Focal Point

Following Lous Van Gaal's moving and thoroughly entertaining end-of-season speech, many United faithfull supporters were left in upbeat spirits about future prospects under the Dutchman, but has the team's performance all seaso n long been enough to rattle nerves? After 13 games, United were wallowing in unfamiliar territories with a meagre return of 10 points, despite a formidable outfit that included record signing and the previous season's Champions League winner Angel Di Maria, the prolific Robin Van Persie and the industrious Wayne Rooney. Despite this shaky start, United picked up pace to go on a seven consecutive winning streak that restored some much needed belief in a place bereft of it. But there was a tiny problem, just a pinch-in-the- ass problem- United's performance in these games was wanting, so much so that it even left some fans displeased and visibly agitated. Sure they were winning but there felt something missing- that conviction of a United team s...

Call them boring . Call them unlovable . Call them gruff and ugly . Call them the bus . Hurl at them a tirade of insults from the darkest murks of human thoughts . Then after that, call them EPL champions . There was a presage to all this, and its amazing how we either totally missed it or blatantly ignored the signs. The writing was on the wall when Chelsea went fourteen games unbeaten, an exploit that helped them solidate their place at the top despite some lethargic showing in 2015. Marquee signings of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa quickly settled in, running rings around helpless and countless defenders and its obvious that they, alongside the mercurial Eden Hazard were and will be in coming times the vertabral point of Chelsea's success. All this happened while teams like Manchster United and Liverpool still tried to come to cognizant with this thing called winning.  Following the implosion of Man City in 2015, the only team that had shown glimpses of matching Chelsea, it wa...