Yet again, the powers that be at the Premier League are doing their utmost to stack every card against us in order to win this league. Publicly, the media will have you believe the league is over, but rest assured, the forces behind the scenes have not given up on handing this league to the rags. Not only have we been seeing this on the pitch from the turn of the year, with the diabolical refereeing, but one look at the fixtures shows that the premier league and TV companies are throwing every obstacle in our path.
We know that fatigue and tired legs is probably the single best way of hindering our ability to play our high tempo pressing game. Looking at the upcoming fixtures on the 25th when we play the league cup final against Arsenal the powers that be have stuck a re-match fixture on a THURSDAY prior to the following Chelsea game just THREE days later, we then have Basel at home THREE days after that…that is an intense and physically draining period of 4 games in TEN days with a wafer thin squad.
What are the chances of us beating Arsenal in two consecutive games? Without the injury list we have I would be pretty confident but with the injury list we have that’s a tough ask. After two intense games against Arsenal just 3 days later we will be expected to beat a fully rested Chelsea side, again a tough ask. Why on earth, has that Arsenal game been scheduled on a THURSDAY between those two games? Pretty much unprecedented. There is a gap from the 18th March to the 31st March with absolutely no games or champs league possibilities – why not schedule the game between these dates for the Arsenal game?
I admit I can be guilty of catastrophic thinking when it comes to the blues, but lets assume the worst and we lose both those games (and assuming the rags win admittedly two tough games against Dippers and Chelsea - but both at home) suddenly our 13 point lead becomes 7 points and the media will start to smell blood…before we play the rags we have Everton away and the rags have two on the face of relatively routine fixtures against Swansea and West Ham. There is a real possibility the gap could be 4 points before then and with the momentum with the rags there is a chance they could beat us at the Etihad – suddenly the league is game on….with a Spurs away game to follow the rags....
There could also be the possibility of Champs league games before the derby game and rest assured we would almost certainly be scheduled the game before the derby rather than after handing a physical edge to the rags.
Contrast this with the rags who have only the Sevilla 2nd leg with 3 days rest (which could be a dead rubber. All the others they have a minimum of 4 days rest between fixtures).
I do still firmly believe we have enough in our locker to win the league but anyone who thinks it will be a procession from here on in is kidding themselves, All this talk of guards of honour at the Etihad and/or winning the league on that day are embarrassing themselves and guilty of over confidence. Admittedly, all this is predicated on the rags demonstrating a phenomenal run of form and I’m not sure the rags have that in their locker, however, we also know how jammy those tw*ts can be at times so I wouldn’t rule it out.
My ultimate point is that we the fans should show no complacency from here on in. The powers that be would love nothing more than the ‘greatest comeback of all time’ tm so we have to guard against it and as fans give the players the passion and support they deserve to help them over the line. Those 4 games in TEN days could be critical. Never have I seen such a period of critical games in such a short period that is critical to 3 potential trophies. If that doesn’t show you the intention of the arbiters of our game as to what they want then nothing will. This league is not over, not by a long shot.
