adminLONDON – If Manchester United are to defend their Barclays Premier League title this season, they are destined to do it the hard way, for a whole heap of history stands in their way.
For starters, no side has ever won the Premier League having been below 6th on Christmas Day.
Despite consecutive wins against Aston Villa and West Ham United, United are currently placed in 8th place.
Only Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in 1997-1998 have recovered to top the tree after being in 6th place on Christmas Day.
To do so, they stormed to an 18-match unbeaten run between late December and early May, winning 15 of those.
It is the kind of improbable string of results that David Moyes now requires from his new team.
Moyes himself will be aiming to create his own slice of history, for no United manager has previously won a trophy in their first season in charge of the club, other than a Charity Shield.
When asked on Saturday whether United can still win the title, the Scot remained coy: “There is a long way to go, we’ll just try and keep winning and see where we end up.”
Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa will not be among the Manchester United players leaving Old Trafford in the New Year sales.
Moyes is keen to keep his front five – Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez and Kagawa – for the rest of the season so United can launch challenge on four fronts.
And he has ruled out joining the chase for Monaco’s highly-rated Colombia striker Radamel Falcao.
Two new top-class midfielders remain the priority at Old Trafford.
Saturday’s 3-1 victory over West Ham brought the first home goals from open play in the Premier League in just under two months and only a fourth league win in nine games at Old Trafford this season.
The rank and file say that a top-four place and Champions League football should be the priority now and quite right too, for United remain five points behind Chelsea in 4th, who also have a game in hand.
To add to the headache, Everton and Newcastle are both displaying indications of a serious challenge for the European places.
Alan Pardew’s side have won six of their last eight; Everton have lost just one game all season.
Yet as much as we all question whether Moyes’ side can squeeze into the top four – particularly with Liverpool and Arsenal showing few tangible signs of weakness – there remains that little bit of suspicion that United may just place themselves into title-winning contention.
Perhaps it is only because of the name: Manchester United.
Maybe it is only a curiosity founded upon nostalgia; all those past successes under Sir Alex Ferguson and the truth that United tend to motor in the second-half of the campaign.
Based on the hard evidence of performances and results, you would be very brave – or very foolish – to back this United team, despite the encouraging improvement of late.
To add to the statistical gloom, no side has won the Premier League title after suffering five league defeats before Christmas.
Yet it should not be overlooked that United are only seven points behind Manchester City, the side most people consider the favourites to win the title.
Should Arsenal fail to beat Chelsea this evening, the gap will be just eight points to the top of the league.
United can also take heart from the upcoming Yuletide schedule, which places their rivals into direct battle.
Manchester City will host Liverpool, with Brendan Rodgers’ side then travelling to Chelsea, who themselves host Arsenal on Monday evening, before Wenger’s team head to Newcastle next Sunday.
Points will be dropped and doubts will be cast over the contenders in the coming week. United, by contrast, have been gifted a pretty negotiable set of festive fixtures.
Their next four are Hull (away), Norwich (away), Tottenham (home) and Swansea (home).
In this first, tricky season under Moyes, there have already been a number of false dawns and at times it has seemed as though United have turned so many corners so as to go full circle.
But the response to the consecutive home defeats by Everton and Newcastle has been positive; four wins and three clean sheets.
And if United reach New Year’s Day within four or five points of those at the top of the table, with January additions to come and to return, there may just be a few clubs peering nervously over their shoulder. – Mailonline.
Online Reporter