da aposte e ganhe： The beautiful game has become increasingly obsessed with individuality in recent years, to the extent that the Ballon d’Or now carries almost parallel gravitas to the Champions League title.
da mrbet： That particularly rings true in the Premier League, a division that accelerates its collective spending with every transfer window in a relentless effort to bring big-money superstars to the English game.
But in this season’s title race, the world-class talents at Arsenal and Manchester City are being overshadowed by the team spirit of Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, who rank first and second respectively with just twelve games to go until the medals are handed out.
That’s not to suggest Arsenal and City are completely abhorrent of team spirit and that’s not to suggest City and Spurs are completely absent of superstars.
Nonetheless, it’s dressing room comradery and perfection as a cohesive unit rather than talent on an individual level that has seen Leicester and Spurs perform beyond their means to rise to the Premier League’s summit.
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Arsenal and Manchester City, meanwhile, despite sharing the most talented players on show in the Premier League with the exception of a small rabble of underperforming Chelsea stars, find themselves chasing rather than setting the pace.
Leicester and Spurs’ respective team spirit stems from rather different sources. This Foxes squad has been together for some time – Andy King, for example, represented them back in League One – and their miraculous great escape at the end of last season has inserted a fearlessness into the collective psyche, the idea that they’re capable of anything they put their mind to as long as they stick together.
Spurs, on the other hand, owe their team spirit almost entirely to Mauricio Pochettino, a manager who favours attacking football but insists upon a bedrock of energy, hard work and passion.
We’ve seen countless and arguably more talented Spurs sides wilt at this point in the season before, but the current crop have completely bought into the Argentine’s philosophy and barring the most spectacular of implosions, will be fighting tooth and nail until the very last second of the 2015/16 Premier League season.
Yet, the consequences are almost the same; two sides who play to their strengths, remain irreverent of reputation, possess a penchant for last-minute winners and resultantly perform to a level beyond the sum of all their parts.
Arsenal and Manchester City, despite boasting superior quality in practically every department, just haven’t banded together in the same way this season.
The Citizens have collapsed in almost every major fixture, claiming just two points off the Premier League’s top five, and looked completely devoid of leadership during Vincent Kompany’s prolonged absence through injury.
Arsenal, likewise, despite the assumption of an ever-harmonious dressing room, lack a real driving force. Leicester and Spurs are highly self-motivated, but the Gunners are almost too content with producing moments of attacking brilliance even if it doesn’t translate into brilliant results.
Much of it harks back to the man in the dugout. Wenger and Pellegrini are hardly the most demanding of characters, especially when compared to Pochettino.
But there is a lesson to be learned, about money, reputation and the perception of ‘world-class’, that every Premier League club can learn from – especially with the new £8billion television deal looming in.
Although we’re all obsessed with comparing the quality of individuals, football is a team sport and it’s the two best teams who are currently leading the Premier League title race.
No doubt, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United will be courting the same old names in the summer – Gareth Bale, Paul Pogba, Neymar, Marco Reus, Antoine Griezmann and Mats Hummels to mention a few.
But Leicester and Spurs have proved that superstars aren’t the be all and end all. If you create a team that plays to its strengths, hides its weaknesses, sticks together and never knows when it’s beaten, you can overcome any disparity of quality.
Rather than looking at the most talented and most expensive names they can possibly bring in during the summer to appease disgruntled fan bases, Arsenal, City, Chelsea, and United should be searching for the players and characters who’ll make them a better team.
With so much money at their disposal, however, we look set for another transfer window of record-breaking fees and hollywood arrivals.
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