Moyes is gone, is Sherwood the next?

So there goes David Moyes, finally. The fact that United could not wait for another month to part way with the Chosen One shows the intolerance of the Board towards Moyes' performance. Opinions are divided between whether he deserves more time. One thing for certain is another man in a similar situation seems destined to depart as well.

Tim Sherwood was picked to inherit Andre Villas-Boas late last year. Although never being envisioned as the long-term solution, he was still given a 18-month contract, having explicitly stated his desire to stay. The deal appeared to pay off initially, with the backing of a revived Emmanuel Adebayor. However, a horrid run of results against top teams have relegated Tottenham back to the race for Europa and have unsettled the dressing room that seems gone out of Sherwood's control.

There are a number of similarities between the two managers. Somehow, they have got the best out of their best strikers. Wayne Rooney has chosen to stay, either because of his admiration towards Moyes or the payroll, while Adebayor was rediscovered among the reserves and U18 squad. Regardless of the reason that he was neglected, his 10 goals has fully repaid the faith of Sherwood towards himself.

Sherwood's affinity with young players have led to the emergence of some promising talents amidst the turbulent season, which is comparable to Moyes' introduction of Adnan Januzaj at Old Trafford. Having not represented the senior team before this season, Nabil Bentaleb has quickly become Sherwood's favourite, with his all-rounded mentality and techniques anchoring him as one of the two central midfielders in Sherwood's 4-4-2 setup. Another youngster Harry Kane also benefits from the departure of Jermain Defoe and sees his confidence growing with more playing time, bagging his first ever Premier League goal for Tottenham.

Bentaleb's breakout season

However, the tactical side of Sherwood has let Tottenham down. He restores the "old school" 4-4-2 formation, which at times enables Spurs to dominate weaker teams with extra man in the box. On the other hand, it makes them vulnerable against stronger sides with a man short in the midfield. Possession game is all modern football is about, but Sherwood has yet to understand this.

Moyes could blame the lack of recruitment of midfielders. For Sherwood, he purely fails to find the a pair that works. He favours all-rounded midfielders thus often pairs up Dembele and Bentaleb.  Sherwood still started Sandro at Stamford Bridge hoping for some solidity. It didn't work well that sees Sandro being relegated to the bench then, but Sherwood never realised fielding two unfit right backs on the right flanks was the main reason why they were demolished.

Will he get one more chance?

Sherwood resumed the partnership of the two left-footers, although they are too similar in style, both prefers ball at feet and more inclined to attack, leaving the defence well exposed. They got away behind Christian Eriksen's brilliance at home against Southampton. A week later, Sherwood even replaced Dembele with attacking playmaker Sigurdsson at Anfield. Was it of any surprise when they got hammered? Not really.

Tim Sherwood did not have a summer to shape his squad, nor have the luxury to spend more in January. With Tottenham still manages at sixth position, one could argue the former Spurs player deserves more time. The truth is Daniel Levy does not have the patience to wait and Sherwood fails to prove himself as the one to bring Champions League to White Hart Lane again. Two more games to go and Tottenham looks ready to welcome another chief in charge.

Arsenal can still finish fourth

When titles have become such a luxury, consecutive seasons of Champions League qualification is the sole moment of glory for Arsene Wenger. Nevertheless, another disastrous performance away from home put their hope for top four, so as Wenger's prospect at the club, in serious doubt.

It was their fourth defeat in their last five away games, which they conceded fifteen goals and only scored two. It was also the sixth out of last seven games that they failed to keep a clean sheet. Down this poor stretch, their only victory was the narrow win at White Hart Lane.

The resilience in defence shown against Manchester City was vanished. Everton's attack, fuelled by the speed of fullbacks Seamus Coleman, Leighton Baines and winger Kevin Mirallas, has torn the Gunners' defence apart. Although Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker remained relatively deep, Romelu Lukaku is a beast who requires more attention than Edin Dzeko. While they managed to keep the slower and more compact attack of Manchester City in check, Everton beat them with width and pace.

With a game in hand, mathematically Roberto Martinez's side has the advantage over Arsenal in the race for fourth. However, Gunners' supporters still have solid reasons to believe it will be their 17th season in a row to qualify for the Champions League.

Both Walcott and Ramsey were out injured

February and March have traditionally been the nightmare months for Arsenal, when injuries and fatigues are their biggest enemies. It is the same old story this year. Three of their best players in 2013 could not bring their forms into 2014. Aaron Ramsey went down in Boxing Day and suffered couple of injury setbacks. Olivier Giroud was simply burnt out as Wenger is short of options on the bench. Mehmet Ozil's impressive Premier League debut gradually fades away amidst the congested fixtures and ultimately is sent to the treatment room. What made the situation worse was Theo Walcott's lengthy absence since early January. 

However, don't forget another Gunners' tradition though --- they have the ability to finish the season on a high. The importance of Champions League football is well-understood in the dressing room and Wenger can inspire his side to recover from the poor run mid-season and hold off the challenge, recently by Tottenham, to secure the fourth spot by one point in the past two seasons. The remaining fixtures are as well quite favourable to Arsenal, with the majority of games at home and against teams with limited relegation threat.

On the other hand, the two Manchester giants are yet to line up at Goodison Park and the trips to Southampton and Sunderland are awaiting for the Toffees. The risk of dropping points is apparently higher than Arsenal.

Arsenal is also a far more superior side against weaker teams than top teams. The talent and creativity of their midfield enables them to disjoint opponents backline with the free-flowing attack. Having been able to dominate possession also eases pressure on their defence, who shows solidity but occasionally looks fragile against speedy strikers.

Lukaku is the key to Everton

Everton is at their best when playing counter-attack football. No wonder their records against top teams have been remarkable. On contrast, they sometimes struggle against teams who are determined to earn a draw, in particular when playing away from home. Points have already been dropped at Norwich, Cardiff, Crystal Palace, Stoke City and West Brom. Having Lukaku back healthy is a huge boost, but not known as a natural-attacking team, bagging three points could be a tougher task than imagined.

Everything appears to be flowing in the opposite direction for Arsenal at the moment. However, the talents and experience within the squad, as well as the favourable schedule ahead, they still have a good chance to come on top of Everton to grab the remaining Champions League spot. 

Munich got the upperhand with a draw at Old Trafford

It is not too bad a result for David Moyes, considering the superiority of Pep Guardiola's side this season. The away goal, though, puts them in the position having to hunt for a goal at the Allianz Arena next week. A couple of points worth noting from the first leg:

(a) Welbeck's shyness in front of goal

His movement was so delightful, yet his finishing was so awful. After half an hour of tough defensive work, Danny Welbeck ruined a golden chance to give his team a significant morale boost. Captain Nemanja Vidic ultimately netted a well-deserved goal, but doubts remain with Welbeck who shows glimpse of talents but have also been consistently wasteful in front of goals. In the highest level of football, there is little margin for missed opportunities. This is also the key how Welbeck is differentiated from world class strikers.

While Manchester United pray his miss will not come back to haunt them, Moyes' continuous isolation of Javier Hernandez is growingly hard to justify. The Mexican's clinical finishing touch has been invaluable to United and makes him too good as a fourth-choice striker. Giving him this bit-part role only keeps him unsettled and unfit that does no benefit to Moyes at all.

The way to stop Schweinsteiger --- suspension

(b) Pep's suspension worries 

One of the talking points of the night would surely be Bastian Schweinsteiger's red card. Obviously, Wayne Rooney tried his best to make the most out of a routine challenge, a minute after fierce complaint to the referee for an unawarded foul, and only shortly after Antonio Valencia reckless tackle. Schweinsteiger was unlucky to be sent off, although he should be more careful after being booked, considering his significance to the team. With Thiago Alcantara out due to injury and Javi Martinez also being suspended following a cynical foul on Chicharito, Guardiola might be forced to field a more attacking midfield trio, featuring both Kroos and Gotze, and supported by Philipp Lahm.

The last time they played a similar formation in European was against Manchester City, which they lost after leading by 2-0. Bayern doesn't play important games without captain Schweinsteiger often. There will surely be loopholes and it will be up to Moyes to exploit them. One positive note for Pep would be Dante's return from suspension, such that he could still field a reliable back four.

(c) Moyes is more comfortable to defend

When it was quite clear that United, as an underdog entering the match, needed to defend, there was neither confusion nor mysterious selections in Moyes' game plan. The experienced pair Rio Ferdinand and Vidic was accompanied by Phil Jones and Alex Buttner who had orders to be less adventurous. Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini were also allowed to drop so deep to contain Toni Kroos in between the lines, with the willingness of the attacking trio to track back. Eventually, Bayern could only threaten the Red Devils with crosses, which gave little problems to Ferdinand and Vidic, who are still relatively comfortable in aerial battles, especially against Thomas Muller.

Vidic's aerobic header

Nevertheless, only one moment of lapse in Rio's concentration gifted substitute Mario Mandzukic the chance to set up the equaliser. Rio's fitness remains a concern whether he could sustain a high level of performance even for just 90 minutes. After all, Moyes might still go with his experience when playing at Germany next week, especially with Rafael, Johnny Evans and Chris Smalling far from fully fit.

Buttner was also forced off due to injury, but United will have Patrice Evra returning from suspension. Anyhow, the Netherland's left back deserved a huge credit for keeping his companion Robben quiet for most of the night and could be the unsung hero if Manchester United manages to go through to the last four.