ডাকবাংলা

The Paradox of a Juggernaut

The last two weeks have completely transformed the competitiveness of the Premier League.

The Manchester City juggernaut is continuing to roll on. But interestingly, their game against West Ham has been one of the trickiest games that Pep Guardiola has had in the last month. As soon as the team line-up went out, and I think this is an interesting observation in what Pep is doing at the moment – Aguero started with De Bruyne. It was a calculated risk by Pep to rest players and it nearly didn’t come off. West Ham, who are in surprisingly good form at the moment, and for the first time in the clubs history vying for a Champion’s League spot, gave Manchester City a good run for their money.

When Aguero and De Bruyne started, City fans were expecting great things. But the team did not operate in the fluid way that it has been for the past few weeks now. This could also be a sign that Sergio Aguero’s time in Manchester City is nearing its end. His contract is expiring in six months and with him in the side, they didn’t seem to perform as they should have. In fact, it took substitutions in the second half for City to take control of the game. And even then, West Ham had half a chance to get an equalizer. So, as much as the juggernaut continues to roll on, this was a true test. As was Wolves’ in their next fixture  – it was one all for quite some time, but City dominated the second half and the final score line of 4-1 reflected that.

Manchester City plays Manchester United this weekend and it is a position where City can’t really lose from the result, even if they lose the game. At some point, Pep needs to lose a game of football – to make sure his team continues winning. It does sound very paradoxical, but there is a danger going forward that Manchester City’s ambition to win four trophies depends on how much competition they have got – and the main continued competition would be in the Premier League. The Derby is going to be a fascinating watch.

Manchester United played Crystal Palace in one of the most difficult football matches to watch in recent memory. And I was just quizzing fans out there on ‘guess the player?’ because the game by itself wasn’t very entertaining. A win at the Derby this weekend would ensure that Manchester United cement their spot in the Champions League and also probably give them some sort of false hope that they might catch up to City in the League. But it would give them bragging rights to stopping City’s record-breaking run.

Leicester City are also up there drawing in their game against Burnley – what an entertaining game of football end to end. Excellent goal-keeping on both sides and while some might see this as a slip-up for Leicester, Burnley have been a side capable of upsetting things.

Before Chelsea played Liverpool last night, there was a question mark about Tuschel and being unbeaten so far – whether Cheslea were developing into the real deal? Livepool, in context, aren’t a great team at the moment. So, Chelsea should have beaten them even at Anfield. Liverpool for the first time have lost five home games in a row in the history of the club. One season of breaking records positively and this season they are breaking records negatively. Their first shot on target was in the 84^th minute – and it’s not that they didn’t create chances. But the finishing was terrible.

The success of Chelsea winning has to be credited to the poor performance of Liverpool. However, there was a side to Chelsea towards the end of the game which frustrated me as an ex-Liverpool player but delighted me as a competitor, where they played some cheeky passes, something which I would say is un-sportsman-like. What I liked about it was that they had the confidence to do it. When you look at Tuschel’s side being able to do this to Liverpool and almost humiliate them, it means that they are in a good place.

Chelsea have got a team that are more than capable on paper to compete against the best teams in the world and it is a daunting prospect for the rest of the Premier League that Cheslea are looking like a real prospect right now.

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