With Liverpool riding high and looking likely to win the Premier League this season, the focus shifts to who will actually compete?

Manchester City are down and out, Arsenal as always are just there, Manchester United is nowhere near good enough and we have the likes of Bournmouth and Nottingham Forrest making surprise appearances in the top half of the table.

Not just the top half, but top five, replacing teams such as my beloved Manchester United. It hurts to see them so low down on the table during a time when we’re actually supposed to be picking up steam and cementing our place.

In the Sir Alex Ferguson era, United would use the Christmas period to either go steaming ahead or making up valuable ground on teams above, eventually going on to win the Premier League.

For the first time in the Premier League’s history, Manchester United will spend Christmas in the bottom half, stressing about whether or not we find ourselves in a relegation scrap come end of season.

I highly doubt that will happen and I already just want the season to end. To be fair, Ruben Amorim has come in under loads of pressure, during a time that loads of brats were developing in the dressing room

One of Manchester United’s problems was that it got sucked into the media hype about young talented stars, the so-called “the next generation”.

While it’s okay to motivate and encourage players to try to get the best out of them, there is the huge problem with calling them “next generation” and then bumping their salaries from 20 000 pounds per week to 250 000 pounds per week, offering them huge contracts and big dreams.

This may enable players to very quickly achieve financial stability, but it gives them little time to develop their game - and themselves mentally.

Marcus Rashford a walking example, just two years ago, this boy was set to become one of the world’s finest, banging in goals and proving why Manchester United believed so much in his ability.

Fast forward one year later, he has one of the worst striking records, having missed shockers in front of goal and isn’t a shadow of the player he once was.

What happened during these two years, you ask?

Well ... a new five-year deal, 350 000 pound per week contract and a truckload of promises. That’s what happened.

“Manchester United is home”, that is what the announcement of his new five-year deal read.

Ever since he called this monster of a club his home, the place has literally started crumbling.

Don’t believe GoalMOUTH? Ask Ruben, who had to stop his press conference as a result of a leak from the ceiling.

But. Back to the topic at hand. As with Manchester United these days, we can only hope and pray things won’t go further astray.

The blue half of Manchester is in complete disarray as they on their worst run since Pep Guardiola joined them. Winning only one of their last 12 games, I don’t think this hopeless Manchester United team was that bad.

But then again, they did win the Premier League four years in a row and a few years back, many called it and said coaches would start figuring out Manchester City.

Funny how their fate started changing when they stopped spending money. Funny how they became bad when those financial fairplay charges came out.

Funny how Pep’s ability as a coach was suddenly being questioned when he was barred from signing anybody. He will only look to find a new rich mega club, with good players and then make them better, win another league and retain his place as one of the world’s best.

Pep has never adopted a really bad team and turned them into champions, he always had champions at his disposal and continued being champions with them, with more money and more players.

Even though I hate saying this, Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp’s squad has not been hit with as many injuries such as other teams, a notable observation to make.

But let’s be fair, the last time we had a major pandemic, such as Covid, we also had a team win their first Premier League in 30 years.

With the injury pandemic currently plaguing the Premier League, maybe it’s written in the stars for these LiverFOOL dreamers.

DISCLAIMER: These are the views of GoalMOUTH, if you don’t like them, great, I’d like to hear why.

So step into my GOAL and don’t mind to watch your MOUTH! 🙂

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