MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER Manuel Pellegrini has questioned Chelsea’s ability to maintain their title challenge and has suggested their form could collapse as quickly as Arsenal’s did last season.
The Gunners led the Premier League for over 120 days in 2013-14 but ultimately finished fourth, 16 points behind City, following a dramatic dip in form in the second half of the season.
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And, having cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table from eight points to three in recent weeks, Pellegrini has suggested that the Blues could fall away in the same manner as Arsene Wenger’s men.
“I think Arsenal last season had a very similar number of points as Chelsea have now. So we’ll see what happens in the second half of the season and how many points you need to win,” the Chilean told reporters.
“Maybe Arsenal last season couldn’t do it in the second half, but we don’t know what Chelsea will do this year. I think that we must try and think about our team and not the others.
“We always believed that we could make up the points, because we had so many games to play.
“You never win a title in December. Maybe you can be the best team and winning all the games, but you don’t know what will happen in the second half of the season.
“So we have a lot of points to fight for. Our team always continues trusting in the way we play and the things we do.
“You maybe remember last season, when we had just five games left and knew that we had to win them? We did it. I don’t know what psychological impact it has on other teams, but in our team we always fight to the end and are never beaten until mathematics say you cannot win.”
Manuel Pelligrini thinks Chelsea could fall away in the title race
MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER Manuel Pellegrini has questioned Chelsea’s ability to maintain their title challenge and has suggested their form could collapse as quickly as Arsenal’s did last season.
The Gunners led the Premier League for over 120 days in 2013-14 but ultimately finished fourth, 16 points behind City, following a dramatic dip in form in the second half of the season.
And, having cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table from eight points to three in recent weeks, Pellegrini has suggested that the Blues could fall away in the same manner as Arsene Wenger’s men.
“I think Arsenal last season had a very similar number of points as Chelsea have now. So we’ll see what happens in the second half of the season and how many points you need to win,” the Chilean told reporters.
“Maybe Arsenal last season couldn’t do it in the second half, but we don’t know what Chelsea will do this year. I think that we must try and think about our team and not the others.
“We always believed that we could make up the points, because we had so many games to play.
“You never win a title in December. Maybe you can be the best team and winning all the games, but you don’t know what will happen in the second half of the season.
“So we have a lot of points to fight for. Our team always continues trusting in the way we play and the things we do.
“You maybe remember last season, when we had just five games left and knew that we had to win them? We did it. I don’t know what psychological impact it has on other teams, but in our team we always fight to the end and are never beaten until mathematics say you cannot win.”
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