Is the English Premier League as good as it is made out to be!! Some of the results in The Champions League have left a lot to be desired , although all the clubs involved still have a chance of making the knock out phase in February , it will take something special for Arsenal and Man Utd to qualify. Arsenal put Dinamo Zagreb to the sword on Tuesday night by winning 3-0 but will wonder how they were beaten on match day 1 by the same opposition.
Man Utd struggled in Old Trafford last night and were held to a scoreless draw. Both Arsenal and Man Utd will have to get the three points, from Arsenal‘s point of view they will need the points to stand any chance of progressing.
These results have again questioned the strength of the Premier League, The four Premier League teams have had mixed results in the group phase and although all four can still make it through , two of the sides may not progress beyond the group stage if results don’t go there way on match day 6.
Man Utd have probably been the weakest of the four sides , they have spent big and brought in a number of players that just haven’t been up to scratch and the question marks will remain until Louis Van Gaal delivers a trophy and gets Utd playing the way we know they can.
Personal may have changed but the Fans still want Utd playing the same way, this cannot happen while Van Gaal is in charge. He also doesn’t have the same type of player in his squad that Ferguson had in his. He won the Champions League with Ajax in the 90s but football has moved on.
This Utd team under Van Gaal plays a slow paced build up game that is laboured at times and does not seem to suit the players he has at his disposal. The lack of a Striker in form hasn’t helped his cause, now that Wayne Rooney is employed in a deeper role means that other players like Anthony Martial and James Wilson need to step up and be counted when it matters most.
The way Van Gaal plays the game needs two wingers that will get the ball into the Box and this in turn will need at least one striker to find the net more regularly than has been the norm this season. The Premier League is hyped up and regularly touted as the “toughest league in the world “This tag is worn as a badge of honour by the teams in the league and while performances at home have been strong, performances in Europe have left a lot to be desired and while this remains the case the questions about the quality of the League will remain.
By
Cian Mc Gibney
26/11/2015