After this weekend’s fixtures I got a strange feeling of Deja Vu. Manchester United returned to the top of table, Chelsea slipped to second and Liverpool stayed in third. Manchester City could jump up to fourth in the table if they defeat West Ham on Monday.
The top three however are likely to stay the same and its almost inevitable that the top three now will be the top come next May, maybe in a different order but United, Chelsea and Liverpool will always be up there.
The winning mentality and the never say die attitude
Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have the mentality that they never give up and never surrender. Whether it be in the Premier League or the Champions League. Time and time again they come up with late winners, injury-time game savers which at the end of the season add up to silverware. United’s injury-time winner against Manchester City in the Manchester derby last weekend illustrated that perfectly.
Liverpool scored goal after goal in injury-time last season to keep pace with United. In Europe they fought tooth in nail against Chelsea even when the game seemed gone they still fought to progress. The never die spirit isn’t just a quality within the top three but they seem to perfect the art of never knowing when their beaten. Chelsea have scored many late goals already this season because they simply will not accept a draw.
Too rich for the rest
The top three last season were in the top three for a reason. That reason is that before Manchester City’s arrival as the richest club in the world, these three clubs had the most money and money buys you quality. However the likes of Arsenal have been forced in to selling players to buy new players and to pay for their grand new stadium. The rest are all pretty much on an even keel all trying to break the top four.
The pretenders
The likes of Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham are striving to get in to the Champions League spots this season. These teams have been trying break the top four within relatively small budgets. Villa and Tottenham have made good starts to the season and Everton are just recovering from a poor start to the season. All three are big clubs but because they haven’t qualified for the Champions League they haven’t got the same financials as the top three.
Everton of course finished fourth in 2005 only to be knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifying round by Spanish side Villarreal. If they would had made it through to the group stage then the whole history of Everton not to mention the Premier League might have changed.
Boss David Moyes has done a superb job on a shoestring budget and if the club would of had that all important Champions League cash they could even be challenging at the top of table now. However that’s history and looking at the future only Manchester City have any realistic hope of breaking the big three monotony.
City need to experience winning feeling
Manchester City may have spent big money during the summer but they don’t currently possess an experience of winning trophies. This season they must win a trophy no matter what trophy it is be it the FA Cup or even the Carling Cup. They just need to get that winning mentality ingrained in to the club. To challenge the likes of United, Chelsea and Liverpool they have to get in to the winning habit and make defeat unacceptable.
United, Chelsea and Liverpool have spent years winning trophies and creating a feeling of invincibility. Some opponents who arrive at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and Anfield are already psychologically beaten because the home sides are so intimidating. Manchester City went to Old Trafford last weekend and looked like they didn’t feel out of place and played their own game, which only the United’s big four opponents have done in recent years.
Unfortunately for them they didn’t quite get the result but their performance showed that they are no longer intimidated by the big three. Its these sorts of results that they have to learn from and try to replicate themselves against the big sides. As a famous person once said you learn nothing from victory, you can only learn lessons from defeat. Its time City learnt their lessons and take on the United’s, Liverpool’s and Chelsea’s of the world on a level playing field.
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