Carragher: Forget about it, Chelsea
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Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson dismissed Chelsea's Premier League title hopes on Wednesday.
"The title race now is going to be between ourselves and Liverpool," Ferguson wrote in the programme for the home match against Fulham that sent the champions five points clear of Liverpool and 10 ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea.
"However I shall be keeping a wary eye on Aston Villa, who seem to have picked up the baton from Arsenal," continued the 67-year-old in United Review.
Villa are third, eight points behind United, while Arsenal are fifth and 15 points off the pace.
The Scot said he had been shocked by Chelsea's decision to sack Brazilian manager Luiz Felipe Scolari after only seven months in charge but added that the move had "played into our hands."
"Their haste is a reflection of the sad way the game is going, with everyone from owners, the board members, the supporters and the media demanding instant success and showing absolutely no patience in the pursuit of their ambition," said Ferguson, who has been at Old Trafford since 1986.
"I would have thought it self-evident that winning prizes comes with stability and long-term planning," added the league's longest-serving manager.
"Yet so often, when a club is faced with a few problems, wisdom flies out of the window in the hope that a new man can bring about a quick fix."
Ferguson expected Dutchman Guus Hiddink, the Russia national coach who has taken over at Chelsea to the end of the season, to make an impact.
"At the same time, he has to start from scratch, perhaps putting together his own staff and gathering round him players of his choice which may take him some time," he said.
Liverpool's former England defender Jamie Carragher agreed with Ferguson's assessment of the run-in to the title.
"We finished fourth last season, but we have overtaken Chelsea and Arsenal and even though everyone at the club understands that it's not over yet by a long way, at the moment it looks like it is going to be us and Manchester United for the title," he told the club website.
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imo chelsea is still a threat.. esp with hiddink onboard... a coach who i respect alot. out of all the challengers liverpool is actually the one i am least concern about lol
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i agree.
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I think Fergie is trying to demoralize the Chelsea players further to make sure they don't come back up... Cos if they start winning from now till the end of the season, they still stand a very good chance of winning... He probably expect Guus to have a decent showing while he is there, so a little more of his mind games to add some self doubt to the Chelsea players could be his real intention... lol
And if they drop any more points this weekend against Villa, then the fighting spirit will go too... Even Guus will find if tough to lift them to the top again... Maybe 3rd or 4th place not a problem though...
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Thats a mind game from SAF. We wouldn't be that stupid to write off Chelsea at this time...
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Yea..its a mind game from SAF and i think his mind games are more effective than the ones from mourinho.Speaking from my point of view i think that Chelsea need Guus to produce a miracle if they were to win the BPL but i would worry more about Arsenal than Man Utd because with eduardo coming back,Fabregas and Walcott coming back soon,Rosicky lurking around the corner,and Arshavin waiting for a debut i would say Chelsea will need to worry about qualifying for Champions League next season.
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10 points isn;t hard hahaha
as long as man u draw 2 and lose 2 matches, there goes their lead!
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UP FOR THE FIGHT ... Jamie Carragher
JAMIE CARRAGHER has told Chelsea to forget about winning the Premier League.
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson last night claimed Chelsea had blown their title chances by sacking manager Phil Scolari. And Liverpool defender Carragher agrees, insisting the race is now down to the Reds and United.
He said: "We finished fourth last season but we have overtaken Chelsea and Arsenal. "Just overtaking Chelsea and Arsenal in the challenge is an achievement in itself already so everyone should be proud of that.
"Even though everyone at the club understands that it's not over yet by a long way, it looks like it is going to be us and Manchester United for the title.
"A lot of people said at the start of the season that we needed to be in the title race at the end and at least be in with a fighting chance.
"Now hopefully we can go one step further and win this title.
"There are still a lot of games to go, so it's important everyone at the club remains calm."
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Originally posted by Y_Shun:
10 points isn;t hard hahaha
as long as man u draw 2 and lose 2 matches, there goes their lead!
Theoritically yes... but looking at their form now, Chelsea looks more likely to be the one who will draw & lose at least 2 matches each in their remaining games.Chelsea is no longer a fortress in their defence...
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Originally posted by Chyeo1979:
Theoritically yes... but looking at their form now, Chelsea looks more likely to be the one who will draw & lose at least 2 matches each in their remaining games.Chelsea is no longer a fortress in their defence...
dun see the form now
chelsea got quaresma and bunch of youngsters.... lol
we shall see xD
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liverpool should also forget about it.
its all man u this season.
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Originally posted by dragg:
liverpool should also forget about it.
its all man u this season.
You are right. The EPL is a 1 horse race plus 19 other teams biting the dust. -
FER CRYING OUT LOUD ... Fernando Torres screams with frustration at Anfield
LIVERPOOL virtually handed the Premier League title to Manchester United after yet another stumble.
Despite Dirk Kuyt’s late leveller at home to Manchester City, Rafa Benitez’s side are now seven points adrift of Alex Ferguson’s table-toppers.
Bookies William Hill slashed the odds on United bagging a third title in a row to 14-1 ON. And although chief Benitez refused to throw in the towel, City boss and United old-boy Mark Hughes said: “It is obviously not in Liverpool’s hands and that is not how you would want it at this stage of the season.
“There are still a lot of games to go and Liverpool will certainly feel they can come back. “But they are probably looking at United slipping up — and they don’t do that too often!”
Benitez insisted his team could put a different complexion on the title race by taking maximum points from their next three games — climaxed by a visit to Old Trafford.
The Spaniard said: “The situation is clearly more difficult so we have to win against Middlesbrough and Sunderland and start thinking about if we can win at Old Trafford.
“Obviously, it’s not easy but there are still 12 games so we don’t feel everything is finished.” Kuyt pounced on 78 minutes to earn a point after former Kop striker Craig Bellamy had opened the scoring for City.
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I was quite surprise Rafa sent out his first team against City in their home match last night... Cos normally before an important CL match, Rafa would have put out a sub side or rest his star players like Torres, Carragher and probably Kuyt too... Guess he really wants the Premier League title too this year having come so close...
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with chelsea out. confirm man utd take..
liverpool have no chance of getting EPL...
not with rafa around
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Chelsea not out yet...
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it's not torres's fault.
it's all abt rafa -
I still feel Chelsea will do well... And I don't think they are out yet... United will have a very difficult April and May, And they haven't play Liverpool, Arsenal, City and Villa yet too... And away to Wigan and Boro won't be easy as well... With so little time and so many matches to play, anything can happen should more players starts to get injure due to too many matches... Playing a match every 3 days for 3 months could take its toll...
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if this is the standard liverpool plays, i think the march fixture will be in utd's advantage
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Lolx Liverpool comback kings have gone..
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man u will win the title this season. seeing liverpool playing now, it is hard to catch up with man u. man u, liverpool, chelsea and arsenal will be the top 4 in order. when fabregas comes back, arsenal should be able to catch up with them. villa is a silent killer.
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Originally posted by Scania N113CRB l0v3r:
Lolx Liverpool comback kings have gone..
they cameback to draw still. lol