Three months is not a long time, not a short time.

From the end of September to the end of December, for many, this is just a flash of time, but for the Europa League, these three months are already equivalent to half a season.

On 26 December, Manchester City, who had just spent Christmas, welcomed their first opponent in the Christmas schedule, West Bromwich Albion, and finally, Manchester City, who had won six in a row, beat their opponents 3-1 on the road to extend their winning streak to seven, and with this victory, Manchester City is once again close to the leaders Chelsea.

Yes, the first half of the league is coming to an end, and as Mourinho said when he was drinking with Linson, his Chelsea are still leading the Premier League without suspense. With the exception of Manchester City, who are still barely able to bite Chelsea in the table, Manchester United in third place has been thrown away by Chelsea by double digits, followed by fourth and fifth, two surprising teams, Southampton and West Ham, which are 13 and 14 points behind Chelsea respectively, while traditional giants Arsenal and Liverpool are sixth and ninth respectively.

The "degeneration" of the two traditional giants has made the current Premier League table an atypical Premier League table, however, there is an inescapable fact that such an atypical table is likely to continue, and not only for more than one season, until it eventually becomes the new "typical" Premier League leaderboard.

And the reason why this situation occurs is naturally not accidental, in the final analysis, it is still a money word.

Prestige is certainly an important expression for the team to attract players, but the most important criterion for attracting players is the treatment, to put it bluntly, money. And now, as the world's most commercially successful football league, the Premier League is not only getting bigger and bigger in the biggest piece of the pie of TV broadcast revenue. And in terms of distribution, it is also obviously better than other leagues, adhering to the distribution scheme based on collectivist fairness, although it "exploits" the share of traditional giants, but the entire league benefits, which naturally improves the visibility of the entire league, and of course, also makes the competition in the Premier League more intense.

In the past summer transfer period, there were 12 teams in the entire Premier League that spent more than $30 million on transfers, and only three teams spent less than $10 million. Such a situation is almost unthinkable in other leagues where small teams are in danger of bankruptcy at every turn, but in the Premier League, this is already a reality.

In the future Premier League, perhaps the traditional giants may still be the favorites to compete for the championship by virtue of their own background to the attraction of stars, however, other teams will no longer be the "fish on the board" in the eyes of the giants, as long as there are so many dark horses every season. It is enough to break the monopoly of traditional giants on European qualifications.

Straight to the point. Chelsea's results still prove that Mourinho's confidence in front of Linson is not empty words, however, he has another "expectation". I'm afraid it's going to fail.

Of course, this is not to say that Manuel Pellegrini is in charge.

Manchester City are good in the league and this is Pellegrini's biggest talisman at the moment, however. There are still many media outlets that have begun to arrange for Pellegrini's position.

Pellegrini is most criticized for his cup results.

First of all, in the Champions League, Pellegrini still did not lead the team to give a convincing performance. In the group stage, Manchester City, who won one in the first five games, drew two and lost two losses, was only in second place by virtue of goal difference, and in the final round, they had to face Roma who were competing with themselves for the right to qualify.

European competition is unfavorable, at home Pellegrini is still not convincing, although in the English League Cup has always been not valued by the giants, but that does not mean that you can lose the game at will, especially the situation is not good Pellegrini, two goals at home to Newcastle, stopped the League Cup round of 16, after this game, the house leak coincided with the overnight rain Pellegrini suffered fierce criticism.

Interestingly, in the most difficult time for Pellegrini, the first person to stand up for him was none other than the "replacement" that the media speculated the most, Lin Sen.

Of course, this is not that Lin Sen has nothing to do, as the manager of the club, he must make a statement on this, especially when it is impossible to avoid questions from reporters, obviously, at this time, whether it is silence or vagueness, it can actually be regarded as a distrust of Pellegrini, so Lin Sen must give his attitude, whether it is on his own behalf or on behalf of the club.

Fortunately, Manuel Pellegrini was also a bit of a competitive, and after Linsen's statement, he led his team to a two-goal away win over Roma in Italy, which was considered a thrilling exit from the group of death, and then he gave Manchester City the longest winning streak of the season in the league......

Although it is not a three-line parallel, it is still a two-line parallel.

For Manuel Pellegrini, this certainly doesn't mean he's at ease, after all, the end of the season is the real "moment of reckoning" compared to these crises. But for now, at least, the position under his ass is safe for the time being.

And now, the winter transfer is just around the corner.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, Tang Hua raised his hands high on the sidelines.

It was a replay in the second round of the FA Cup.

The match was played by Cambridge United and Mansfield, both from League Two.

Compared to the League Cup, which is limited to teams that qualify for the English Professional League, the FA Cup, which can be played as long as you are registered with the FA, is undoubtedly easier for teams in League Two to make a breakthrough due to the large number of teams participating in the competition, and the high-level teams do not participate in the first few rounds.

And, if it weren't for a bit of bad luck, Cambridge United almost did not get a big upset in the first round of the Carabao Cup, facing Birmingham City, who came from the Championship and a few previous seasons in the Premier League, and Cambridge United played 1-1 in 90 minutes before losing in extra-time.

And in the FA Cup, just now, Cambridge United qualified for the third round.

The process is also not easy, this is a rematch, which naturally means that the two sides have played a game before, if you add the duel in the league, this game just now, it is the third time that Cambridge United has met each other, three meetings, Cambridge United has one win, one draw and one loss, the loss is the league game, and the draw is the game of today's rematch.

Thankfully, Cambridge United won the most important meeting.

At least, in the eyes of Cambridge United's hierarchy, this is the most important game, especially with the Carabao Cup already out.

The League Cup is known as a poor man's cup, the FA Cup is much more important in the eyes of many people, but for the lower teams, it doesn't make much difference, the players compete for honours, the manager wants results, and for clubs, they have a much simpler idea of this type of competition, which is money.

Because in addition to the bonus of promotion, every promotion means that the probability of facing a high-level team is a little higher, which is certainly not a good thing for teams that intend to go further, but don't forget that high-level teams mean "high" income. If you're lucky enough to draw a big team, it's pie in the sky. For the big teams, the ticket revenue of a match day may not be nothing, but for the lower teams, just a share is equivalent to a "huge amount of money" for them.

Of course, Tang Hua, who worked in an accounting firm, could not have known what the club owner had to think about the FA Cup, but now, he didn't think so much, and advancing to the third round of the FA Cup meant that Cambridge United might meet a Premier League team next, but on the other hand, it only meant that Cambridge United became one of the remaining 64 teams in this competition.

As for which team will be played next, whether it will be a big team or a weak team, it is just a matter of probability, or luck.

It's just that in any case, one thing is certain, that is, Tang Hua, who finally let Cambridge United finally get on the right track, definitely doesn't want the team to end the cup journey with a heavy defeat, although compared to before, if he is eliminated at this time, he seems to be able to find a lot of objective excuses.

Now, 21 rounds of League Two have passed, and nearly half of the schedule has passed.

Cambridge United's results are 7 wins, 6 draws, 8 losses and 27 points, currently ranked 13th in League Two, a ranking that is not auspicious in the West, however, considering the eight defeats in this result, five of which were won in the first eight rounds, it is not difficult to see that after that, Cambridge United's results are actually not bad, at least, they are on the rise.

Tang Hua is very stubborn, but he is not an immutable nerd, after talking to Lin Sen, he quickly made a change, that is, to change to defensive football, this change is obviously not pleasing among fans, Cambridge United was originally a team that has just come from amateur to professional, it is right to have a dream, but in the end, not many fans really think that Cambridge United can be promoted, and then go all the way to the Premier League, so, the team plays well, it is still a big standard for them to watch the game, because of this, This change once made Tang Hua's situation more difficult.

But soon, the real change brought about by this change changed one thing, and that was the improvement of grades.

Nothing is more important to a manager than that.

Tang Hua has now gradually gained a firm foothold in Cambridge United, anyway, there are no reporters who come to ask some strange questions twice in three days, and he is gradually accepted by Cambridge United fans.

All of them are developing in a good direction.

Upcoming winter transfers? Tang Hua naturally will not say that there is no need to adjust at all, Cambridge United also has all kinds of problems, and there are also positions that need to be strengthened, but now, the current situation of the club is like this, Tang Hua must also accept the reality.

That is, a winter transfer, just take a look. (To be continued......)