Looking at the Premier League run-in

The race for next year’s Champions League places involves at least ten clubs and guarantees a dramatic finish to the season. Only a brave person would deny that Liverpool are likely to be crowned champions as Arsenal desperately chase them home. Nottingham Forest, will be named the most improved team and desperately trying to cement […]

The race for next year’s Champions League places involves at least ten clubs and guarantees a dramatic finish to the season.

Only a brave person would deny that Liverpool are likely to be crowned champions as Arsenal desperately chase them home. Nottingham Forest, will be named the most improved team and desperately trying to cement a third-place finish. We then have a number of clubs fighting for that ultra-important fourth spot which will be rewarded with a Champions League place next season. Manchester City are still blowing hot and cold with Pep Guardiola showing all the signs of a very frustrated manager but the win over Spurs in midweek has helped calm supporters’ nerves.

Newcastle have quality players, and with Alexander Isak on form could pip City to that fourth spot but their midweek loss to Liverpool hasn’t helped their cause. Bournemouth suffered a shock home defeat to Wolves last weekend but they have some winnable games coming up as they try to pull ahead of Chelsea who have lost their way somewhat with several recent losses but the 4-0 win against Southampton has restored some confidence.

Aston Villa have lost ground and were beaten again in midweek losing to Crystal Palace 4-1. Brighton pulled level with Bournemouth on 43 points and boss Fabian Hurzeler claims his Seagulls are only just getting started and will be strong in the run-in.

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Down at the bottom, Southampton are gone, Ipswich and Leicester have a possible chance of catching Wolves who suffered a surprise loss at home to Fulham midweek.

 

The good news…Guardiola remains positive

Pep Guardiola was in a good mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in mid-week where his City players had just beaten the home side 1-0. Pep thought the win was aided by his positive vibes which were passed on to his team. Good news for the supporters is Pep’s upbeat message to them, “I am an incredibly positive person. Always I see the bright side of the situation. I’m not saying I am not seeing the reality of our situation but I am always positive.”

In a frank interview, the Manchester City boss said if he was at any other club, he would probably have been sacked by now. He also admitted that he elected to stay at City and signed a new contract because he believed he could carry on the previous success he had brought to the Etihad Stadium but this season has been the toughest of his career. At any other club, he would probably have resigned by now but he is determined to stay around and repay the confidence shown to him by the directors when they gave him a new two-year contract.

 

Nico Williams to Arsenal?

There is really no excuse for Arsenal not signing a top-quality striker in the January window and now that Kai Havertz is out injured, their failure is even more frustrating for supporters. Kai had scored nine goals in 24 matches and was fourth highest in the Premier League with assists. The Arsenal scouts and recruitment have drawn up a wish list for the summer signings and at the top is Athletic Club’s Nico Williams. The Spanish international winger will not be cheap and I am told a release clause of £48.3 million will be required along with a salary of £175,000 a week. Athletic are a cash rich club and therefore Arsenal cannot apply any pressure to secure Nico’s release but there is definitely negotiating room if the player himself wants to move and Athletic have a history of not standing in the way of a player’s wishes.

 

Protests grow at Chelsea

I talked with several Chelsea supporters before the home match with Southampton. 200 supporters had gathered at Stamford Bridge carrying banners and smoke flares and all voiced opposition to the current ownership of the club. It seems Roman Abramovich’s forced sale of Chelsea has left the fans convinced the club have gone backwards…their demands to bring Roman back are pointless because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his close ties to Vladimir Putin. Jose Mourinho’s name is still chanted from the stands. The mood is spreading despite Chelsea’s 4-0 win over Southampton because their complaint is not so much with the team or coach Enzo Maresca but the way the club is being run by a rich assortment of financial people such as Todd Boehly. Fans claim they are interested only in earning money rather than winning trophies.

There were however, many positives in the way Chelsea played against Southampton with Marc Cucurella once more displaying his attacking qualities coming out of defence and Christopher Nkunku scored his 14th goal of the season. The only downside in the team was Cole Palmer failing to convert several good chances as he continued his goal drought of seven games without scoring. He is perfectly okay but is going through a poor period of form which I am sure will pass quickly given his quality.

 

Manchester United’s debt rises

Manchester United are currently £515million in debt and owe £414 million to other clubs for players they have bought. Minority shareholder owner Sir James Ratcliffe has said the club are also in danger of breaking the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules and they have come perilously close to being charged with that offence in the past few years. That would of course result in a large penalty fine and a dramatic reduction in points.

Staff were called to a meeting last Monday and told that another 150-200 redundancies would be necessary to help restore the club to profit. That would make a total of 450 less staff when adding those who have already left. The club originally employed 1,140 people before the cuts. These latest reductions mean 39 percent of the staff would have been dismissed. Sir Alex Ferguson also lost his job as an ambassador for the club.

United have reported an 11 percent drop in revenue for six months mainly by playing in the Europa League instead of the Champions League.

 

Anthony – Hero to zero

On loan winger Anthony has impressed for La Liga side Real Betis and was hoping to work his way back into Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United team for next season. Last weekend did him no favours as he made an assist but then got sent off for a late tackle on Getafe full back Juan Iglesias. Anthony showed the customary dramatic plea of innocence and coach Manuel Pellegrini confirmed that he would miss the next match through suspension. On review and an appeal from Real Betis, the red card has been overturned. Watching United scouts, monitoring Anthony’s progress had a wasted evening.