da apostaganha：
da poker： sManchester United’s task was difficult; Manchester City’s less so but there will be no Europa League quarter finals for England’s top two clubs going into the final straight this season. Defeats to Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Lisbon mean Chelsea will be England’s sole representatives in any European competition going into the latter stages of the campaign. With the inevitable cynicism that followed after the clubs shock Champions League exits, both clubs fielded respectable sides and were hoping to do well in UEFA’s lesser tournament, but the cavernous quality on the continent showed its metal and prevailed against Manchester’s finest this time round.
But with a less crowded fixture list remaining, sole focus can now be switched to the fight for the title and a larger recovery period, means both Manchester clubs can go into the final months of the season, and indeed that derby game on April 30th with the utmost concentration and preparation.
Whilst some may argue a consistent winning run of games in numerous competitions breeds enough confidence to go on and win major honours, let us analyse the benefits that perhaps belong to both City and United in their final run in, following their European departures.
It is much publicised in the media about the difficulty in balancing two fixtures on the Thursday-Sunday basis in which the Europa League determines the European-Domestic programme. For fans and clubs alike, there is indeed a prevalent stereotype that this is de-stabling in a campaign with shorter periods of recovery highlighting the true worth of squads’ depth and quality to call upon when injury strikes. But it is not only the three day split between games that perhaps represents an issue in this matter.
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Stoke City manager Tony Pulis described how his squad struggled to cope with Premier League fixtures following midweek trips in their maiden Europa League campaign to deepest Turkey, Israel and the Ukraine this season. Whilst it may be the opinion of the fan that a squad can easily hop off and on aeroplanes across Europe, the uprooting of the team as opposed to a week’s preparation in England on the training ground speaks for itself in what would be the more ideal build up to an important weekend league fixture.
Following Tottenham’s exit from the competitions group stages earlier this season, and the last game at Shamrock Rovers, the Londoners have put together an impressive run of form in the Premier League losing just the one game at Manchester City prior to their recent slump. Whilst it may be argued they remain in the FA Cup, the much less regular playing schedule could be said to have benefitted them in terms of putting together a run of momentum in their domestic fixtures.
But back in terms of Manchester City, there was reported squad unrest recently in that they stayed on in Portugal after the first leg defeat to Sporting, opting to train in the blistering heat as opposed to returning to their Carrington training centre. Whereas Roberto Mancini may have seen the benefits of training the squad in these one-off surroundings, this is another example of the Europa League perhaps offering a distraction or distortion from the rigours of the Premier League.
Following the clubs exit, the Manchester City players will now experience their bread and butter in terms of what they are used to and what they have been efficient at all season; training at Carrington and successfully negotiating many Premier League fixtures. For Manchester United, the same rationale applies.
If we look at the remaining fixtures for both Manchester clubs this season, Manchester City perhaps have the advantage in that they continue to play a lot of their games on the Saturday as opposed to United who contain a lot of Sunday fixtures whereby they may be required to match or better the exploits of their arch-rivals a day before them. In this respect, City will have a greater chance to get their points on the board, but then again United will realise when to take advantage or when not to slip up for example.
Upon April 30th, a potential title decider will take place at the Etihad whereby United travel to face their near neighbours. With Europa League victory now forgotten, we will truly realise whether the European exit was a blessing in disguise. After all, only one team can claim the big prize.
Will the Manchester clubs’ exit make them more efficient in a tilt for the title? What is your verdict? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
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