Chelsea dominates the Premier League. And
if we look at the results of the last ten seasons in the Premier League, the
Blues of Jose Mourinho have all the reasons to believe on winning the league
title this year.
"I do not see anyone to compete with
them." Not too many, Arsene Wenger did not hide his admiration for
Chelsea, it’s not even a rival for the Gunners. According to Arsenal’s manager, the title belongs already to the Blues of Chelsea, if they do not lift the
foot. Unbeaten, José Mourinho’s protégées occupy comfortably the top of the
table with four points ahead of Southampton (Second) and especially eight on Manchester
City (3rd). All lights are green. So the Blues already champions? The recent history
of the Premier League does not always take this way, but it portends a bright
future.
The collective strength demonstrated by the
London club ahead of its main competitors, the quality and richness of José
Mourinho’s group give us the certainty that at the end of the season, the king
of the kingdom will be Chelsea. However, being leader after 11 days does not
give insurance to be crowned at the end of the year. Over the past ten seasons,
only five teams have managed to go all the way after 11 days. If we looked at
the last 10 seasons across Europe’s five top leagues (note: Premier League, Liga,
Serie A, Bundesliga and L1), and compared the team top of the pile after 11
matches (and roughly three months) to the side that ended up winning the title.
We also analysed how many of those teams remained unbeaten.
In the last ten seasons, only three teams
have approached the 12th day of the Premier League with more than three points
ahead of their dolphins: Manchester City (5 points) in 2011-2012, Manchester
United (3 points) in 2006-2007 and Chelsea (9 points) in 2005-2006. The three
concluded their season with the Premier League outfit on their shoulders.
And yet, their nearest rival was often more
dangerous than Southampton, no harm to the Saints, yes the Dolphins are amazing
but probably will need a long strength to be the champion. Another argument
that can push the Blues fans for optimism : City (2011-12) and Chelsea
(2005-2006) were, too, leaders and unbeaten after 11 days ... Unbeaten in the
first three months were Manchester City 2011-12 (lost five games in all), Arsenal
2007-08 (lost three matches and finished third) and Chelsea 2005-06 (lost five
games in all).
A look at the history, the Blues of Eden
Hazard may enjoy singing and celebrating starting tomorrow, if they do not
derail of course, but we can trust Jose Mourinho to take charge to keep their
feet on the ground. This is another plus for Chelsea. The Special One knows the
recipe to win and he does not usually let slip the title when he leads after 11
days. Since 2004, it happened to him once during the 2010-2011 season with Real
Madrid and FC Barcelona was in pursuit. Only in four times where he completed
the 11th day crowned the table (2005-2006 with Chelsea, 2008-2009
and 2009-2010 with Inter, and with Real Madrid 2011-12). So "Untouchables"
the Blues, who could finish with 105 points if they keep the same pace? Their actual
performance and the fitness of their competitors go on this direction as well
as the recent history of the Premier League. In football, everything can go
very fast indeed and statistics are to be denied. But if the English bookmakers
have a small room to put on, they will not take a lot of risk to place it on
Chelsea. Wenger, him, he would do it eyes closed.
Some patterns emerged across each individual league; here is the breakdown:
---
(NOTE: Teams in bold were unbeaten at that stage)
0 comments:
Post a Comment