Football is unquestionably Britains major sport, and its staggering dominance has only increased over the past couple of decades. These days its unusual to flick through your Monday newspaper, find the sport section, and be confronted with anything other than football on the front page, but thats what happened this week after Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 championship. This years F1 campaign was peculiarly analogous to the Premier League in 2014-15 in the sense that it was utterly dominated by a single team. Mercedes finished with 701 points; their nearest challengers, Red Bull, were some 300 points behind. There was tension, of course, from the fact that Mercedes two drivers were competing against one another for the world title but from a constructors perspective, this was the dullest season imaginable as Mercedes set a new record for the most number of wins in a season. Yet look beyond the final standings and youll note that the individual races were more exciting than usual. Indeed, the struggles of other teams was precisely what provided the entertainment; top-level drivers accustomed to coasting to podium finishes suddenly found themselves scrapping for minor places. The seasons final race, in Abu Dhabi, saw Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen -- seven World Championships between them -- racing for the final three points places. It was wheel-to-wheel racing between the most renowned names; it just wasnt for first position. This, in effect, is exactly the situation in which the Premier League currently finds itself. Chelsea are the best team in the division by a considerable distance and are widely expected to win the title at a canter. Not only are Jose Mourinhos side six points clear, but theyve also faced their toughest three away trips (Old Trafford, Anfield, and the Etihad ... Mourinho never loses at the Emirates) and some are suggesting they could go the season unbeaten. In that sense, the title race will probably be underwhelming. That doesnt, however, mean the entire season will be underwhelming. Judge the entertainment value of individual matches -- or, the entertainment value of the biggest two or three games of the weekend, as few people watch more -- and its been one of the most entertaining campaigns in history. Why? Because the big sides keep failing. Some of the most memorable matches have involved the supposed title contenders being defeated. Stokes victory against Manchester City, for example, was extraordinary -- Stoke had never previously scored at the Etihad, let alone actually won there. It was a brilliant display of deep defending and counterattacking, and the tension towards the end of the game was incredible as Mark Hughes earned a highly improbable victory back at his old club. On the other end of the scale, we witnessed a brilliant, wide-open goal-fest when Leicester recovered from 3-1 down against Manchester United, launching a comeback and eventually triumphing 5-3. The sight of Jamie Vardy, a fifth-tier player until 2012, terrorising the defence of Englands most successful club was quite remarkable, the type of rags-to-riches story English football loves. Earlier this month, there was Swanseas 2-1 win over Arsenal, an exciting game where the Welsh club went toe-to-toe with Arsenal in midfield. Swansea kept transferring the ball out to Jefferson Montero, the tricky Ecuadorian left-winger who terrorised Calum Chambers all game, and he eventually created the winner for Bafetimbi Gomis. It was a fine, and fully deserved, victory. Liverpool, meanwhile, have suffered a succession of surprise defeats to Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and West Ham. Liverpool were title favourites in April; now they cant stop losing to mid-table sides. Its heartbreaking for Liverpool fans, but its making brilliant matches for everyone else. The downside, of course, is that Chelsea are scampering away into the distance. Its a shame that no club is challenging them more closely, but that comes at a cost. If City were hot on their heels, we wouldnt have witnessed them defeated by Stoke, or beaten at West Ham or struggling against QPR. And its these individual matches, rather than the league table, that provides entertainment. In truth, football supporters probably place too much emphasis on the league table when considering the quality of any particular season. The table is the structure that provides platform and meaning to individual games, but individual games of football can be considered an end in themselves, too. It would be even more enjoyable, of course, if Chelsea were contributing to the unpredictability by dropping points themselves, creating a compact league with no obvious favourite (and perhaps making plucky underdogs Southampton top), but its tough not to admire the football being played by Mourinhos side. If there is to be an utterly dominant league winner, then this Chelsea deserve it: The creativity of Oscar and Cesc Fabregas, combined with the trickery of Eden Hazard and the muscle of Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa, is creating a thrillingly attack-minded side, significantly more entertaining than Mourinhos previous Chelsea team. Perhaps we need to accept Chelsea will win the league easily and concentrate our attention elsewhere. Rightly or wrongly, the race for the Champions League places has become almost as important as the title race itself; this seasons scrap could be more entertaining than ever. Whereas the 2004-09 period saw the big four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool) dominating these places with ease, now its a more open battle. At the start of the season, it seemed to be a race between seven sides, including Man City, Tottenham and Everton, but now Southampton are in the mix, too -- and better placed than those three. This Sundays two televised games, Southampton vs. Manchester City and Tottenham vs. Everton, should be great. Its not a Grand Slam Sunday per se, but its second vs. third and 10th vs. ninth -- and four sides that play open, entertaining football. Does the fact Chelsea are seemingly unassailable mean anyone will enjoy the games any less? Judge the season from the league table alone, and its been a shocker. Judge it by the entertainment value of the matches youve watched, and its been great. In that sense, to paraphrase an old football cliché: Sometimes the league table does lie
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:16:48 +0000
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