Can Man United really snatch the title?
IN THIS remarkable season of the unexpected, Manchester United are now seven points off the top. Do not underestimate what Sunday’s win at Liverpool will do for their dressing-room.
They have two home games to follow – Southampton and then Stoke – and if they can get up a head of steam, we may be looking at a three-team title race.
Manchester City, with a fit Sergio Aguero, are the favourites but United’s 1-0 victory at Anfield could be a gamechanger for Louis van Gaal. He has got some credit in the bank now.
United had only one shot on target at Liverpool, but it was the winning goal for Wayne Rooney, who is looking sharp again. I’m not saying United will win the title, but they are back in the hunt and we should not write them off.
It’s not unusual for United to arrive late into a title race. In the history of the Premier League only eight teams have come from behind after 22 games to win the title.
On four of those occasions it was United. That includes the 1995-96 season when they were 12 points behind Newcastle at this stage but still reeled them in.
Then they had Sir Alex Ferguson as manager and this United team do not have the same firepower, nor the attacking charisma of that Fergie team.
They have scored eight goals in the league since the start of December and they are only the ninth highest scoring team in the division. But they have opened the door again and they cannot play any worse than in some of their joyless performances earlier this season.
Last month I wrote that the side who lost 2-1 at Bournemouth were the worst United team I had seen in all my years watching football. There have been some signs of improvement, but not much!
As an exercise in establishing how unusual this season has been, I have picked my team of the campaign so far. There are a couple of close calls, but there are four players from Leicester, four from Arsenal and no players from United, City, Liverpool or Chelsea.
I wrestled with the goalkeeper and went for Petr Cech over Kasper Schmeichel, but that is a close call.
Harry Kane or Romelu Lukaku is a tough one, too. Lukaku has scored consistently all season and so, even though I’m a massive Kane fan, I’ve gone for Everton’s Belgian international.
Another player who has made a huge impact but doesn’t get in – mainly because he missed a chunk of games through injury – is Dimitri Payet, the new crowd-pleasing idol at West Ham. Kevin De Bruyne and Ross Barkley are also absent, despite having fine seasons.
I’ve gone for the balance of Dele Alli and N’Golo Kante in midfield with the goal threat of Riyad Mahrez and Mesut Ozil, who has 16 assists.
I expect this team to change as we get into the trophy stage of the season. I wrote this week that if Aguero stays fit and scoring then City win the title. And his return has to make a difference to them. Aguero and David Silva have won the title for City before and they can do it again.
Rooney, the United captain, is at least showing signs of returning to goalscoring form, but do they have enough goals in the rest of the team? He can’t carry them alone for the rest of the season.
I wrote that there was little joy in their play and that hasn’t really changed, although a 1-0 win against Liverpool is enough to at least give them a smile for now.
And it is not impossible that they will use that as a launchpad for the rest of their season. – Daily Mail