Manchester is Red again. After the Manchester Derby, not only me but any football follower will say that Manchester United are back. The 4-2 humbling of an unconvincing and demoralized City will bring a fresh breath of air to the United fans and they will be definitely looking forward to the Chelsea FC game next weekend.
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But the only difference is that we are not City, not demoralized and not under Pellegrini. The Red Devils, regardless of what form they are will be visiting Stamford Bridge, which is a fortress for the Blues and where Mourinho has slain most of his opponents with considerable ease.
But I have to be a realist and say that, it will be a close one. When Manchester City scored the first goal, I thought that I will be seeing another one of those derbies where United will cripple when going one down as they seemed to be spineless under Moyes and in the first half of the season under Van Gaal. But I was in for a surprise. I saw a United which was resurgent and confident and a team which never gave up, much like Chelsea FC themselves, and in the end, provided a thumping to their noisy neighbors.
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In my opinion, no matter how much you spend and assemble a world class squad, you can’t win or sustain a prolonged period of success until and unless you have a never say die mentality and ruthlessness running in the veins of each and every member associated within the club. Chelsea against QPR displayed such qualities. They weren’t at their best and this has been the case for quite some time now. But, similar to their win against Everton at home, they believed in themselves and kept on going till the end and were rewarded graciously, much to the disappointment of a dogged QPR.
For me, it is not only the wins against your direct rivals but also these narrow wins against the lower ranked teams which truly test a teams’ character and integrity. Chelsea FC couldn’t find a way past a rigid and defensively stringent QPR, but kept on striving for one breakthrough and that came in the form of a Hazard assist and a Fabregas goal which consolidated their position at the top of the league.
It is not only the wins against your direct rivals but also these narrow wins against the lower ranked teams which truly test a teams’ character and integrity
But now, it is time to face the big boys. Arsenal and United, the best and in form teams in EPL will be facing Chelsea in the next two consecutive weeks. United are looking sharp and motivated after a winning run and especially after that impressive win against City. Moreover, I think, they will be galvanized seeing the Blues stuttering form at the moment.
Similarly, Arsenal with their win against Burnley becomes the only team to win 8 straight EPL matches in a row in this season, so that in itself is an explanation of the form they are in. The Gunners will have a massive advantage against Chelsea as they are playing in their home, where they are undefeated and very difficult to play against. On the other hand, Chelsea’s away record is also highly commendable where they have taken 15 points of a possible 18 in the last 6 league games.
Mourinho is tailor-made for crucial matches such as this. He comes up with the vital substitutions and decisions which often decides the match. The next two matches will be a proper test for not only the players but for Jose’s tactical acumen. I would love it, if we win both these matches, but blindly underestimating Man United and Arsenal and especially when witnessing the form they are in will be plain delusional. A successful result for me will be a draw in both matches although as per statistics, even if we lose one, we can still maintain a good gap with the game in hand.
Chelsea must wake up from their partial slumber and put up a performance in the next two weeks to show the critics that they deserve to be Champions. To United and the Gunners, we say, BRING IT ON!
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