It has been noted pretty much everywhere that Arsenal aren’t in the best shape. Ravaged by injury, under pressure from Villa, and severely lacking big players in several departments. Arsenal’s problems though, are obvious. It is unsurprising that one member of the elite is so easy to criticise. What is rather more so is that it’s almost as easy to do the same for the rest.
Man United’s league form since drubbing Stoke 5-0 in mid-November may sound impressive when expressed as DWWDWW, but when those four Ws are laboured 1-0 victories over struggling Man City, Sunderland, Stoke and Middlesbrough the picture is decidedly less rosy.
Then the Derby game. ‘Only the Carling Cup’ it may be, but a 1-0 loss to the worst team in Premier League history struggling in the Championship with a line-up including Vidic, Anderson, Scholes, Nani, Tevez and even Rooney and Ronaldo from the bench should certainly raise some eyebrows.
A glance at their squad makes this patchy stretch of results rather more understandable. It is often said that games are won and lost in central midfield, but this it seems is currently United’s weakness. The once promising Anderson has stalled, Hargreaves is crocked and Paul Scholes is a shadow of the player he once was. All of which leaves the not-so-mighty combination of Carrick and Fletcher likely to face Chelsea tomorrow. Hmm…
Adding to this the lack of a first choice right-back and the problems up front should leave Chelsea rubbing their hands with glee. Right? Well, actually, they rather have problems of their own, having lost that air invincibility they were playing with in October. Fortress Stamford Bridge is no more after not unreasonable losses to Liverpool and Arsenal, but it is the draws with West Ham, Everton, Fulham and most bafflingly, Southend, that are most worrying. Games like this would normally be won dismissively.
The Deco centred Plan A was quickly proven too predictable. With such a narrow formation more than one side has realised that putting the brakes on their rampaging full backs would restrict the space. Yet the switch back to the previously successful 4-3-3 is no longer a real option due to a lack of width. I refuse to acknowledge Malouda as a footballer, so that leaves just Joe Cole, hardly a natural wide man anyway. A far cry from the Mourinho side that had Wright-Phillips, Duff, Cole and the wonderful Arjen Robben to choose from. Yet 4-4-2 isn’t an option either without width. Chelsea have suffered from Robinho slipping from their grasp more than they might have imagined.
That leaves Liverpool, top of the league by 3 points, and the hardest of the bunch to criticise. They have easily the most balanced side this season; top goalkeeper, three excellent centre halves, ditto in central midfield and the best striker in the world. This balance even stretches out wide with Riera and Kuyt. Whatever anyone says about the latter as a footballer in general his effectiveness in this Liverpool side is without question.
Yet hardly anyone who doesn’t support them thinks they’ll win it. Current betting indeed still has them third favourites despite their league position. There certainly still seems to be a nagging national thought that this Liverpool team only seems good in terms of the weakness of the others and this was never the case for the best sides of any of their rivals.
The perceived wisdom is that they will crumble and the first evidence comes from the manager. With this bizarre press conference rant, Benitez has bitten Ferguson’s bait. If his team follows suit the league title will be contested between the three poorest sides in recent memory.
Barcelona would obliterate the lot of them on current form. Mind you, it makes the league rather more interesting.
