VERDICT OUT: TIME'S ALMOST UP FOR THE SEASON

           It’s an 11 point gap now between the two Manchester clubs and the disappointing part of the news for United fans is that Manchester United are the ones who are eleven points behind potential champions and arch rivals,Manchester City. This past weekends derby was a chance for the Red Devils to cut Manchester City down to size, establish dominance in Manchester and simultaneously trim down Manchester City's lead on top of table down to a respectable five point. But much like so many other clubs in the Premier League, the red devils came up shot and was forced to reluctantly relinquish three points to the potential run away English Champions at the moment. There was so much to pick from the game which Manchester United will look back and know they did wrong, like deciding to sit back and allowing such a quality opponent attack them in a derby. That’s never something any team will want to do in the Premier League but Mourinho, being the special manager who rarely makes any decision he is expected to make decided to set up the team with a more defensive look. This fired back after waves of Manchester City attack finally broke down the Red Devils on the day.

            So the question now is, is it over? Is it still to early to give up on the title? Should Mourinho abandon Traditional 4-5-1 formation and probably take the 4-4-2 option? Questions that will all be broken down and answered today. First off, a ten point gap away from the League leaders is not a total lost cause when the dream of becoming Premier league champions is concerned. Here’s reason why, Manchester united and Manchester city still have lots of matches heading their way from now till the end of the season. Let’s compare the two clubs next ten matches in the Premier League. The Red Devils are heading into the next six games in the Premier League facing clubs like Bournemouth, West Brom, Leicester City, Burnley, Southampton and Everton. Besides FC Burnley, these next few scheduled games, as anyone can see, is going to be against teams struggling for points at this current point of the season and that will be an excellent time for Mourinho to lead his team on a serious run to rack up some points to keep the pressure on rivals city who could still drop points before the end of the season. Manchester City on the other hand might be 11 points clear of Manchester United but Manchester City  can still expect some tough games heading their way. With the blues scheduled to face teams in decent form at the moment like Swansea City, Leicester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and so much more difficult teams coming Manchester City's way, the Red Devils can still have renewed optimism that the title might still head to Old Trafford by the end of the season. However, according to the Manchester United Evening News, it seems that Manchester United have started showing their frustrations gotten from the huge gap the Red Devils have relinquished to Man City. After last weekend's derby ended and both teams headed to their Locker rooms, a fight broke out between Manchester United players and Manchester City's players. To be honest, I don’t think the players were to blame for last weekends derby loss, Mourinho started the game in a more defensive manner and decided to let Manchester City have the upper all through the first half and most of the game. It was a derby to forget, before Manchester city scored the first goal of the game, Manchester United barely made any memorable attack towards city's goal and were extremely frustrating to watch.

  

            First question to be asked is: What was the rationale behind the Managers defensive strategy all through the game? Usually in the premier league when a team sets up  a defensive formation to start the game, it’s usually down to the fact that one team's does not match the quality of the opposition. For example, if Manchester United were playing a team like Bristol city then you will expect Bristol to take on a more defensive setup for a majority of the match. No disrespect to Bristol but from a statistics point, Bristol city will not have the required amount of skills in their to go toe to toe with Manchester City so a more defensive minded team will be expected to be used when Bristol face a team with the type of quality Manchester City have in their team. But we are not talking about Bristol City, we are talking about Manchester United, a team with player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata, Ashley Young, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ander Herrera etc, you would expect Manchester United to come out from the start of the first whistle but that was not the case. United were flat, had no spice in their game and for most of the first half, United decided to sit deep and let Manchester City have most of the ball possession while United tried to hit City with a counter attack or long ball options. The frustration passing around old trafford as the club watches their noisy neighbours begin to make their way towards another Premier League title is starting to reflect around Carrington because the fans are starting to moan and groan on most games the team plays this december which could mean that the fans might not be content that the team are showing resignation that this might be another season the title slipped away once again.

           So with half the season gone, what are the pundits verdicts on the teams title chances?  Well according to an eight man jury made up extraordinary ex-premier league legends and four ex Manchester United legends Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Peter Schmeichel, Manchester United have been tipped as one of the favourite team to be crowned English Champions this season. Not only that, but the pundits also have Manchester United's own Romelu Lukaku as one of the favourite players to win the Golden Boot Award this season and also as one of the most exciting players to watch. Congratulations Red Devils fans, that has assured us that the big Belgian will be even better than he already is. Talk about exciting! The big man is already firing on all cylinder and for amazing players who had played the game in the most exciting manner possible to look at  your own player and say that his one of the best and will get better, well the fans should get ready for even more goals and energy than we have already witnessed. That's not all. The pundits also have Victor Lindelof as one of the most exciting signings this season. I am so excited about the team's ratings this season. Yes the team have found themselves falling behind in the title race to their fiercest rival this season but the season still has a long way to go and with the vote of the pundits stamped solidly on the teams chests, all hope is not lost. I expect United to play with more energy, add more quality to their game and give Manchester City a challenge to claim the right to be Champions of england at the end of the current season. Sit back, relax and get ready for a thrilling race.