LvG blamed the congested schedule for the draw against Spurs,...that's laughable coz all teams were subjected to the same 45-48 hours. Utd drew because RvP, Mata & Falcao could not bury clear cut chances...2 chances we had now of reducing the gap with the top 2 gone. Unbelievable that City conceded 2 against Burnley to draw...that's one thing you'll never see Chelsea do.

First half of the season over. Utd have done well considering the numerous injuries especially to the back 4. I hope the second half of the season is different, especially with FA starting in Jan.

Fair assessment below...

http://www.espnfc.com/ma...er-united/story/2180659/

Arsenal is the only big team that won; great team effort. Passing Man U soon!!!

@Smano Now compare Man Utd's assessment to the Arsenal's....

http://www.espnfc.com/cl...642/arsenal-report-card

Hii ni ubaguzi, why should Arsenal get a C yet they also had numerous injuries and still had to contend with CL fixtures. Btw I think its a fallacy to claim that Man Utd have done well but i agree with the fact that they've improved.

"As it is, Van Gaal has certainly improved United noticeably, especially when it comes to results and confidence, but it is hard to imagine that any other manager, with this level of investment, would not have made similar improvements."

How many of those "investments" have played even half of 19 games? That's where the "good" performance comes from. Considering where we finished with Moyes last season, No.3 at the first half is very good by my standards. Remember the target for Man Utd is Top 4, talk of title contention only came up after we won 7 in 8, now 9, and Chelsea and City slipped up marginally.

As for Arsenal, kila team na shida zake...

I envy Chelsea (or their backroom staff to be more precise); Ivanovic, Terry and Cahill have played all games. Azpilicueta has only been reolaced ny Felipe Luis maybe twice. With a regular solid back 4, the title is theirs to lose...

Its been a fantastic first half of the season ofcourse as a Chelsea supporter and i too have been impressed by the way we have dispatched some teams.

City continue to clip at our heels and with the FA and Champions league back later their resolve will be tested and maybe will give us some breathing space.

Man U is an interesting "project" i cant really put a finger as to where they are - they seem to have lots of high's and lows however the fear factor is gone and i do not see them being the dominant team it has been for the last few years, i am certain that boat has sailed away. However they are what i call the boogey top 4 they can indeed win the title when it comes to the latter end of the season with the same advantage Liverpool had (the only reason Liverpool dint win was because City were not in CL at the latter end) IMO