In The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell describes the lives of impoverished, hardworking miners in the northwestern industrial city.
The book portrays Wigan as dreary and polluted -- a hard-up town where people scrape and scrounge for whatever they can get. Little has changed in the 71 years since Orwell's work was published. As a matter of fact, when the championship of English soccer is decided at JJB Stadium on Sunday, Wigan's stereotypes will be as evident as ever.
Wigan, incidentally, is derived from the Common Celtic term Wikanio, which translates as battlefield. And when Manchester United arrives at the grounds for their Premier League encounter with Wigan Athletic, that's exactly what they'll find.
Shared between the town's soccer and rugby clubs, the pitch at the JJB is notoriously rough and muddy. It is, for lack of a better word, a bog.
"I do not want to take anything away from Wigan; but frankly, the pitch is a disaster," grumbled Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after his side drew 0-0 with their hosts in March. "It is disrespectful for the fans who come and pay their money to see that."
But see it they will; as will the Premier League's champions-elect when they line up for the final domestic match of the season. United, with a win, will secure their second title on the bounce. A loss or draw, however, would provide Chelsea with an opportunity to crest the standings on the last day of the campaign. The Blues, level with the Red Devils on 84 points, will hope to beat Bolton Wanderers and cross their fingers that Wigan can get a result.
"Now we must beat Bolton and see what United do," acknowledged Chelsea manager Avram Grant in conversation with the BBC. "The pressure is on them."
Captain John Terry echoed Grant's remarks, adding that "Wigan are on a great run at the moment. I think they'll do the Premier League justice and go out there wanting to beat Manchester United."
Logic would suggest that if Wigan are to get anything out of United, they will have to use the playing surface to their full advantage. The smooth, intricate plays between Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, and Wayne Rooney will surely be hampered by the damp, bumpy pitch. And the long, accurate passes of Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick are likely to be obstructed as well.
"People don't like coming to our ground and playing against us," admitted Wigan defender Emmerson Boyce to the Daily Mail. "It will help against Manchester United. On a perfect pitch, all their top players will have a field day. But they will have difficulty passing and running with the ball on ours -- even though they are top-class players. They won't be able to play the game they're used to."
That said, Owen Hargreaves is relishing the chance. United's Calgary-born midfielder has become one of manager Sir Alex Ferguson's most trustworthy players.
"We'll go out on the pitch on Sunday and give everything we have for 90 minutes," he told The Sun. "At the start of the season, if someone had offered us one game, just 90 minutes to win the league, we would have jumped at that. We're in a good position."
As for Chelsea, their destiny is dependent on what transpires at Wigan. Even with a win at home to Bolton, their inferior goal-differential requires a United slip in order to claim a third title in four seasons. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't hold their breath. But a little luck, and a bog, could change their fate entirely.
Match to watch: Wigan Athletic vs. Manchester United: Sunday, 9 a.m., Setanta.
Major League Soccer
In less than five minutes, David Beckham went from MLS whipping-boy to MVP candidate, boosted his club into a playoff spot and served notice that he will fight for a place in Fabio Capello's England squad ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
With his Los Angeles Galaxy side trailing by two goals at Real Salt Lake last weekend, the 32-year-old pulled one back for the visitors when he hit a superb strike from 20-yards in the 36th-minute.
Just moments later, Beckham repeated the feat with a 30-yard free-kick which left goalkeeper Nick Rimando helpless. The brace leveled the scoreline and brought the Galaxy to within a point of first place in the Western Conference.
Galaxy fans will be expecting more of the same when their team hosts the New York Red Bulls at Home Depot Center this afternoon. Beckham and Landon Donovan, the leading goal-scorer in Major League Soccer, have struck a superb, attacking partnership so far this season. One or both have scored in every game for Los Angeles -- other than the 4-0 loss at Colorado which kicked-off the season. And last Saturday's draw with Real Salt Lake was the first time in four matches that Donovan had not scored at least twice in a game.
On the other side of the ball, New York's striking tandem of Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel will be hoping to take advantage of the Galaxy's permeable defense. With 13 goals allowed through six matches, no club in Major League Soccer has been as generous to the opposition as Los Angeles.
To that end, the matchup could not come at a better time for the Red Bulls. Only the Houston Dynamo and expansion San Jose Earthquakes have scored fewer goals than New York. Still, it's only a matter of time before Juan Carlos Osorio's club breaks out offensively. Angel, with 19 goals last term, will find the back of the net eventually. And Altidore, one of the top young players in American soccer, is already showing signs of things to come. He has scored two of his side's six goals and is being targeted by a handful of English Premier League outfits.
Other matches to watch this weekend: Chelsea vs. Bolton Wanderers: Sunday, 11 a.m., Setanta (tape delay); Inter Milan vs. Siena: Sunday, 8 a.m., Fox Sportsworld; Wolfsburg vs. Stuttgart: today, 8:30 a.m., GolTV.
jerradpeters@gmail.com
A Winnipeg-based soccer journalist, Jerrad Peters is a correspondent for Soccer Three Sixty, ESPN and Soccer365.com
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