The Frustrated Fans of That Other Four

In recent months Tottenham have reduced an 18 point lead down to a 3 point cushion.  At the same time the chasing pack for a Top Four place in the Premier League have not taken advantage of the sheer amount of Tottenham slip ups.  Arsenal have lost three straight games.  Chelsea have drawn 1 game and lost the last two.  Manchester United who seemed to have found their momentum have lost it as fast as they found it. 

Together Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are frustrating their fans to the nth degree with a consistent drop off in performance and awful results.  Meanwhile the top two teams Liverpool and Manchester City are matching each other week to week which is what great teams should be doing and they are excelling beyond what most of us would expect great teams to do.

If Manchester City get past ex-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers own recently revitalized team at Leicester, then they have to beat the hapless relegation contenders from Brighton, who are only going down if the other hapless relegation contenders Cardiff City also continue to fail to capitalize on Brighton's far worse end of season form.  Those two wins for Manchester City will mean that even as Liverpool keep on being near perfect, they will retain their own league title.

It is amazing to think that but for one defeat in the season against Manchester City, Liverpool would be playing the next two games to equal the incredible record of the Invincible - that famous Arsenal team managed by Arsene Wenger who went through an entire season without being beaten.  Then one has to consider how Liverpool might go through an entire season having lost only once, are to finish 2nd place to Manchester City who have lost four times this season.

At the same time if the two ex-Liverpool managers show some old Anfield love, then the title could be heading towards Liverpool.  Then again, if those two ex-Liverpool managers don't do a favour to Liverpool, Manchester City will be crowned champions on the day Rafa Benitez ( a Liverpool managerial legend) and his Newcastle United team beat Liverpool and Rodgers fails to pick up points against Manchester City.  That would be a most ironic situation indeed if that happened.

At the same time, Tottenham must be wondering how a team that has so far lost 12 times this season is still a favorite to take one of the two remaining Champion League places.  Moreover how Chelsea, whose manager has been criticized all year long for his team selection and for playing a fan frustrating game called "Sari Ball" may still end up finishing 4th.  The joke in Sevilla is that this Spanish team is asking for a Top 4 slot from Britain if those Brit teams are not interested !

Tottenham in the meantime have been warned by sub striker Fernando Llorente to buck up their ideas and not play like have done against West Ham in their 1-0 loss, in the next match against Ajax Amsterdam.   His reputation is that he is the only Tottenham player to have played in a prior Champions League match, but what he fails to consider is that if he continues to wait for Tottenham players to cross the ball to him so he can simply head the ball in, he is the problem !

It is like saying that Fernando Llorente's opinion counts because like Hugo Lloris he is a World Cup winner, but unlike Lloris he never played in the final for Spain, and instead earned his World Cup medal for a 30 minute appearance in a Quarter-Final 1-0 win against Portugal.  Unlike Harry Kane, he does not create inch perfect passes for his team, nor hustle in the midfield and make a big difference, or help the team play at breakneck speed. 

Tottenham in that respect are frustrating their fans more to do with major injuries to the players that make a difference to the squad.  If Ajax thrash Tottenham in their two game semi-final, it will not be because they played them like they played West Ham, but because injuries have let players in like Llorente who slow their game down, who are missing players who can hold the ball and be the catalysts for the fast players, of which one is suspended on Tuesday.

If there is a race for the Top 4, then that race is for the team that is frustrating their fans the least.  Tottenham are winning that race for the simple reason that the other three teams are frustrating their fans far more.  If anything Arsenal are the real champions of fan frustration.   Their three successive defeats were all against teams not in the Top 6 and had they held form, it is they who were looking like a possible 3rd place finisher, with Tottenham 4th. 

Manchester United gave their fans a false dawn when after 14 games of the caretaker manager's reign, they had an incredible 82% win ratio.  Since being appointed the manager officially, United have come down to Earth with a bump and so has the fan frustration with them.   Yet that 82% win ratio means that they still have an outside shot at a 4th place finish simply if Chelsea and Arsenal continue frustrating their fans.

It is not expected that Tottenham will lose against Bournemouth and even two draws may be enough for Spurs to qualify for the Champions league, but a win against Bournemouth will do the trick, even though it is a game sandwiched between the Champions League semi-final against Ajax.  For sure that semi-final is the biggest game for Tottenham in 57 years bar playing in the final, but not finishing in a Top 4 and being out of the Champions League is the nightmare.