Chapter 51: The Premier League in Troubled Times

The 2015-16 Premier League season has been portrayed by some as an unthinkable one in which all order has been completely disrupted. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 However, in the eyes of a handful of football pundits, the only major dislocation in the Premier League this season compared to last season has been the swapping of places between Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea at the top of the table.

In addition, Sunderland and Villa, which are expected to be relegated teams, continue to struggle at the bottom of the Premier League, while Arsenal and Manchester City, the traditional top four in the Premier League, continue to compete at the top of the standings, but Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur can reach the top 4 of the Premier League, which is somewhat due to the weakness of Manchester United and Arsenal.

As for teams such as Crystal Palace and Watford, which have been hovering in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League for a long time, they have temporarily rushed to the upper middle of the table through the adjustment of the manager and the brilliant performance of individual stars, but they are only a few, and they also need some luck to favor them.

Blackburn's record at the start of the season was smooth sailing, with six consecutive wins in the opening season putting them in a three-legged situation with Manchester United and Manchester City, but then the crisis of the Roses came, and they were lucky enough to draw with Manchester City in the seventh round, which made the outside world question Blackburn's ability to play hard-fought and their true level.

However, before facing Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers collectively reflected, and then the team directly completed the great feat of 11 consecutive wins, breaking the Premier League and Blackburn all-time half-way points record, which also defeated strong opponents such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham, while the team scored 35 goals in 11 consecutive wins, conceded only 4 goals, and only conceded 10 goals in half a season, which is the fewest in the Premier League, showing great dominance.

This season, the Rose Theatre has a slightly higher camera position, and the fans are more open than before, which reflects the beauty of Blackburn's overall attacking football.

Blackburn have scored 54 goals in the first half of the season, the most in the Premier League and even in Europe so far, and their firepower at home is even stronger, with 31 goals in nine wins, an average of 3.4 goals per game.

On the scorers' list, you'll see four Blackburn Rovers finish in the top 10, with Harry Kane with 12, Antoine Griezmann with eight, Gareth Bale with seven and Coutinho with five...... Blackburn Rovers are all part of the team's attack.

So who was the man who transformed Blackburn? Of course, it is "Uncle Scum" Klopp. In the more than two years since Uncle Scum took over Blackburn, he has gradually elevated Blackburn to new heights, especially in attack, and we now see that Blackburn's games can always be maintained at a fast pace, and on this basis, the players are very fluid, and they play the "beautiful football" that Klopp wants.

Let's review what Uncle Scum said when he first took over Blackburn, he felt that the team did not need to spend a lot of money to bring in reinforcements, because Blackburn's young men are very good, and now the young people in Blackburn's front field are thriving under the guidance of Klopp, Griezmann has been reborn after taking on the new position of central midfielder, Harry Kane and Anthony Martial are comfortable in the center forward position, Neymar and Coutinho's talent has been completely stimulated, and the two Brazilian twin stars have been selected by Barcelona, but they have begged for it but cannot get it. And with the addition of Bale and Pogba and other main forces, Blackburn is now full of firepower!

This season is Harry Kane's third season since being promoted to Blackburn's first team, and Harry Kane has been through a lot in the Premier League in the first two years, from the surprise of his fledgling to the dormant of the second year, while some of his actions on the pitch have also put him under constant pressure from the outside world. Harry Kane was told to leave the team at the start of the season, but Jurgen Klopp kept him, and the decision proved to be wise.

So far, Harry Kane has scored 12 goals, plus 5 assists, the important thing is that these 12 goals are evenly distributed, from the first round, Harry Kane has been able to contribute to Blackburn's victory almost all the key goals, 5 of them have been based on his goals, Blackburn can complete the stunner, but also have a key goal like the equalizer against Manchester City, it can be said that Harry Kane is Blackburn's key man.

And from a certain point of view, Griezmann's current form determines the trend of Blackburn. Griezmann's performances were mixed last season, with Blackburn Rovers only finishing second, but this season Griezmann has contributed eight goals and Blackburn are all the way to the title.

In Klopp's 4-2-3-1 system, Griezmann found his glory in the central midfield position, with 8 goals and 6 assists in the half, averaging 2 dribbles, 3.5 shots on goal, 2.6 key passes per game, and participated in almost half of Blackburn's goals. If this momentum continues, his first Premier League MVP may indeed be on the horizon, and his biggest rival for Premier League MVP is his teammate Harry Kane at the moment.

If there is anyone who is the best signing in the Premier League this season, it is N'Golo Kante. After the last game against Stoke City, N'Golo Kante topped the Blackburn squad with 1,183 passes, and Blackburn Rovers deservedly earned the title of metronome.

Other than that, Kante is like a patch for Blackburn, omnipresent and omnipotent. He averaged 3 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 interceptions, 2 clearances, 62 passes, 11.5 kilometers per game, and a pass success rate of 93%.

And who is the Premier League's best defensive player in the half?

Still in the Blackburn squad, but the choice was rather unexpected Azpilicueta.

Many football pundits don't know what position to use for this player, and Azpilicueta's biggest advantage over his rivals Alaba and Bellerin is consistency. With 0 turnovers per game, that's why he's the Premier League's best defensive player at the half.

In the halfway of the Premier League this season, in addition to Blackburn, who has accumulated 55 points and is alone, one of the most powerful teams in the Premier League this season is undoubtedly Leicester City coached by Italian coach Ranieri.

The Blue Foxes were bottom of the table last Christmas, struggling in the relegation zone, but a year later, Leicester finished second in the table, finishing runners-up on goal difference in the final half-game.

All the "experts" who questioned Ranieri at the beginning of the season and predicted that Leicester City would definitely be relegated are no longer silent, and "relegation" is already a joke for Leicester City this season. The question now is, can the Blue Foxes, who have been very strong this season, finally "counterattack" and magically enter the Champions League zone?

Analysing Leicester City's excellent form this season, it is impossible not to mention the team's poor possession. Leicester City have averaged just 43.6 per cent possession per game this season, the third-lowest in the league, with only West Brom and Sunderland worse than Claudio Ranieri's side. However, it is worth noting that Leicester often press back after conceding the ball and press it back. Leicester's midfield has enough 'blue-collars' who can do the dirty work, they are full of energy and defensively aggressive, and they have built a solid defence on the halfway line.

Claudio Ranieri has injected the Italian's counter-attacking philosophy into the team, and Leicester City's incisive counter-attacking style has become a bright sight in the Premier League this season.

Leicester's meteoric meteoric rise was a big surprise, while defending champions Chelsea's free fall was also something fans never expected. Jose Mourinho's side won the Premier League title last season in a devastating manner, but at the start of the season they became a relegation team that was bullied by everyone. At the end of 19 games, Chelsea have only 20 points, just three more than the relegation zone. Stamford Bridge, once unbreakable, has been breached four times in 10 games.

Infighting has become an important reason for Chelsea's depravity, whether the women's team doctor incident has become a fuse or not, it is an indisputable fact that Mourinho has lost control of the dressing room, and many key players in the team can't wait for Mourinho to leave, and Mourinho has also reluctantly said that he has been "sentenced". In such a situation, sacking Mourinho rather than selling half of the team became the only option for owner Abou.

In Mourinho's first game since his departure, Chelsea showed the same kingly demeanor as last season, winning the Black Cat Sacrifice Flag without blood. However, with Guus Hiddink returning to Chelsea, the Blues faced another big problem at home to promoted Watford, relying on a brilliant performance from Diego Costa to pick up a point.

It can be seen that the so-called "inverted" players are not completely unable to contribute in the previous games, and they also have problems with their own form. For Guus Hiddink, qualifying for next season's Champions League has become a huge challenge, and the Blues have a long way to go in the "post-Jose Mourinho era".

After Jose Mourinho's dismissal, most Manchester United fans asked: Why hasn't Louis van Gaal been out of class yet?

The Dutch coach failed to bring Manchester United into the top four last season, qualified for the Champions League, and it was already miraculous that he could stay in his role. This season, the Red Devils briefly climbed to the top of the standings, but because of three consecutive league defeats, they were quickly opened up by their rivals, and the Red Devils only scored 30 points at the halfway point to rank seventh, a full 25 points behind Blackburn!

In order to support Van Gaal, Manchester United's top management has spent huge sums of money in the transfer market in the past two summers that are the envy of all managers, but the hundreds of millions of transfer fees have not brought a real mainstay who has played well, nor has it brought a decent record. Dutch winger Memphis Depay, who dared to wear the No.7 shirt, has been reduced to a joke, and his header clearance error has become a sharp knife for the opponent's goal, and it has been deeply inserted into the sore spot of Van Gaal.

The Red Devils, who once swept the Premier League, suddenly became unable to score, like a beast that has lost its claws and fangs. United have scored just 22 goals in 19 games, the fewest of any of the top eight. On the one hand, United's attackers are generally in poor form, with neither captain Wayne Rooney nor new signing Depay able to shoulder the burden of scoring.

Mourinho has been out of class, will Van Gaal be far away?

With Mourinho's song already ringing at Old Trafford, Van Gaal's days with the Red Devils are also counting down. The Red Devils have a long way to go in their rebuild, and who can really succeed Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola or other world-class managers?

The first half of the Premier League season was chaotic, but it is undeniable that this season of the Premier League is destined to be a season full of surprises and upsets, and the Premier League has been fully reflected in the spectacle and entertainment, and I hope that the second half of the Premier League season will make fans more intoxicated. (To be continued.) )