As the boos rang around Old Trafford Saturday afternoon following a 2-1 defeat to newly promoted Norwich City, Manchester United’s transformation from functional dullards to dismal incompetents was complete. Louis van Gaal’s pedestrian, monochromatic football has been painful on the eye all season long, but at least it had previously brought results.
Jose Mourinho is like a carton of milk — once past expiration, it is no good to anyone. The magic in the Special One’s “us-against-them” approach quickly wore off in 2015/16 as the Chelsea dressing room dissipated into warring factions and clash of egos. The Portuguese has long been hailed as the premier man manager in the world, but that gift left him when he needed it the most.
After a rough November in The Premier League, which saw Arsenal collect two points, the Gunners are back on track for a second-half surge for England’s most coveted trophy as they only trail Leicester City by two points. Throw in the 3-0 result against Olympiacos to propel them into the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, as well as the impending chase for a third-consecutive FA Cup, and Arsene Wenger’s team have quite the full plate in front of them.
Thursday, December 17 was a day that shall live in infamy for Chelsea fans. When the news broke shortly before 10:00 a.m. EST that Chelsea had parted ways with managerial legend Jose Mourinho, it plunged me into a state of darkness that I have not experienced in many years.
For all we know, Will Kirwaan was just another optimistic fan betting on his favorite team when he staked £5 on Leicester City. He didn’t see anything wrong with the 1000/1 odds on the Foxes being in 1st place come Christmas. And why not shoot for the moon? Isn’t that the point of all of this? Who cares if the Foxes needed a miracle run at the end of last season just to avoid finishing in the bottom three. Every team has a chance at winning the title at the beginning of the season, or at least that’s what I'm guessing Will thought that day.
By any measure, 2015-16 is shaping up to be the tightest, most intriguing Premier League season in decades. Yes, we’ve had close title races before, not least Man City winning the league on goal difference in the dying seconds of 2011-12. But the complexities and ebbs of the season to-date are unparalleled in recent years.
Cesc Fabregas has crossed seas, leaving the cities of his formative years, Barcelona and London, only to return, oscillating between ensconced locales in search of a happiness that can only be provided by fulfilling an unobtainable ambition.
West Ham have discovered their newest celebrity fan, and it's a doozy. WWE wrestler Triple H (the h's stand for "Hunter Hearst Helmsley") recently declared his loyalty to the Hammers in an interview with ITV.
"West Ham is probably the closest to what we do [with] the passion of their fanbase and their loyalty," Triple H said.
What would you say the odds were that Leicester City was going to be atop the table 16 games into the BPL campaign? Or the odds that Jamie Vardy would have as many league goals as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined? Well, Leicester was about a 2500-1 favorite to win the title back in August, and Jamie Vardy having as manys goals as CR7 and La Pulga combined, we'll go ahead and set the odds at 1,000,000-1.
It’s a mark of how colossal soccer has become that some major newspapers often separate their soccer journalism from the other sports they feature. Of course, with media coverage comes the actual monkeys with typewriters (or seeing as we’re in the 21st century, ex-pros short of a few quid with iPads).