‘Ah, the good old days…’
The state of English Premier League (EPL) giants Manchester United (Man Utd) and Chelsea is beyond words. They struggled in the EPL at the start of this season, dropping to 8th and 10th place. It’s no wonder they’ve been criticized for their basic league performance. They didn’t even make it into the top 20 in Opta’s power rankings of world soccer teams. They’ve been humiliated.
Man United and Chelsea were ranked 21st and 30th in the power rankings released by Opta on Sept. 24 (KST). This is a far cry from their past dominance of Europe, when they were ranked at the top of various power rankings. Manchester United earned 90.2 points, followed by Chelsea with 88.3 points. They are far behind Manchester City and Liverpool, who have 100 and 95.7 points, respectively.
They’re not even close to the EPL teams, let alone the big European clubs. Manchester United is ranked 7th in the EPL and Chelsea is ranked 10th. Man City (1st), Liverpool (2nd), Arsenal (5th), Newcastle United (8th), Tottenham Hotspur (12th), and Aston Villa (16th) are completely behind them. Brighton & Hove Albion (22nd) and West Ham United (25th) rounded out the list.
Both teams have bounced back in the league recently. United won both the eighth and ninth rounds of the EPL. They beat Brentford 2-1 at home and Sheffield United 2-1 on the road. Chelsea are unbeaten in their last three league games with two wins and a draw. They defeated Fulham 2-0 on the road in Round 7 and then thrashed Burnley 4-1 away in Round 8. They drew 2-2 at home with Arsenal in the ninth round.
Gone are the days of the mid-to-late 2000s when the club was a two-powerhouse, contending for the EPL title and doing well in the UEFA Champions 안전놀이터 League. They’re getting better, but they’re still not what they used to be. They have an unstable offensive balance and a lot of injuries. First of all, they need to play better than they have been in order to make the leap to the upper half of the league.