A flurry of matches over the festive period currently sees Manchester United sharing top spot with...Manchester City. While City have played more games than the Red Devils, the fact that those slightly bleached smurfs are right under United's noses must be a horrible feeling indeed.
Arsenal, who had a glorious chance to sandwich themselves between the two Manchester rivals, decided that they didn't want to get involved and graciously had one of their defenders score an own goal so they'd be stuck at third. Obviously, eight changes to a team that beat Chelsea was a little overboard. Arsene Wenger may have defended his tinkering, but well, three's a crowd right?
Chelsea have managed to finally, finally stop losing and Carlo Ancelotti can look forward to building on it after an earlier loss to Arsenal. At the same time, Ancelotti can hope that he will not be replaced by his long-lost brother and good friend of the big boss, Guus Hiddink.
Roy Hodgson, on the other hand, looks increasingly likely to join Sam Allardyce in the unemployed section. Another home loss, this time to a team that hasn't won away since late March, left poor Woy feeling the wrath of the Kop, and while he says he's 'getting used to it', the feeling is that another poor result against Bolton would spell the end of a pretty short reign in Liverpool's history.
LOOKING BACK
I wonder if fans could have imagined this situation a decade ago.
Arsenal and Manchester United have been at this for a while, with Wenger and Alex Ferguson battling for top honours every season. While both teams seem to have cemented their Big Four status throughout the decade, Ferguson's trophy cabinet is considerably larger than Wenger's.
Sir Alex has weathered the coming of the new rich kids on the block fairly well, and along the way he's even seen the largest transfer ever made when Cristiano Ronaldo decided to jump ship to Spain.
That being said, Arsenal's football is usually a joy to behold (usually) and Wenger's tight handling of finances has left the Gunners one of the few remaining teams (and the only team in the Big Four) without foreign owners.
The Gunners can also boast having some of the most exciting players of the decade - the ever crafty Thierry Henry, his sidekick Robert Pires, the Dutch diva Robin Van Persie, the Spanish marvel Cesc Fabregas and that Russian munchkin Andrei Arshavin. But there was that Orlando Bloom impersonator Pascal Cygan...
Chelsea started the decade around the Europa League spots, but then found themselves a new sugar daddy in Roman Ambramovich. After that, they were blessed with The Special One, Jose Mourinho, who made Chelsea into the force they are today.
Unfortunately, the Chelsea squad isn't wine, and it does not get better with age. Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry aren't getting any younger. It'll take a pretty spectacular turnaround for Chelsea to retain the title this season, but they're still in a better place than the last of the Big Four.
Liverpool's decade has seen them at great highs (winning the Champions League against AC Milan) and great lows (losing the Champions League to AC Milan). They've nurtured some really impressive players, including Steven Gerrard, though one gets the feeling that they've never actually filled the void left by Xavi Alonso's departure to Real Madrid.
Having started the decade as regular title challengers, they twice finished fifth before last season's dismal showing meant that they would not see Champions League football. The club has also changed hands twice, and were on the brink of bankruptcy before their purchase by New England Sports Ventures.
BIG 4 CHALLENGERS
The decade has also seen the emergence of challengers to the Big Four, the most obvious being the rich kids on the other side of Manchester. City started the decade playing in what is now the Championship, the second-tier in English football.
They'll end the decade sharing the summit of the EPL with the Red Devils, which is a fantastic achievement, though granted, it is one bought with enough money to lift most countries in Africa out of poverty.
Tottenham spent the early part of the decade in mid-table wilderness, having suffered the humility of their captain Sol Campbell crossing over to their much-hated rivals at Arsenal. But their fortunes have seen a revival of sorts, starting with the season they almost knocked Arsenal out of the top four. They suffered a blip towards the end of the decade, with their worst start to a season in 2008/09, but with Harry 'Houdini' Redknapp at the helm, Spurs have ended the decade strongly.
They achieved their first ever victory against Arsenal at White Hart Lane in 11 years in April this year, followed by forcing humility down Arsenal's throat when the Gunners' ex-captain William Gallas signed for Tottenham on a free transfer. They capped the year with another victory against the Gunners, this time at the Emirates, with Gallas as their skipper.
WORLD AND LOCAL REWIND
The rest of the football world has had an equally interesting last decade. France managed to move from being World Champions to 'the guys with the chicken mascot who lost to South Africa'.
Greece proved to be the Rialto of the footballing world, with their one hit-wonder at Euro 2004.
Germany saw the rise of a mystic mollusc with unrivalled powers.
Italy finally added that fourth star to their jersey. England managed to avoid adding any stars to their jerseys.
Spain fulfilled their potential by doing the Euro/World Cup double. Africa introduced the world to vuvuzelas.
There have also been some tragic moments in football, like the terrorist attack on the Togo national team at the beginning of this year, which left three people dead and seven wounded.
Then there was the Serie A scandal in 2006, which saw Juventus fall from champions to demotion. The scandal also implicated many of the Italian giants, including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Lazio, and saw the departure of many big names from The Old Lady. The fact that the Italian national squad won the World Cup that year still amuses me even now, especially coupled with the infamous Zinedine Zidane headbutt.
Football fans here have also seen an increase in the cost of watching the beautiful game, the most recent example being the pocket-burning cost of subscribing to the 2010 World Cup, compared with 2006. On a side note, the world's first official Fifa merchandise store at Changi's Terminal 3 had to close. I guess we spent our football budget paying to watch the World Cup, so we didn't have any leftover to buy Fifa merchandise.
On the local scene...no one ever mentions Goal 2010 anymore. With the recent fracas involving the Lions staying up and that Tampines Rovers guy Aliff Shafaein, who asked fans to pay his fines, it'll take a fair bit to get Singapore fans back to the days of the Malaysia Cup. Having some foreign teams taking part in the S-League might raise the awareness of local football, but a regional league could be the nudge that Singapore needs to bring its football to the next level.
LOOKING AHEAD
The next decade will bring with it its share of uncertainty:
Will Man City actually win something? Can Liverpool salvage their reputation? Will Barcelona and Real Madrid let someone else into their two-horse race? When will Ferguson retire? Will Leeds United ever make it back to the top flight of English football? Only time will tell.
There's also the question of video technology's role in football, whether Fandi Ahmad's kids will play for Singapore or South Africa, and if Singapore will ever qualify for the World Cup (Goal 2022 maybe? We're used to the heat, we can manage in Qatar and we love air-con too!).
One thing is certain, though. Football's dominance as a sport, and a football fan's love for it, won't change. Barring a zombie apocalypse, or some other end-of-world event, of course.
Also, congratulations, Malaysia, on winning the AFF Suzuki Cup. Congratulations, too, on your extra public holiday today on New Year's Eve. I recall Singapore winning the same Cup (then called the Tiger Cup) a few years ago.
Don't remember the holiday, though.
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