Liverpool 3 Manchester City 2

Watched last night’s game. Quite gutted actually. Here’re 5 thoughts.

1) Liverpool Will Almost Win It Now
Liverpool really played out of their skins man. You could tell that they really wanted this win. Kudos to them. On paper it was always going to be Man City winning this tie, but given they played at Anfield, with a few lucky breaks here and there (Yaya injured, Kompany fucking up his clearance), they took enough of their chances to win. I never like to see Liverpool win, but last night I would say they deserved their victory.

With 4 more games to go, Norwich (A), Chelsea (H), Crystal Palace (A), Newcastle (H), one could argue that they have the easiest run-in of the three title contenders. The title is really theirs to lose. Win all their games, and the title is theirs. And if they do win the EPL title, then the most deserving player would be Steven Gerrard. I mean heck, Michael Owen has more EPL titles than him!

2) Does Man City Have A Chance?
Being 7pts behind with two games in hand is quite tricky for Man City. Their fixture lineup is as such, Sunderland (H), WBA (H), Crystal Palace (A), Everton (A), Aston Villa (H), West Ham (H). Firstly, more games means higher chances of slip ups. Even the easier games are not sure-win guarantees. Secondly, they still have Everton to play away from home. That’s a tough proposition for anyone. Even Man United is expected to lose this weekend!

Not only does Man City need Liverpool to drop points, they need to pick up maximum points as well. And with Yaya Toure out injured, that is a tough proposition.

3) Does Chelsea Have A Chance?
Being 2pts away means that if all the title contenders theoretically win all their remaining games (impossible since there is a Liverpool v Chelsea tie), Chelsea will finish in 3rd spot. To think that at one stage a few weeks ago they were 4pts in the lead. How different a few weeks can make.

Their fixture lineup is as such, Sunderland (H), Liverpool (A), Norwich (H), Cardiff (A). Basically I think that the away Liverpool game will be the title decider. If Chelsea wins that game, the title will be theirs, whereas Liverpool only need a draw to retain the advantage. Also a relatively easy run-in, they actually just need to focus on winning at Anfield.

4) Gutted I
Not only is Manchester United nowhere near to challenging for the title, not only are we almost certain not to make the Champions League spots, we are currently in danger of not making the Europa Leave spots even! I mean 7th position is really not acceptable for the reigning EPL champions, no matter how you make of it.

Chelsea, Man City, Everton, all have had a change of managers as well, so using the ‘transition’ excuse doesn’t make sense. Not when we have a team that won the title by a mile last season. Moreover, these teams are playing better football and are all in the hunt for the top four spots. Heck even Tottenham, who sacked their manager halfway into the season is above us.

The players don’t look like they are motivated or have the confidence to play for David Moyes. It really all boils down to him, considering that he was almost the only significant thing that changed from last year’s set-up. His tactics are prehistoric and he makes questionable decisions in team selection and substitution. Quite simply, he’s way out of his league and the sooner he goes, the better it will be for the club and all its fans.

#moyesout

5) Gutted II
By rank of who I DO NOT want to win the EPL the most, it goes like that Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea. Very sore for a Manchester United fan, but that’s what happens when your team is absolutely out of the running for just about anything – the true mark of mid-table supremacy.

The primary reason of not wanting Liverpool to win is one of rival pride. We are currently sitting on 20 league titles, while they are on 18. Sir Alex Ferguson took 25 years to ‘knock them off their fucking perch’ and now they’re about to chip our lead away with their first title in 24 years. Not to mention the greatest English football rivalry, I have far more friends who are Liverpool fans than any other club. Here is Asia, it is really Man United and Liverpool that retain the largest fanbases. Damn you David Moyes!

Arsenal is also a matter of rival pride. From the late 90s to early 00s they were our biggest rivals. They’ve also got a fairly large fanbase bourne out of that period. And they haven’t won a trophy for the past 9 years and we sure hope that continues. That being said they are in the FA Cup finals and are odds on to win it, given they will play either Hull or Sheffield United. Boo that. Not qualifying for the Champions League spots might ease the pain.

Man City was the traditional noisy neighbours. A sharer of glory using the same city name. They’d occasionally beat us but we’d still go on to win the title. Not wanting them to win the league is more keenly felt in Manchester, I suppose, due to the inter-city rivalry. Here in our parts, they have no fans, not until now at least. Any people don’t jump on their fanbase for fear of catching the ‘plastics’ or ‘money-buys-everything’ label. Look at what a powerhouse they are now though, and they play very aesthetically-pleasing football to boot.

Chelsea is every Manchester United fan’s choice for the title. They have the ‘money face’ track record already, have very little fans, and no one likes Jose Mourinho (although some MU fans wished it was he who took over). Not to mention that they play the shittiest football of the top contenders, so everyone is going to get upset if they won. Haha, here is where things get a little sore for me as a fan haha.

As long as David Moyes is in charge, even next season looks bleak, squad overhaul or not.

GGMU!!!