Away day blues are a worry
I say that, you don’t instantly think the form of champions or the form of Manchester United but it’s a sad reality. This season we have dropped points against both Fulham and Everton away from home from strong positions whilst today was a weird game in that Bolton took the lead twice and we had to claw back a draw in a game where very few players can say they played well.
In the previous 3 seasons, the most games we have drawn away from home is 5 in 07/08 and even though we went on to win the league that season it is slightly worrying that we are 3/5s of the way there and it is still September. Be under no illusion Craven Cottage, Goodison Park and the Reebok Stadium are not easy places to travel to but the manner in which we have dropped these points are worrying.
At home we have been imperious taking 9 points, scoring 9 goals are scoring 2 (both of these coming from set pieces against Liverpool) and this is to be expected. Our away form is normally good, finishing in the top 3 in terms of away form for each of the past 3 seasons too so this has come as quite a shock. Obviously it is early on in the season so no need to panic but good away form is essential to any title challenge.
I don’t think it’s a case of saying we have a problem on the road, it is more that we are suffering due to the defensive errors that are happening both home and away and if we can cut those out then we will find ourselves in better stead to challenge Chelsea and regain our title. Our next 3 away games are Stoke, Sunderland and Man City and whilst not impossible it looks like we will face a hard task in improving our away form against three hard teams.
The cliché goes there are no easy games in the league but I beg to differ. Although teams have gotten harder to beat both home and away, the games we have dropped points in are games we have made hard for ourselves. Hopefully with the return to fitness of Rio Ferdinand at the back we can have a solid base from which we can build from and set about a return to winning on the road.