A Stark Reminder If Ever One Was Needed

Following the results on Sunday you would have been forgiven for thinking the title race was over.

Manchester United opened an 8 point lead at the top of the table following a win over QPR, whilst City lost at the Emirates and with the nonsense involving Mario Balotelli looking like a disruptive force, we were smiling.

Fast forward a few days and the with United going down to Wigan in a largely toothless performance and City running rampant against West Brom, the title race is well and truly on.

Complacency is something that can affect ANY team and just because we have been at this stage so many times before, it doesn’t mean we don’t have to guard against it.

We too are guilty of it as yesterday when putting out the team sheet we took for granted that the fact that a Wigan side, fighting for their safety, would bring as much to the table as they did. It was easy to assume that United would win the game and have duly been left with the proverbial egg on our faces.

When looking at our remaining fixtures this was not one where I envisaged us slipping up, so it just goes to show that we must take every game for a cup final as Rio Ferdinand stated back at the start of March.

There are, for me, tougher games to come than a trip to Wigan but whilst still there, the margin for error is smaller.

Ryan Giggs has sounded the battle cry, as a senior player demanding a response from his team mates on MUTV:

“We just didn’t keep the ball like Manchester United usually do. I think we only had one or two shots on goal and that’s also disappointing, so we have to look at the game and work on it and get ready for Sunday.”

Lets hope the team heed his words as Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on Sunday.

With 5 games to go and a 5 point advantage, it is still United’s to lose but wake up calls like yesterday will be available any time we decide to switch off.