A deserved title for SAF
by Paul O'Donnell
Arsenal 1:1 Chelsea. The draw settles the issue; Man United are champions.
Since I’m not a fan of the Red Devils I’ve been backing Chelsea’s Blues to cut the gap at the top in hopes of seeing the match at Stamford Bridge be the deciding game. Its not going to be that way. Sir Alex Furguson (SAF) has won it with two games to spare and quite simply his team has been the best of the bunch all season long. When they did sputter Chelsea failed to take advantage and this weekend was another example.
First of all, kudos to SAF as much as it pains me to say that. His team was the only one of the top 20 to average more than two goals per game. Yes, the only one, despite Chelsea’s lineup of world class players the Red Devils scored 20 more goals with two matches still to play.
One thing Jose is not credited for is that his Blues have actually conceded fewer goals over the season than United. They managed that with only one true central defender for much of the season and Terry, when he was fit, was not 100%. On top of that their #1 keeper was sidelined for almost two months with a severe concussion and yet they managed to concede fewer goals than any other EPL side. The Blues real difficulty all season long was producing goals of their own and those three consecutive draws over the holiday period, dropping 6 points sealed their fate.
So how did they manage that? One man stepped up to play that role when needed and the most recent match with Arsenal was an example of his dedication and desire to make the best of the situation. He did just that by making impressive contributions at both ends of the pitch. Michael Essien’s performance in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with the Gunners that made United champions was truly stunning. He was intent on carrying the entire squad and keeping them in the challenge to United and he nearly pulled off a miracle through his efforts on the day. If ever a single player managed to produce that mythical ’more than 100%’ effort, this was it.
But it was always going to be a mountain too high. This Chelsea team was missing Arjen Robben, their 30 goal man Didier Drogba, Schevchenko and Ballack as well as Ashley Cole and Carvalho. Thats half of their starting 11. As if to make that mountain an even more impossible climb they also played 50 minutes down a man. But Michael Essien nearly pulled it off. Driven by his effort the 10 man Blues were actually pressing the Gunners to the wall over the final 20 minutes and created chances that came close to producing that miracle they needed. But it was not to be.
I have to say that after it was over I shook my head saying that guy is an amazing player and his supreme effort for his team really was an inspiration. This may not be fair but I also said to myself if Lampard gave half the effort Essien did it might have had a very different ending. Not fair to Frank I suppose but that is the way I saw it.
All credit to Manchester United and Sir Alex for a wonderful season. And also to Michael Essien for being an inspiration to anyone watching. Thanks to SAF for another miracle too. How’s that?
Check this one out: Sunderland, 23rd of 24 in the League Championship in August won that league over the weekend under the guidance of Roy Keane. Yep, Keano, that product of SAF and Man United whose often times stormy relationship provided the highlights in the media won promotion for the Black Cats in his rookie effort as a coach by winning the league title by single point over Birmingham City. Sunderland thrashed Luton 5-0 in their final match while Birmingham was beaten 1-0 by Preston.
The third promoted side will be determined by playoffs between Derby County-Southampton and West Brom-Wolves. The winners of the two-legged round face each other on May 28th at the Millenium Stadium to determine the third promoted side.
Just for the record, Leeds United are relegated to League 1. It wasn’t long ago that Leeds was challenging for a Champions League place and now they have tumbled some 40 places in the hierarchy of English football.
