Man United Back On Top Of The EPL
By Greg McKay
With nineteen games in the books for many English Premier League clubs, fans are enjoying a refreshingly tight title race and a number of intriguing storylines at the midway point of the season. In what even manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted is somewhat of a surprise, Manchester United sit top of the table, though Manchester City are only two points back with a game in hand. Just off the pace, Leicester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton are all in the hunt for the top spot despite mixed form as of late.
At this stage of the season, the title race is all about momentum and the Manchester clubs have the wind at their backs after a strong run of results. While Manchester City have been rounding into gear with convincing displays in the past month, Manchester United have in some ways limped their way to the top spot. Whether the EPL trophy returns to Manchester this season may ultimately depend on which squad can peak at the right time.
Out of the remaining teams in the title race, Leicester City have been the most fascinating and fun to watch as of late. Though they took the league by surprise in their miraculous 2016 campaign, the Foxes are on the front foot this season against teams that are well aware of their potency across the pitch. Much of the credit for Leicester City’s success is down to Brendan Rodgers, who notched his first ever victory over his former employer, Chelsea, this week.
As talisman James Maddison put it in his recent post-match interview, “You don’t play for Brendan Rodgers if you don’t do the dirty work, it’s as simple as that. He always reiterates that it’s a running game. You can’t have passengers, you can’t carry anyone in this league. A team like we are, we need to stay together.” All over the pitch, Rodgers is maximizing the talent at his disposal. Players like Marc Albrighton and Harvey Barnes, for example, seem to know exactly what their roles are and play both sides of the ball to devastating effect. Rodgers ability to build a strong identity within the team, have buy-in from all his players and get the best from the entire squad is reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Moving down the table, there are some refreshing surprises with clubs like Aston Villa and West Ham getting results playing exciting football. On the back of some jaw-dropping performances from Jack Grealish, Aston Villa have made a case for a European spot and were unlucky to not take a share of the points against Manchester City this week. Meanwhile David Moyes has righted the West Ham ship and has them within sniffing distance of the Top 4. Similar to Rodgers, Moyes has a group in some ways punching above their weight through discipline and commitment to the cause.
One of the more surprising storylines has been woeful performances from Chelsea. After sneaking into the Champions League in his debut season, Frank Lampard was looking to build on last year with over $250 million in additions to his squad. But, the big money signings have hindered any hopes of building on last year’s success. The list of Chelsea players that must have felt they were making strides last year only to be cast aside for the next bright, shiny signing is long.
Though it’s difficult to know how much say Lampard had in the signings that were made and what pressure was put on him to have them in the side as soon as possible, a player like Tammy Abraham who came into his own last season will feel aggrieved at Timo Werner waltzing into the side. Similarly, Pulisic and Mount were beginning to form a strong partnership as attacking midfielders but have been cast aside at certain points for Ziyech and Havertz.
Even last year when Chelsea’s performances were not good there seemed to be a spirit about the side. Regardless of whether frustrations over who is seeing time on the pitch has led to challenges in the locker room, Lampard will need to find solutions sooner rather than later as owner Roman Abramovich is not known to be a patient man.
After Liverpool cruised to the title last season, the razor thin margins at the top of the table, combined with a number of teams capable of taking the spoils from the leaders on any given day should provide for excitement as we head into the business end of the season.
