"How dare you write us off?"
Image retrieved from sporten.tv2.dk
I was browsing the net, reading the different football news and other stuff when I stumbled upon this article from the Daily Mail UK. It seems betting agency Paddy Power has decided to pay out bettors who placed their money on United winning the league. A Paddy Power spokesperson told the Daily Mail, "The fat lady might not be singing yet but she’s definitely getting warmed up. We can’t see United letting their lead slip and, with Real Madrid to come midweek, we thought we’d take some of the pressure off Fergie and give punters an early payday."
With twelve games to go, United's race for their 20th league title certainly isn't over yet. Red fans like me can certainly never forget last season, when United dropped a seven point lead and lost the title to noisy neighbors Manchester City on the last seconds of the season. It's simply precarious to be complacent at this stage.
Then again, twelve points is still twelve points, and that margin will certainly bring some comfort to Sir Alex Ferguson, who played a full-strength team against Everton last Sunday despite a midweek Champions League clash against Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Manchester United are twelve points clear at the top of the table
Image retrieved from the Manchester United Official Facebook Page
I can still vividly recall my annoyance last August. Like every other football fan, I hungered for the English football season to return. Euro 2012 had ended two months prior and the Olympics was nothing more than a blip. Without those two, a fan satisfied his football cravings by reading new on the latest transfers as well as the predictions for the upcoming season.
Pretty much everyone wrote United off during pre-season. The Guardian UK had United at only 36% (13/5) to win the title. ESPN's Roger Bennett predicted United will struggle to finish third. Phil McNulty of BBC predicted United may win a trophy, but it certainly won't be the League title or even the Champions League. And then there was FIFA 13's engine, which predicted that Manchester United will end up in second, six points adrift of City.
Yet now, with a little more than twelve games left, Manchester United pretty much took a stranglehold at the top of the table.
The team cannot afford complacency now, more than ever. The pain of last season is a scarring reminder of that. But to those who wrote United off before the season began, then you must realize United is a team that you simply never neglect. The Reds will march on, and possibly, this time, ever closer towards the 20th title.
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