The Ten Commandments, to Win the League.

It is rightly said, that the New Year for us, football fans begins in August. It is the time when many football teams across different football leagues kick start their campaigns. It is less than a week now for the start of the Barclays Premier League. August 13th will be the most anticipated date by all the football lovers this year.

Barclays Premier League is the most followed league across the globe and the hype for this year is no different. It’s like a ‘Sudden death’, situation which determines a teams chances of winning or losing a game, this is where the scales can be tilted and the hour glass can be reversed.

The team with maximum points will be crowned the Champions of England at the end of the season.

The Barclays Premier League Trophy

The rules are very simple to win this league:

1) Try to win all the Games :

Winning is important to clinch the tile. So if you think that winning against only a few top sides will be enough to win the league then you are wrong. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself, dragged into a relegation dog fight. It’s obvious, that winning all the matches for any team will only remain as a dream, there are draws and of course, sometimes even the best teams lose. But you have to go out there with a winning mentality. No team in the world can march towards Glory without self belief. Never doubt your capability, try and give in your best to win all the games. And your reward for this: 3 Points, 3 ‘Valuable Points’.

There is a famous saying by Bill Shankly: “Aim for the sky and you will reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you will stay on the floor”.

2) It does not matter how you start, what matters is how you end :

If you start the league on a low note, don’t lose heart. There is a psychological tendency in humans to get on the back foot even with one loss or one bad day at office. Remember, slow and steady always wins the race, maybe not always but a demoralized team always finishes behind. So, whatever the result maybe of the first few opening Game weeks, believe in yourself and don’t lose heart.

The best example in this category are defending Manchester United, perennial slow starters, but eventual Champions.

3) Make your home ground a fortress :

The biggest key to win the title is to win all the home games. There is an added advantage of being at home, a huge home support largely influences the game. If you get all the points from your home games, you get a total of 57 points from 19 games, which is a 100% win record. That’s one hand on the trophy already. Again it’s not possible to win all the games even at home, but the team needs to collect maximum points from the possible 57 to any realistic chance of winning the title.

Manchester United again. They won 18 of their 19 home games last season.

4) Keep the arrogance and Over confidence out of the field :

Confidence is important, but over confidence kills. It would be better if you enter the field only with ‘Confidence’. Never underestimate, even the weakest of the weaker teams. Now, about arrogance, if you are leading the table and putting on a good display, that does not mean you can consider other teams, underdogs. Even the weakest team can pull off a surprise on special day.

Liverpool were drubbed by their local rivals Everton by 3 goals last season.

5) Drop the points, but drop less than others :

Keep a tab on your title challengers, their position on the table and try to stay ahead. It is common for teams to drop points, but make sure that your opponents drop more points than you or in other words, you drop less points than your opponents.

Chelsea had a free fall after initially leading the table last season.

6) Keep the players happy :

No team can win with unhappy players on the field. Keeping the morale of the players high is very important in the modern game because morale has a huge influence on the overall group of players.

Manchester City had a public spat with club captain Carlos Tevez last season.

7) Tactics :

Doing your homework before every match is very important. Because even the teams with weaker players can break the stronger side, tactically. In Barclays Premier League, each manager is tactically efficient and sometimes use the same formations and strategies, but the key is to be better than others. have both Plan A and Plan B to churn out results.

Arsenal were undone by West Brom at home last season.

8) Bench Strength :

In football, you need to have the quality not only on the field but also on your bench. Injuries are a part and parcel of football and during injuries to few key players, the bench strength must step in and carry the team forward. There have been instances when a team initially leading the table and later failed due to injuries and lack of Bench strength.

Tottenham’s squad rotation did not work last season, with them dropping points for almost every league game after an European fixture.

9) Follow the above rules to win the League.

10) Lift the trophy and enjoy your vacation. Please remember to follow these rules for the next campaign.

These were just some common rules of which everyone are aware of, but it’s not as easy to apply them as it was to read them. One mistake and you give away the trophy.

This year’s campaign will be all the more competitive and exciting as there are some more teams tightening the shoe lace to join the race this time.

The 5 teams expected to mount a challenge includes Manchester United (Current Champions), Chelsea (Quality and experience), Manchester City(Tricky squad), Arsenal(Experienced Manager and Hunger due to lack of trophies), Liverpool(Rejuvenated Squad with Legendary manager). Also Tottenham might have an outside chance because of an Experienced manager and good squad.

So folks, on whom will you place your money this season?

Edited By Leelaprasad