Manchester United v/s Aston Villa and Chelsea v/s Everton- the premiership might still be open!

This article is in no way supposed to suggest that Manchester United’s season about to be derailed just because of their home victory, or that Villa are going to break into the top four on the back of yesterday’s result, although these things could happen. It is meant to give an observation of their clash at Old Trafford and few conclusions which can be drawn from the same.

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Manchester United did dominate the game for large chunks of time, but for the first time, a non ‘top four’ club shoed some steel at Old Trafford. Villa got a good goal through Gabriel Agbonlahor. ManU threw everything in to attack especially in the second half and to be fair to them, they did come close to scoring on two occasions at least, once through Michael Carrick and then through Berbatov who missed his shot at point blank range in the second half. While they did look like a threat going forward, one always had a feeling that Villa just had enough in them to keep the red devils out (which is quite unlike the Manchester team).

While Aston Villa did themselves no favours by conspiring to give the ball away on countless occasions, ManU just could not breach the Villa defensive wall. Sir Alex made a few changes to give more impetus to attack in the second half but at the moment at least, he looks deprived of quality options on the bench. ManU do seem to rely a lot on the old legs of Giggs and Scholes a lot. If we take a look at the players who came in, it simply did not look convincing enough. Though Michael Owen might have scored a hat-trick in mid week, he still looks far from his glorious best in the premiership. He was almost non- existent in the game since he came on. Berbatov came in for Park who himself does not look as sharp as he did for a large part of last season. While Carrick and Fletcher are good midfielders, they surely cannot cope at the very topmost level. While Valencia is a much improved winger these days than when he first arrived at Old Trafford, he still has many facets of his game to improve on like his variations and his final ball. At the moment he just looks like a fast winger who can run past the opposing left back and try to put in a cross i.e. a bit one dimensional in his approach. Berbatov as we all know is an enigma. He is a man who can do the most intricate things on the pitch but looks like he is not doing the simple things right since a long time now. Darren Gibson looks like a great prospect, but to be frank, he never looked like he was going to turn the game on its head. All in all ManU still are collectively a great team, but they definitely not as strong as last season and for the first time in a few seasons now, Sir Alex might have to enter the January window to bring his team on term or to surpass the league leader Chelsea.

Aston Villa meanwhile look a solid unit. They had a game plan and they executed well if no to perfection. Once they had their noses ahead, they simply closed the doors on ManU. They had a big positive in the form of Stewart Downing coming into the side on the left. They now have a potent midfield for a 4-4-2 with Milner on the right, Petrov and whoever he partners in the middle. They defend well and have a great strike partnership of Agbonlahor and Heskey/Carew who provide pace and power. They do look like a better quad, but we all know what happened to them last season when they looked like challenging for a top four finish for so long. Although, they do have the ability, it remains to be seen if they have the legs for the long race. This season looks like a great opportunity for them because of the Liverpool clubs’ current problems and the dilemma that Spurs are who just managed to lose a home game to Wolves. Let’s see what Martin O’Neill has done differently this time round.

Chelsea meanwhile seem to have mini blip with back to back draws. While their midfield was at fault against City last week, it was the defence which was to be blamed for two goals this week. Their attack seems to be the best in the league now especially when Arsenal are missing van Persie. But a draw at home to Everton was not a great result for the blues. It’s the neutrals and non Chelsea fan’s wish for a continuation of such results in order for the premier league to open up a bit more (although that is unlikely). Drogba and Anelka seem to be able to turn it on week in and week out in attack. Their defensive mistakes cost them on the day but they will most likely be ironed out the next time onwards.

If Arsenal win against Pool today, then the league will be back on its way to being a three way fight again.