The winter break may have been a relaxing time for students, but football fans had every reason not to relax, or even sleep in, as the English Premier League had a congested fixture list throughout the holiday. In this string of games, every team lost at least one game. The break was massive to how the season will shape up, more specifically, for these clubs:

Blackburn Rovers Manager Steve Kean has been under pressure from fans of the club since the start of this season, but Christmas was the first time he was able to silence those critics. After a hardfought loss to fellow relegation candidates Bolton, Blackburn tied Liverpool 1-1, and then beat Manchester United 3-2. There has not been a bigger upset in the EPL in recent memory as big as that one. Amazingly, seven out of the 11 Blackburn losses this season have been by a one-goal margin. And after wins against Arsenal, stingy Swansea and now Manchester United, this team could very easily turn it around.

Manchester United's Christmas was filled with the joy of three wins totalling a goal differential of +12, but the hangover was brutal, as they lost to Blackburn by one goal at home and to Newcastle 3-0. Unbelievably, Newcastle have snuck four points away from the title challenger, all while stonewalling Man U's attack. Manchester United's title hopes would have been scrapped if there weren't similar gaffs along the big clubs in the running this break. They managed to keep 60 per cent possession in the match, but servicemen for United could do very little for Wayne Rooney and the suddenly world-class Dimitar Berbatov. Luckily for United, other big teams slipped up in the series of games.

If you could think back to Chelsea's match against Manchester City on December 12, the Blues looked great, and knocked off the undefeated City to boot. Now, they are 11 points out of first, and are barely still in the race for the title. Three frustrating 1-1 draws against the likes of Fulham, Tottenham and Wigan lead to a disgusting 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on New Year's Eve. With Didier Drogba heading to the African Cup of Nations this month, little-known signing Fernando Torres will hope to prove his worth to a team that would like to get back to its explosive offense they had early in the season.

Aston Villa sums up this stretch of matches for most teams in this league: highs and lows. After close but still acceptable losses to Arsenal and Liverpool early, Villa held Stoke to a scoreless draw at the Britannia. They carried that massive result back home when they beat Chelsea 3-1. Villa looked strong in both of those matches, but then loss to Swansea by a score of 2-0 at home. Supporters of Aston Villa felt such ecstasy in certain moments, only to fall back down again. The Christmas break was an exciting stretch of football that we fans might not get for a while.

Late Subs: Manchester United knocked out Manchester City in the FA Cup Third Round (earliest round possible for the two clubs to meet) on January 8. Now they have been drawn other bitter rivals Liverpool for the Fourth Round. Call it unfair, but this is bonus football we wouldn't get to see otherwise. By the time you read this, the MLS SuperDraft was conducted on Thursday, January 12. The draft is an important part of building a team — exactly what expansion team Montreal Impact is trying to do.