Relegation battlers Wigan Athletic shocked the football world by following up their win at Liverpool with victories over Manchester United and Arsenal.
Isn’t this why the Premier League is described as the greatest show on earth?
The persistent dropping of points by the top teams in the Barclays Premier League, as well as the gaining of points by the lower end teams in the League is making for an absorbing and exciting end to the 2011/2 season.
Relegation ‘six pointers’ are as absorbing and destroying for clubs as is the missing out of one of the top four places.
No longer can it be said that the next game will be ‘three points in the bag’ for any team, as the lower end teams are not only clawing back points, but winning games outright and upsetting bookies and fans alike.
The most obvious example of this is Wigan Athletic. What a turn up for the books, beating first Manchester United and then Arsenal in one week, and taking the lead against Arsenal in 7 minutes, and doubling it in 8!
Arsenal were at sixes and sevens, and never really recovered from the initial shock despite a fine goal from Vermaelen and it is accurate to say Wigan deserved both wins.
The points gained not only assist Wigan to stay out of the relegation zone, but place a heavy burden on the losing teams who are themselves fighting for a top four place.
Realistically, missing out on a top four place is very costly for any team, especially for teams that have been there before where players have had a taste of playing in the most coveted competition of them all.
The cost is in two ways: firstly, financially and secondly, by the loss of good players who only want to play Champions League football.
This is possibly why Robin Van Persie has not renewed his contract. He will probably do so if Arsenal qualifies and if not, then may be he will just move on when the time is right.
At the end of the day, clubs can do very little if a player wants to move on, even if there is a contract in existence. You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink, as the saying goes.
Ferguson knows it, and so does Wenger as does every manager – so the fight is on.
With a handful of games remaining, who will stay up, and who won’t? Who will get a top four place and who won’t?
As I said it makes for absorbing viewing, and these questions are going right down to the wire, possibly even to Sunday 13th May.
That’s why the Premier League, sometimes called ‘the greatest show on earth’ has been broadcast to over 600 million people in over 200 countries worldwide ever since it was formed in February 1992.
And with figures like these, who is going to argue?
image: © wonker
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