WHAT I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of the away
dressing room at Stamford Bridge if Chelsea have nicked the point
they need to clinch their second successive Premiership title a
week tomorrow.
I'm thinking in particular now of Gary Neville. I can just picture
him sitting there like the end of the world is nigh. Head in hands.
Shirt already ripped off and thrown in the corner. Face like a bag
of spanners. Cursing the day Roman Abramovich touched down in
London.
Well come on, let's be honest. Not the best of losers is our Gary.
And I'll wager he will be sick as the proverbial parrot if he and
his United team-mates can't at least delay Chelsea's title
celebrations on their visit to the west end of the giant ashtray
that passes as our capital city.
But if that scenario does unfold, I've got a message for Master
Neville. No. More of a prediction than a message.
Take it on the chin, Gary. Pop into the Chelsea dressing room and
shake the hand of every one of Mourinho's players. Because in 12
month's time the boot will be on the other foot.
You, Gary Neville, will have the championship trophy in your hands
as United's skipper. And that "decade" of dominance predicted by
Abramovich's mouthpiece Peter Kenyon will have lasted for just two
years.
How can I be so certain of that? Because the league table never
lies. The best team over the course of a season will land the
Premiership title.
Deserved
And over the course of this season Chelsea have been the best team
because their match statistics tell us so. Let's not begrudge them
their moment, they've deserved it.
But next season, I'm utterly convinced, will be different. The
power base of English football will return to Old Trafford. Sir
Alex Ferguson's team next season will be better than
Mourinho's.
And, as I have mentioned already, the best team always - but always
- ends up wearing the championship crown.
The signs of United's resurgence are already there for all to see.
Thirty-one points out of a maximum 33 from their last 11 matches.
Tradition has been maintained. The longer the season wears on, the
stronger Fergie's sides become.
Had that surge started six weeks earlier this season, it's my
belief that the championship trophy would already be destined for
the Old Trafford sideboard.
Compare the Chelsea and United teams compartment by compartment.
Would you swap Fergie's defence for Mourinho's? I certainly
wouldn't. Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown. Dependability in
the first. Sheer football ability in the second and a born defender
in the third.
And what about the new kid on the block Nemanja Vidic? He looks to
me like he would trample his granny into the mud to get at the
ball. He scares me watching him on the telly. Just what the Reds
needed at the back.
And don't let's forget that the excellent Gabriel Heinze will be
fit and raring to go at the start of next season. Yep, I would take
Fergie's defence ahead of Mourinho's any day of the week.
Let's switch up front. Which of the two teams can boast the most
firepower? No contest. United win that one hands down. Cristiano
Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha. Wouldn't
Mourinho just love to get his hands on that quartet? Chelsea would
be unstoppable with a strike force like that. Just goes to show,
Jose. Money can't buy you everything in this world.
Rivals
Now we come to the one department where Chelsea have had the edge
this season, midfield. And if you are looking for the reason why
the title has been won and lost then, in my book, you will find the
answer in the differing engine rooms of the two Premiership
rivals.
You can argue until you are blue in the face about the rights and
wrongs of Roy Keane's departure from Old Trafford. What cannot be
argued is that Keane's sheer presence and influence over the
players around him have been badly missed. And to add to Fergie's
problems in midfield he's been without the creativity of Paul
Scholes throughout the entire second half of the campaign.
Mourinho has had no such midfield problems. For Keane you can read
Claude Makelele. For Scholes you can read Frank Lampard. That, to
my mind, has been the difference between Chelsea and United this
season.
But Fergie, I'll guarantee, will address and remedy that midfield
problem before the start of next season. He is already halfway
towards finding the solution following the welcome news that
Scholes is now well on the way to recovering from the blurred
vision complaint which effectively ended his season in
December.
Pervesely, that enforced break may prove to be just what the doctor
ordered for the little ginger genius. He will have something to
prove when he regains his first-team spurs at the start of next
season and a fit and eager Scholes would be a major asset to any
Premiership team.
And make no mistake about it, when domestic hostilities resume in
August, Sir Taggart will have a new midfield enforcer in his
line-up. I could name a dozen such players who would fit the bill
but that would be pointless. Only Fergie knows who he wants - and
he isn't saying.
So have a great championship party, you Chelsea lads. And while you
are at it, take a long, lingering look at that piece of gleaming
silverware. Because it's the last you are going to see of it for
quite some time.
So, Master Neville. Don't feel suicidal if you fail to prevent the
Londoners from clinching the title a week tomorrow.
Everything comes to he who waits. And I've the strongest of
feelings that you will have to wait for only 12 months before
joining that happy band of Manchester United captains who have had
the honour of holding aloft a championship trophy.
Do you agree? Have your say.
