they were thrilled with the appointment. The theory went that a) Pochettino had worked wonders at Southampton; b) all those big buys called flops after last season had unrealized potential; and c) Tim Sherwood was an embarrassing manager and couldn’t be shown the door quickly enough. Well, here we are twelve months later and Spurs are two points worse off than they were last season despite the emergence of a solution to their single biggest issue, a top goal-scorer. On the other side of the equation, Southampton, jilted by Pochettino in the summer, are significantly ahead of where they were last season points-wise even if they could easily finish up in approximately the same position in the table.
There are all sorts of potential explanations for what’s happening at Spurs. Pochettino had half a season at Southampton to install his system and identify his type of players before launching into the successful 2013-14 season. That doesn’t work for me because he’s now had an entire season and two transfer windows and things seem to be going in the wrong direction rather than the positive direction that we saw from Southampton after the initial Pochettino “burn-in” period. Whatever the explanation, five dropped points against Burnley and Aston Villa with Champions League football still not outside the realm of possibility isn’t acceptable. Looking back even further at Spurs, they all took different paths to get there but Mauricio Pochettino (52%), Tim Sherwood (50%) and Harry Redknapp (49.5%) all have nearly identical winning percentages (Andres Villas-Boas is a cut above at 55% but was widely viewed as a failure).
Verdict: Hard to see how a manager is going to make a difference at either of these clubs unless they end up with a Neil Warnock-esque caretaker or a Ferguson-like once-in-a-lifetime hire who seems to get more out of his players that they are otherwise capable of.
There appear to be a few conclusions that we can reach about the value of a manager in today’s Premier League:
1) There seem to be four tiers of managers – Elite (limited to Ferguson and Mourinho in recent Premier League history), a set of above average Premier League managers who are capable of winning with good players but can’t overcome significant injuries or low-quality rosters, a set of just-good-enough managers who will be just one side or the other of relegation depending on injuries/luck, and a bunch of guys who show up in the Premier League each season either as newly promoted guys or in-season appointments who remind us that despite the abuse they take, even the third tier on this list (the Sherwoods, Hughes, and Martinez’s of the world) is a rare commodity.
2) “Changing Voices” by replacing managers within these tiers (replacing a tier three guy with another tier three guy) is a PR move and supporters shouldn’t really get excited.
3) Tim Sherwood can certainly coach up forwards. The Christian Benteke revival hasn’t been quite as out-of-nowhere as the Emmanuel Adebayor edition from the second half of last season but it has been more important to an immediate goal – Premier League survival. Maybe we should add “Striker Whisperer” to the long list of things that we call Tim Sherwood.
You’ll notice that I haven’t included Arsene Wenger anywhere in this discussion of managers. My sense is that he is planted firmly in the “Tier Two” group. When he was winning things regularly, he had the talent and budget to do so. His relative fall from grace has coincided with Arsenal’s diminished financial clout. As Arsenal have rebounded from the Emirates financing situation and FFP has at least taken a little bit of the edge off of City’s spending advantage, Arsenal’s fortunes have started looking up again. I consider Wenger to be just as good as his ability to spend which isn’t an insult but comparisons to Ferguson from his years of being able to spend big have given him an unwarranted spot in the top tier of managers in the eyes of many. He hasn’t gotten worse in recent seasons, it’s just a readjustment in perspective because Arsenal’s financial situation suffered.
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The Title Race
Chelsea – Position: First Place, Points: 73 It was poke-your-eye-out-with-a-stick-rather-than-watch ugly but it was another win and another move closer to the title. The interesting thing here is that Chelsea host an in-form Manchester United side next Saturday. If United win it does two things, it brings both they and Arsenal a little closer to the leaders and it gives Arsenal hope for their own match with Chelsea the following weekend at the Emirates. If Chelsea drop five or six points over the next two weekends then the matches with Crystal Palace and Liverpool (both in early May at Stamford Bridge) become very interesting and at least create a plausible scenario where there is some title drama. That’s a lot of “ifs” but given where things stand, that’s the alternative to watching the relegation battle for the rest of the season.
The Race for Europe
Manchester United – Position: Third Place, Points: 65 Call it my paranoia as an Arsenal supporter or just an astute observation of history but Arsenal and Manchester United each have similar run-ins. Both play Chelsea, both play one tough mid-table opponent (United plays Palace and Arsenal play Swansea) and then they play each other on May 17. Arsenal have the FA Cup semi-finals (and presumably finals) to contend with as well. Given that both clubs are in great form I have an easier time seeing United getting points off of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge than I have of seeing Arsenal pick up even a point at the Emirates against the Blues (such is the nature of Mourinho’s seeming mental advantage over Wenger). I also see United having the advantage over Arsenal with their mid-May match taking place at Old Trafford. Arsenal may have the slight advantage in the table but I give United a slight advantage when handicapping the race for second.
Arsenal – Position: Second Place, Points: 66 Funny thing about different seasons. Last season at this time, Arsenal were only fractionally worse off that they are this season. Here’s the comparison of things that they can control:
2013-14: P32 W19 D7 L6 with 56 goals for and 37 against
2014-15: P32 W20 D6 L6 with 66 goals for and 32 against
Here’s the comparison of things that are mostly out of their hands – Arsenal are currently second and seven points off the pace (with Chelsea holding a match in hand) while last season they were in fourth six points behind third place Manchester City who also had a match in hand. Arsenal do seem to be moving in the right direction with recent results but it’s only the results over an entire season that matter. It has always been a case of “if they can avoid another injury crisis, they might be able to contend for a title” – they had their injury crisis earlier than usual this season and thus their run of eight unbeaten/best team of 2015 thus far is only enough to get them close. The only reason to think that they’re ready to really challenge next season is that you think they’ve figured out their injury issues or they’ve constructed a deep enough squad to weather them more successfully next time out. It isn’t impossible but the “next season they’re title contenders” talk seems a bit optimistic.
Manchester City – Position: Fourth Place, Points: 61 The wheels came off that cart pretty quickly. The Citizens have been struggling for much of 2015 but the loss to Palace last Monday followed quickly by the beating at Old Trafford with Arsenal and United both passing them in the standings puts an exclamation point on the slump. If you look at the balance of City’s schedule your initial reaction is that there isn’t another obvious slip-up on it. They have to travel to Spurs but Spurs are in equally dire straits. They travel to plucky Swansea as well which hasn’t been easy for the big clubs this season. Finally, they host Southampton on the season’s final day. If viewed through the prism of a club who was tied atop the table when 2014 turned into 2015 then that seems like fairly easy sledding. Unfortunately for City, we have to look at this through the prism of the team that has been poor since January 1 and there is at least a little room for worry. Even more so because Southampton’s schedule is even easier with Spurs at St. Mary’s and away to City the only difficult fixtures (@Stoke, @Sunderland, @Leicester, and Villa are the other four). We could be in for a very interesting last day of the season for City and the pack chasing them for fourth.
Liverpool – Position: Sixth Place, Points: 54 Liverpool should make easy work of Newcastle this afternoon and put themselves within four points of City in fourth. With West Brom, Hull City, and QPR up next before a trip to Stamford Bridge, the Reds could have something to play for coming down the home stretch. It won’t take too much for City to maintain their lead in fourth but that would also require City show more life than they have in recent weeks. As bad as things looked after Arsenal thrashed Liverpool, the season isn’t quite over.
Southampton – Position: Fifth Place, Points: 53 The Saints are technically fifth as of this writing but I’m going to assume that they’ll be sixth by the time we get to Tuesday. They have an easy run-in so we’ll keep them in the conversation for now but one more slip-up and they’re likely out of it barring epic collapses from both Liverpool and City.
Tottenham Hotspur – Position: Seventh Place, Points: 53 Two Mondays ago I wrote that the only reason to keep Spurs here was that their upcoming schedule was relatively easy. Well, they drew with Burnley and lost to Villa – an easy schedule is only a good thing if you do what a Champions League-chasing clubs is supposed to do with it and that’s win. They didn’t and now it’s time to start playing the kids and scouting the transfer market.
The Relegation Zone - where we examine events at the other end of the table as established clubs flounder and newly promoted clubs reveal who they are going to be this season. Like the sections above, I’ve reordered with the most likely to be relegated being first and the least likely of the group last.
QPR – Position: Eighteenth Place, Points: 26 How close they were to a vital bonus point against the leaders. Regardless of any blame deflection from teammates, Rob Green will realize that his slip up could cost the Rs if they can’t pull out of the relegation zone. Having played one extra match and still having @Liverpool and @City on the schedule, things continue to look pretty bleak. So much so that they’ve supplanted Leicester City as most likely team to be relegated.
Sunderland – Position: Sixteenth Place, Points: 29 That little mini-bump was apparently more about Newcastle being terrible than Sunderland having turned some corner. The Black Cats may be leading the relegation group right now but that appears to be a tenuous situation at best. Where Leicester is four points back, they have three matches where they should have a solid shot at three points, Sunderland are not so lucky. Only the May 16th visit of Leicester City offers a clear path to a win and even that is a bit murky with the Foxes playing better. The balance of their run-in is @Stoke (not impossible but certainly not easy), Southampton, @Everton (who are flying right now), @Arsenal, and @Chelsea. The only thing they could have going for them is that Arsenal and Chelsea could know their respective fates by the time they play the Black Cats and have taken their foot off the gas pedal. Still, that’s a high powered set of fixtures that makes it seem highly likely that Sunderland will be looking for a manager to stage a promotion campaign rather than looking to retain Dick Advocaat at what is likely a pretty crazy wage.
Hull City – Position: Seventeenth Place, Points: 28 Players are coming back to health but the results still aren’t coming. Oh, and the last six matches are brutal with @Palace (on fire), Liverpool (just better than Hull City), Arsenal (ditto), Burnley (hope?), @Spurs (Also just better), and Manchester United. Hull City drew when they needed wins against Sunderland at home and Leicester City away and it looks very likely that they’re going to pay for it with their Premier League status.
Leicester City – Position: Twentieth Place, Points: 25 Two consecutive wins and the hope that comes from pulling within one match (plus goal differential) of safety. Jamie Vardy’s stoppage time winner could prove to be huge to the relegation race as it appears that we’re now down to Sunderland, Hull City, QPR, Burnley and the Foxes who are all within four points of each other. Over the past five matches, the Foxes have picked up a minimum of three points on those around them in the relegation battle and with Burnley, Newcastle and Sunderland all still on the schedule, there is surely hope for more points to come as the form team of the bottom quartile of the table.
Burnley – Position: Nineteenth Place, Points: 26 They put up a good fight against Arsenal and came away with a nice bonus point after consecutive visits from North London clubs. Mostly, the Clarets fortunes have taken a turn for the better because the clubs around them have taken a turn for the worse. Oh, and they’re finally reaping the benefits of a brutal schedule in February and March. The remaining schedule is @Everton (where they’ll rue the timing of the meeting since the Toffees are playing much better), Leicester City, @West Ham (who are stumbling), @Hull (who are stumbling even more), Stoke (who may well have the golf clubs out and shined up), and @Aston Villa (who will likely be safe and still not that good). It isn’t quite as favorable as Leicester City’s schedule but it isn’t bad as run-ins go.
Aston Villa – Position: Fifteenth Place, Points: 32 They’ve played one extra match but they’re six points from the relegation zone and have an in-form forward helping their cause. The remaining matches are tough with @City, Everton, West Ham (not so tough), @Southampton, and Burnley (who will likely be fighting hard to stay up). Still, despite the tough schedule, it feels like four more points will certainly be enough with three very likely doing the trick.
Newcomer of the Year – After adding new categories to the list last Monday, the format is changing slightly again this week with the space here dedicated to the performance of the week from each category with the standings for the year at the end.
It wasn’t a particularly strong week for newcomers to the Premier League. Cesc Fabregas gets the gong for his late winner but he, and all of the Chelsea squad, were pretty poor in their win. A case could be made for Daley Blind who was solid for Manchester United in their big win over City but he was hardly the star of the show.
Season Leaders: 1) Alexis Sanchez; 2) Diego Costa; 3) Cesc Fabregas; 4) Charlie Austin; 5) Dame N’Doye
Domestic Transfer of the Year
The news here is really about one of the worst domestic transfers of last season turning into one of the best non-domestic transfers of this past summer. If Manchester United had thought that they could get even close to their money back on Marouane Fellaini then they’d have likely done it in a second. They didn’t and he has been great for most of calendar year 2015. The next hurdle comes when Manchester United have to decide if he is going to be good enough to start for a Champions League participant and Premier League title contender next season.
Season Leaders: 1) Gylfi Sigurdsson; 2) Lukasz Fabianski; 3) Patrick Van Aanholt; 4) Romelu Lukaku; 5) Joleon Lescott
Young Player of the Year
Liverpool haven’t played yet. Harry Kane and Spurs have been struggling for a couple of weeks the candidates here are fewer than most weeks. Aaron Cresswell had a wonderful set piece goal for the Hammers and Francis Coquelin had another big match as Arsenal’s defensive stopper in front of the back four. Given that Burnley didn’t present a great challenge, we’ll give Young Player of the Year of the Week to Cresswell.
Season Leaders: 1) Harry Kane; 2) Raheem Sterling; 3) Francis Coquelin; 4) Danny Ings; 5) Hector Bellerin
Player of the Year
We’re moving the Player of the Week conversation from the tidbits at the end of the column up here and we’ll start off in the new space with the obvious call-out for Yannick Bolasie. He has been playing well and providing assists and strong play since Alan Pardew arrived. This weekend he added a hat trick in Palace’s 4-1 win. Each goal was a good one in its own right but the chip for the second one was particularly impressive. Rumors of bigger clubs having Bolasie on their radar seem a bit premature, it feels a little like Antonio Valencia moving to Manchester United from Wigan. Valencia might have been a little too good for Wigan but he wasn’t (and isn’t) good enough to be a regular at Manchester United.
Season Leaders: 1) Nemanja Matic; 2) Harry Kane; 3) Alexis Sanchez; 4) Charlie Austin; 5) Diego Costa
The Phantom Point All-Stars – Where we list those players who failed to tally any “major” statistics (goal, assist, clean sheet) but scored big in the more subtle categories like tackles won, passes intercepted, blocked shots, shots on target, successful crosses or corners won that can make a fantasy week in formats that reward these statistics. Occasionally, we’ll reward a player who gets an assist or a clean sheet if they also had a big “phantom” weekend.
And we’re back:
Patrick Van Aanholt – Van Aanholt had an assist among the 21 points but he also managed four interceptions, two blocked shots, three tackles won, a shot on target, a corner won and a successful cross. He was a goal and a clean sheet away from checking just about every box you can check.
Alexis Sanchez – After a March slump, Sanchez returned with an excellent weekend against Liverpool (goal and an assist), he didn’t have the end product this time out but he did contribute three shots on target, four fouls won, three interceptions, two tackles won, and a corner won in the win over Burnley.
Toby Alderweireld – He got clean sheet points but he also registered three blocked shots, three tackles won, a shot on target, two successful crosses, a corner won and a pass intercepted. Solid day in a rock solid 2-0 win for the Saints.
Lukasz Fabianski – He got neither a win nor a clean sheet but his seven saves were enough to put him well into double digits for the week in the Yahoo format.
Francis Coquelin – Arsenal’s new holding midfielder was a dynamo to the naked eye over the weekend and it showed up on the stat sheet as well with 11 passes intercepted and two tackles won as the Gunners kept Burnley off the scoreboard and never looked too much in danger doing it.
Saido Berahino – Like Alexis Sanchez, Berahino didn’t get the end product but he managed three shots on target and intercepted two passes in addition to a tackle won. Solid day for a guy who generally doesn’t put up a lot of phantom points.
Michael Carrick – He generally doesn’t even fill up the phantom point stat sheet with his subtle contributions but he did against Manchester City with four passes intercepted, a shot on target, two fouls won, a blocked shot, and a tackle won.
Pablo Zabaleta – There weren’t many positives to take from the Manchester Derby for City, Sergio Aguero’s brace was the biggest but Zabaleta at least did fantasy managers proud with an assist, three passes intercepted, three tackles won and a corner won. Not great but at least it was something.
Mile Jedinak – One of the stars of this feature last season but it took an assist to get him back among the phantom point notables with five interceptions, a blocked shot and a tackle won.
Andros Townsend – Spurs looked rough but at least Townsend put up some phantom points in the process with three corners won, three successful crosses, three tackles won, a shot on target, and a pass intercepted. You can’t say he wasn’t industrious.
The Fake Narrative of the Week - It is impossible to go a week without encountering a narrative somewhere in the football media that appears to be totally made up for the sake of gaining attention. They usually fall into the categories of made up transfer rumors, hanging on too long to a mental image of who a player was and not who he currently is, or preying on a long-held stereotype based on club, nationality, or position. When I come across them, I'll let you know and then let you know why I think they're silly.
James Milner the Free Agent. Over the first half of the season when Manchester City were still flying high, one of the big storylines was that James Milner was on the verge of a celebrated free agency this summer. At the time, Milner was playing pretty well and pretty regularly for a team that was hanging out near the top of the table. As the season has worn on, City haven’t played nearly as well and despite that fact, Milner hasn’t seen his role increase. Given what we have seen of him over the second half of the season, the choice not to play him more makes sense. Frankly, he hasn’t been very good.
That brings us to what pundits and transfer rumor columns still seem to think will be a celebrated free agency. If that’s the case then I’m not sure why. It’s hard to see any “big” teams getting a marketing/PR bump from signing Milner no matter how English he is, even at its best his game isn’t flashy. Let’s run down the potential candidates to give Milner a big deal as a free agent:
Chelsea – They could use another home grown player but if more playing time is Milner’s goal (along with money of course) then he isn’t likely to get it at Stamford Bridge where he’d be a reserve for sure.
Arsenal – Flush with both home grown players and midfielders of all sorts. Even if they lose Szczesny and one of Wilshere/Walcott over the summer Milner would look like a luxury purchase for Wenger.
Manchester United – Ditto to everything written about Arsenal, just change the names.
Liverpool – They could use a veteran presence in midfield to take over from Steven Gerrard but they don’t need that player to be English as they have plenty of home grown players. What they probably SHOULD do is focus their spending on the central defense and move Emre Can into a midfield spot where he is most comfortable. Also, Liverpool seem focused on investing the majority of their money on prospects with upside.
That leaves us with three options: City, a move outside of the presumptive Top Five, or a move abroad. We’ll tackle the last first and it isn’t clear why a foreign club would value Milner at any exceptional level. The notion of a “free” is always discussed as a player coming in as a bargain but that generally just means that a fee goes to the player in the form of a signing bonus of some sort rather than to a selling club. The player’s agent isn’t likely to actually let a club get a bargain. Then Milner needs to decide on City, what they’re able to pay in wages and they (lack of) playing time they are likely offering and a mid-table club who probably can’t pay as much but will offer a full time starting spot. I wouldn’t presume to suggest what Milner should want but I suspect that the market isn’t going to be quite the frenzy that everyone was making it out to be earlier in the year.
Random Closing Thoughts - Well, this one's pretty obvious and it will be how we close out the column each week at least until a better idea comes along.
My Second Club – A Pelle goal is a cause for celebration and Manchester City’s struggles mean there’s still the inkling of a Champions League finish. It isn’t a big chance but at least it’s a chance.
This Week’s Good Points: Leicester City are the big winners here for the second weekend in a row with Aston Villa and Manchester United (two points) being the other winners of good points.
The Good Points Table: Crystal Palace 20; Leicester City 18; Burnley 17; Hull City 13; Aston Villa 13; Swansea City 12; Newcastle 10; Stoke City 10; Sunderland 10; West Ham 9; Spurs 8; Manchester United 8; Liverpool 7; West Brom 7; Arsenal 6; QPR 5; Southampton 4; Chelsea 3; Everton 1.
This Week’s Bad Points: Spurs, West Brom and City (one point only) have tallied bad points for Week 32.
The Bad Points Table: Manchester City 24; Manchester United 22; Spurs 21; Liverpool 19; Everton 14; Southampton 14, Chelsea 14; Arsenal 13; Newcastle 9; Swansea City 7; Sunderland 7; Stoke City 6; West Brom 6; Aston Villa 5; West Ham 5; Burnley 3; Hull City 3; QPR 2; and Crystal Palace 2.
My Favorite Things – Arsenal’s relative calm in managing a 1-0 lead on the road, it was almost Chelsea-like…Glenn Murray’s goal and assist…the desire Jamie Vardy showed in scoring Leicester City’s winner, he just wanted it more…Raheem Sterling’s individual effort for Liverpool’s first (I’m watching as I finish up the column)…The unlikely partnership between Ashley Young and Fellaini at Manchester United, they need a SitCom or a reality show where they do everything together.
My Least Favorite Things – Spurs attacking (that’s two barely-watchable matches in a row against bad teams…West Brom’s “defense” against two consecutive bad teams…QPR just failing to get a point from Chelsea (for so many reasons)…Vincent Kompany’s tackle that could/should have been a red card…Just about everything Mangala did after replacing Kompany at halftime…Gael Clichy trying to defend Fellaini in the box...The continuing lack of any entertainment value associated with watching Chelsea – watching the title winners should be something you can at least appreciate even if you don’t support them.
What did we find out? Chelsea are vulnerable with United and Arsenal coming up over the next two weekends. Spurs are done. The old Manchester United are back. The old Manchester City (pre-sugar daddy) may be back as well. The relegation battle is going to, once again, be the most compelling storyline of the final month of the season.
What’s Next? There are only seven Premier League matches next weekend with Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa all on FA Cup duty (they take Hull, QPR and Sunderland with them for the week – Arsenal/Sunderland and Liverpool/Hull City will be made up in May while Aston Villa and QPR got a head start on their match last week mid-week with the 3-3 thriller). Manchester United’s trip to Stamford Bridge is the headliner at the top of the table while Manchester City tries to rebound at home against West Ham. At the bottom of the table, Leicester City and Burnley face difficult tests against Swansea and at Everton respectively while the rest of their relegation-fighting brethren are off for the weekend.
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