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Liverpool, hold on.
Once again, the Liverpool supporters are acting like it just won its first domestic league title since 1990. For Manchester United—losers of a local derby 2-0 to Liverpool on Sunday—the race for supremacy in the Premiership is merely a marathon, not a sprint.
Last season, Liverpool dominated Manchester United on its home pitch of Old Trafford 4-1. And Manchester United raised the its 11th Premiership silverware over its head when the dust settled. Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Liverpool is meaningless for the Red Devils.
It will only annoy the one whom should never be annoyed, none other than the best club manager in the history of the world in Sir Alex Ferguson. Believe it, Manchester United will train harder than ever this week.
Ferguson can make one drastic gesture to motivate his players. By giving the captaincy to Wayne Rooney and putting pen to paper to keep the best striker in the World at Old Trafford for life.
Central defender Rio Ferdinand has lost form and it’s time for Ferguson to drop the England international to give young Johnny Evans a go full-time. Ferdinand’s current form does not warrant a place in the England side this summer in South Africa. England manager Fabio Capello has to be concerned for his one-time steadfast pairing of Ferdinand and John Terry will be the choice in the World Cup.
Liverpool will not win anything this season. Rafa Benitez will not last past January, and Liverpool will be put back to ground quickly. Over the 90 minutes against the best club in England, Liverpool was the better side on Sunday.
Manchester United will not drop silly points, much like Liverpool and Chelsea make a habit of. Chelsea will drop two points at places like Wigan and Burnley, while Liverpool will fall 3-0 to clubs that will fight for its Premiership lives all season. Manchester United hardly ever drop points to clubs outside the top five, and that’s the difference.
The Premiership cannot be won in one day, but it can be lost early. Manchester United is only one point behind Chelsea in second place despite losses at Burnley and at Liverpool. It’s still all to play for.
If you take the first 10 games of the season as any indication, Liverpool will struggle to outlast Manchester City for a spot in the top four. Liverpool’s reign in England’s vaunted top four will be put into question. Manchester City might be potentially a bigger club than Liverpool, which will annoy the Liverpool faithful.
Arsenal’s place in the top four was questioned at one point, but look at the Gunners now. Arsenal has a young line-up full of world-class players. Arsenal has in it’s arsenal young Russian forward Andrei Arshavin, already one of the top goal scorers in the world.
Chelsea is not going away any time soon. Chelsea has built its empire the right way, by buying English when possible in order to build a side with the best English players along with the best players in the world. Even Arsene Wenger at Arsenal eventually realized it, and it is something Liverpool has gone away from.
Liverpool supporters know they must buy English to stay on top. They, like in Manchester, believe that if you have a local boy in the side, he will run through a wall for the crest on his shirt. The same cannot be said for a foreign import.
Manchester United will win the title again this season. Chelsea will finish second, Arsenal in third, and Manchester City or Aston Villa will duke it out for fourth. While in the meantime, Liverpool will be Europa League bound and will fight it out for Merseyside rivals Everton for fifth place.
Yes, times are that tough for Liverpool. The 2-0 win on Sunday is merely a smokescreen and a temporary delay to the problems that are at hand for the club. You heard it here first.
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