Sunday, January 23, 2011

Could the unthinkable happen? Manchester United....the invincibles part II?

So Manchester United go out and slap a 5-0 score line versus lowly Birmingham, another hat trick from Berbatov and another game without a loss for Manchester United. The unthinkable...could the Red Devils match the exploit of the 2003-2004 Arsenal squad - and not suffer a loss this campaign? With 16 games to go in the season there are many more mountains to climb for the Red Devils, in addition to still being in the FA Cup and Champions League. So could they become the second side in modern time to go a full season without tasting defeat in their league championship?  I think it will be difficult, they still have a game versus cross town rivals Manchester City, 2 games against Chelsea and games versus Arsenal and Liverpool. Granted the way Chelsea is playing there is greater risk of losing to Newcastle than to the Blues!

Feels like so long ago...
The biggest challenges will come during the early March fixtures where they have to play both Chelsea and Liverpool in back to back EPL matches, bracketed around those fixtures is their Champions League matches against Marseilles. This will test the depth of Manchester United and their ability to scrap out points in challenging situations. The second difficult block will be in April when they face Fulham, Newcastle, Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea. Fulham, let us not forget, have given the Red Devils fits the past few seasons. Depending on how Manchester United does in the Champions League there could be some challenging matches during this time frame as well.

The Red Devils, alas, have a chance of going unbeaten, but I believe it will be very difficult and the squad is a bit too old for my liking. I am not sure they have the legs it will take to manage what appears to be a rough patch of games coming up in early Spring. Let us hope for the invisible Arsenal team as well as the current Arsenal side that Manchester United starts feeling its age and drops points. Otherwise the record of invincibility and the EPL title might both be heading to Manchester.

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