The 4-0 bashing of the only one today by Chelsea is his second worse defeat in his career as a coach. The most humiliating was the 5-0 bashing of his Real Madrid team by Barca on the 29th of November, 2010 at Nou camp.
I had earlier predicted that if Mouriho played his analogue defensive formation where he puts 10 players behind the ball, he may get a draw, but that won't be good for him as he needs 3 points to narrow the points between him and the top 4 and that is where he will have a problem because his normal back four are not good enough to contain the attacking prowess of Chelsea and that happened.
The truth of the matter MAN U were unsettled by two early goals scored within 20 minutes of the game as a matter of fact the first goal was scored in the half a minute of the game. They came out smoking and the host Chelsea didn't sit to defend. They contested ball for ball and pace for pace. Despite their 7 goal attempts in the first half, they couldn't convert any, but Chelsea took only 2 of theirs. MAN U couldn't convert theirs because Chelsea had a better defensive formation.
Credit must however be given to Chelsea ball jugglers in the middle of the pack. Victor Moses, Edan Hazard, Pedro and Ngolo Kante. These players to me made the difference. They had great pace and are good dribblers, moving from box to box. Victor Moses was not only an attacking winger with his deft touches and crosses, he could also be dubbed a defensive midfielder as he was defending even in 18 box. This season he is bubbling with amazing stamina, hitherto a lazy player. Credit must however go to Conte for working on him and instilling a lot confidence in him. Another outstanding boy in the middle of the park is Ngolo Kante. This boy can defend, run with the ball and has a way of displacing opponents and releasing the ball to his attackers to do the damage. His tireless efforts paid off as he scored a brilliant individual goal, cutting through a sea of leagues before displacing the goalkeeper. With this boy and Matic in the central midfield, I doubt if our mikel will find place in the middle of the park. I must also not fail to praise Thibaut Courtios. He was real Man of the match for his fantastic saves. Let us hope he is back to his best as he was not spectacular the previous season and at the beginning of this season.
The tough team are dealing with each other. Arsenal humbled Chelsea by 3-0, Spurs out played, out classed and outscored Man city by 2-0. Man city also defeated MAn U by 2-1. Liverpool similarly defeated Arsenal by 4-3.
I couldn't watch Man city Southampton game because I was airborne, but I saw the highlights. I had predicted that the way Pep played the last 4 matches, loosing 2 and drawing two without a change in his tactics of building attacking from the back, using goalkeeper as sweeper, placing emphasis on ball possession, refusing to mix old and young players and always at home with skillful players without mixing with robust and physical players, I said he will continue to stumble and fumble. Today he continued his tactics and technique and the result predictable: a draw. He was lucky that he forced a draw since Southampton were first to score. Credit goes to our boy Ihenacho who ensured he secured a point with his usual ability to squeeze a goal despite being fully marked. He could have salvaged 3 points if Aguero had passed a ball to him who was in a better position to score in the dying minutes, but chose to be selfish and went Solo and couldn't get the goal.
The EPL is becoming increasing challenging with arrays of great thinkers. They are Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pottechino, Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp, Claudo Ranieri, Pep Gourdiola, Josep Mouriho. Let see who comes top.
Honestly the way the coaches are cancelling each others out, I can't predict with precision the man that will carry the day. I can however say with a bit of emphasis that I can't see any of the team in EPL bringing the elusive UEFA cup for 3 reasons. The league is too challenging and having the best thinkers, players are therefore overwork in the premier league to able play in their peak. Secondly they play for more trophies than other countries which contributes to their exhaustion and thirdly unlike other leagues, they don't go on winter break which also adds to the exhaustion.
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