Manchester United Update
From 2006 through 2009, Manchester United had fixed themselves a position atop the English Premier League standings, proving their dominance year after year. Last season, Chelsea unseated the champions and stole possession of the Premier League crown. It is no surprise to see Chelsea on top the standings once again, however, United sits just four points behind the lead with a match scheduled for Saturday at Aston Villa. A win at Villa may not be too difficult to come by, having not lost since opening day of the 1995-’96 season.
Villa’s manager, Gerard Houllier realizes the circumstances of the upcoming match: “Villa have not won against United (at home) for a long time. I would say that at some stage it has to stop. We must make sure we don’t give them too much respect. They are so good, we must not watch them play.”
On the opposite side, Manchester has six draws on the season and two in their last five games. In order to gain momentum and have an opportunity to challenge Chelsea, they must begin to grind out victories. Darren Fletcher, widely acknowledged as one of the top midfielders in the game, has told his Manchester United team-mates it is time to end the succession of draws that has halted their progress this term.
Much has been made about the 25-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season’s loss in the title game to Chelsea; however, the players will not look at that as an impressive feat. Fletcher added, “People are talking about us not losing but we have drawn too many, especially away from home.”
United must keep pace with Chelsea in an effort to make their December 19th home match-up with The Blues a pivotal game. The Red Devils must take one game at a time; however, they realize the type of pressure they are under to win because another draw will keep them from putting the pressure on Chelsea to win as well.
Fletcher added, “Overall, you would be better winning two games out of three and losing the other one rather than winning one and drawing two.” And he’s quite correct.
One Comments on “Manchester United Update”
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Manchester United are easily keeping pace with Chelsea.
