You Can Never Write Off Man United – This Squad Has Lifted 205 Major Trophies By Sam Parker Posted on January 31, 2014 4178027 Many people have already written off any hope of Manchester United retaining their Premier League crown. And why wouldn’t they? United are 13 points off the pace, have suffered seven defeats already and have generally looked ponderous under their first new manager in 26 years. The shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson has loomed large over David Moyes in his first season in charge at Old Trafford and a stuttering start to life in the hot-seat at one of the biggest clubs in the world has found critics all to easy to stick the boot in. But perhaps it is not over yet. Betfair have refunded over £100,000 in bets on Manchester United winning the title and are offering ludicrous odds of 70/1 on Moyes’ men to win the title. Read more about Betfair’s decision to launch the offer here. Football is a funny old game, as the old adage goes, and you never know what could happen in the space of a month. A good run of results, a couple of timely injuries to a couple of rivals and seemingly large deficits can be erased within a handful of games. Go back 15 years to the 1997/98 season and you can find yourself with a similar story, with United on the other end of the stick of fortune. Arsenal finished December in sixth position and ended February still 12 points behind United, as the Red Devils were seemingly set to cruise their way to the title. And we all know what happened next. Arsenal won nine games on the bounce and turned United over on their own patch to claim the title for themselves, capping a memorable comeback. In addition, United were 5th at Christmas in 1996/97 and went on to win the title, while six times out of the thirteen they have claimed the Premier League trophy they have been off the top spot at the halfway mark. Man Utd v West Ham, 11/5/97, Premiership Pic : Darren Walsh / Action Images Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson & assistant manager Bryan Kidd lift the Premiership trophy Manchester United West Ham United So is the points difference between United and City insurmountable? Of course not. Can this United team achieve such a feat? We can only wait and see, but if there’s one thing we all know, it’s that you can never bet against Manchester United to achieve the impossible. Barcelona circa 1999 displayed that to the world and if you believe in a Red Devil comeback, Betfair are offering a staggering 70/1 on Man United to win the title, you can lump on here. All is certainly not yet lost for United in this title race and there are many positives still to work on that suggest they could yet be a force to be reckoned with in the closing stages of the season. For one thing, they have signed one of the finest playmakers in the world, acquired from one of their title rivals, that no matter what Jose Mourinho says, will weaken Chelsea. Juan Mata is one of the best players in the world when given the platform to shine and has won everything there is to win; except the Premier League title of course. He will help ease United’s major flaw throughout the first half of the season, in that they failed to carve out too many clear-cut opportunities. Wayne Rooney had been United’s most ingenious player prior to the arrival of the Spaniard, creating 40 chances for teammates, with left-back Patrice Evra coming in second with 22. The midfield was not creating enough goal-scoring opportunities forcing Rooney to drop into deeper areas to perform that task, leaving fewer opportunities for their top marksman to have an effort at goal himself. rooneyassists In his first match in the famous red shirt, Mata created four chances and claimed an assist for Ashley Young’s superb strike. This was only one less chance than Shinji Kagawa has created all season, with the Japanese midfielder yet to claim an assist Meanwhile, Marouane Fellaini has created just one chance since making his big money move in the summer. The introduction of Mata to provide that cutting edge allows Rooney and Robin Van Persie to focus on the art of goal scoring, instead of having to perform a dual role in which they had to be creator and destructor up front ahead of a midfield that was devoid of ideas and inspiration. Juan Mata passing. Having that pair back from injury could prove another big turning point for United as well, with Moyes having few opportunities to field both Rooney and Van Persie together this season. Danny Welbeck has done a decent job in their absence of late, with eight goals being his best return for a league campaign, but just 25 shots on goal in his 16 appearances does not suggest he is capable of the individual magic that either Rooney or Van Persie are capable of. That Van Persie still has the same amount of goals as Welbeck from just 12 games in an injury hit season tells it’s own story and a goal-scoring return against Cardiff speaks volumes for his deadly nature, having converted 28.6% of his shots into goals this campaign. With their title rivals all now suffering injury problems, United have received a timely fitness boost by being able to select their best players while others lose theirs. Arsenal have lost Theo Walcott for the season now and Aaron Ramsey’s continued absence from the side is starting to raise some concerns and expose a lack of depth in the Arsenal squad. Manchester City saw Sergio Aguero limp off against Spurs as well to hamper their strikeforce, so there is a suggestion that United’s squad is getting stronger with the addition of Mata and the return to fitness of their two best strikers, while their rivals are having their selection options weakened by injuries. Football - Manchester City v Stoke City - Barclays Premier League - Etihad Stadium - 1/1/13 Manchester Citys Sergio Aguero (L) recieves treatment after sustaining an injury Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Lee Smith Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details. The fixture list is also starting to look favourable for United, having already played two of the top five twice, leaving them with just Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool still to play of the trickier fixtures on paper. And Moyes has already outwitted Arsene Wenger once this season already. Only that trip to the Emirates poses a real problem in their next five fixtures, and with the Gunners enduring a depleted side currently, one wouldn’t entirely dismiss the idea of a United ‘upset’ in North London. The top four face off against each other over the next two weekends, with Manchester City v Chelsea and Liverpool v Arsenal providing mouthwatering matches for the neutrals, but with United looking at fairly easy matches against Stoke and Fulham, they could claw their way back into a single figure deficit by the time they visit the Emirates. And once United host City at Old Trafford on March 25th, they have a run-in of seven games in which only a trip to Everton poses a potential banana skin to Moyes’ men. The gap between United and the top is a daunting one to look at currently, but you can’t help but feel that if any team is to claw that difference back, it is Manchester United. This current squad has lifted 205 trophies between them in the duration of their careers, so this is no group of rookies chancing their luck; this is a team of champions that are more than capable of overcoming the adversity they have found themselves in. It’ll be no easy feat, but anyone ruling Manchester United out completely just yet would be a fool. They may be at long odds currently, especially with Betfair’s absurd odds of 70/1 to win the title but until they call it off, United are always in with a realistic chance of landing the silverware at the end of the season. What do you think about United’s chances? Tweet the Betfair hashtag to let them know if you think their offer is worth a punt.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:05:42 +0000