Big Positional Changes In The English Premier League

Published: 22^nd Mar 12 5:38 am

by Alan Dymock
Alan Dymock

RANT It!

Big Positional Changes In The English Premier League

James Lang-US PRESSWIRE

Last night there was some renegotiating of positions at the top and bottom of the English Premier League. Strugglers Queens Park Rangers pulled themselves out of the relegation zone with an unexpected 3-2 win over Liverpool; Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur swapped their respective 4th and 3rd position after the Gunners beat Everton 1-0 and Spurs drew with Stoke City; Manchester City defeated Chelsea.

It is getting to that time of year where the title fight becomes something more draining: a clinch. There will be no knockout blow, but with the two scrapping for the crown, Manchester City and Manchester United, it is more about who drops fewer points in the final rounds.

Indeed, it is entirely more interesting to consider what else happened last night. There was a big impact on the complexion of the relegation battle, and the hunt for the other Champions League Qualification spots (1st, 2nd and 3rd go straight into group stages, 4th faces a two-legged playoff with another European side to make the group stages and 5th goes into the Europa league. 6th and 7th may also qualify if the winners and runners up of the domestic cups, FA and League, already qualify for Europe).

Chelsea had thus far been heralded as a transformed team and a real threat to the top sides with Roberto Di Matteo and his senior player group -led by John Terry, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard (above) -effectively managing the team in tandem. Last night, in losing to Man City, that arrangement fell apart with old guard players like Drogba disappointing when they made their bow. They are now sandwiched between 4th and 6th, caught between Spurs who are ahead by 6 points, and Newcastle who are only behind them by 2.

It is an odd one for Chelsea. They automatically qualify for the Europa League campaign as it is, but Newcastle must be taken as a legitimate threat. They are capable of beating most teams when they are stoked up. Being 5 points clear of 7th placed Liverpool shows that. By the same token, though, Chelsea have enough quality to catch Spurs.

The Lillywhites, Tottenham’s finest and North London rivals with Arsenal, keep dropping points at the moment. It seems like as soon as the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini said to us to look out for Spurs and labeling them entertainers the demise began. They have less depth than the other top 4 teams, and by depth I mean quality. They are in danger of running Gareth Bale, Rafa Van Der Vaart and Luka Modric into the ground because they need them to produce magic.

When these players do not perform, are injured or are marked tighter than Swansea’s player budget the team suffers. They are bailing out points in games now and it will be interesting to see if Chelsea can take up a run for 4th place.

They swapped places with Arsenal last night and that would have been a hard one to take. Arsenal have shored up at the back in recent weeks and they have won 6 games on the bounce. In the 90s they were known as ‘boring, boring Arsenal’ with 1-0 wins and stodgy touch-tight defensive play. Last night was kind of like that.

Tottenham may now have a fight on their hands to keep in touch with a resurgent Arsenal and they do not have the experience in their team that suggests they could easily mount a late season coup for a higher position. Manager Harry Redknapp will want Tottenham to make sure they are in the Champions League qualifiers at least. Drop into the Europa League spot and it could be hard for him (or whoever is in charge next season) to convince the likes of Bale, VdV and Modric to stay on for another year.

As for 6th and 7th, I reckon that the way it is now is the way it will look come the end of the season. Liverpool are just too schizophrenic to maintain any ascent and Newcastle will soon be experiencing nosebleeds from being so high. Both could cling on with their finger tips, winning home games and trying not to implode away.

If I were to completely ignore the top 2 spots, and were a betting man, at this point my prediction would be for the core 7 to stay the same, but for some minor jostling to take place. The race for Europe gets interesting right around this time of year.

As for QPR? Well, that dog-fight is a little bit harder to predict. The odds against Wigan Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers are stacking up to a Goliath height. It looks like they may be doomed. However, one win is not enough to declare QPR safe. Blackburn are falling into some heroic form just now and their squad seem together at every twist. Therefore it looks like a scrap between Bolton and QPR that could last till the closing day.