Good morning,
How many of those have we had lately? I think I might start
counting how many mornings have been good in a football perspective from the
start of the season, I bet this season there’ll be more than those in our
recent past.
Going into the Liverpool game I was really nervous. I
usually only get nervous over two teams in our league, Sp*rs and United. The only
reason I get nervous about those games is because along with the three points
there’s also bragging rights at stake, not only for the teams, but for the fans
too. I know it’s not the be all and end all, but when you’ve got those two sets
of fans giving it the big’n it’s quick and easy to give them the shut up juice
with a defeat.
Not too long ago it was United and Arsenal battling it out
for the title making the rivalry a bit hotter. It cooled slightly when we
dropped off the boil but now that the tables seemed to have turned, the rivalry
could hot up again. There were a lot of people clambering about how in the
league we haven’t faced a big team. Liverpool are a pretty big team, they were
the closest to us in the table and we got a great result.
United however will be our toughest test yet. While they’re
not having a great time at the moment we get to face them after they’ve strung
two league wins together and after we have to travel to Dortmund. Not ideal but
yet again with this season being our best opportunity to pounce, we need to
make the most of it. The question is, which is the more important game?
The Dortmund game is still only a group stage game. Losing it
doesn’t make qualification impossible. It makes it quite a bit difficult and
will probably see us depending on other results but not out of reach. Ideally we’d
want to finish top so that we get an “easier” opponent. Realistically if we’re
serious about this competition, we’re going to have to face Europe’s elite at
some point so there won’t really be any easy games.
The United game doesn’t have as much pressure on it as it usually
does. Usually we’re chasing the pack or the leaders, this time it’s the other
way around. Being 8 points ahead of them and 5 points ahead of anyone else
gives us a bit of breathing space. A defeat for them puts them 11 points of the
lead and struggling. As much as I’m enjoying our form at the moment it’s made
sweeter by United struggling, if Sp*rs, Chelsea and City want to join them then
I’ll be over the moon. This time around the pressure is on United.
I’m not sure if that’s answered which is the more important
game? In a perfect world we’ll get 3 points in each but if you had to chose
which one would you take? I don’t like to think like this but there’s this thought
in the back if my mind that we have more chance of winning the league than we
do the Champions League. Neither are going to be easy but I think we stand more
of a chance, as things stand, with the league. Does this mean we should treat
it the same as the COC and save our players for the league game?
If that means fielding Bendtner, then the answer is a
straight up no. If it means a bit of rotation (do we have any players fit to do
that) then I think it would be worth it. We rested players against Chelsea and
suffered an early exit from the COC however we also got a great victory against
Liverpool. Resting certain players probably helped but did it guarantee the
result? If we’d fielded our best team against Chelsea would we have won? Who knows,
probably not?
What I think I’m getting at here, in a roundabout way, is
that football is more than the game being played on the grass. The decisions
made over who to play for which games, players to rest and rotate and which
competitions to prioritise. Each decision has repercussions on others, making
hundreds if not thousands of possible choices and options for the boss to
consider. Some, hopefully most, will be carefully thought, expertly analysed
for the potential butterfly effect. Some, hopefully few, will be done with
fingers crossed.
I’ll harp on, moan and groan about the manager when things
go wrong just like most but I’m not sure I have the brain power to compute all
those decisions. Making me glad I don’t have the job, but equally glad that we
have a boss that is regarded as one of the most intelligent in the game.
That leaves me to wish a bitter failure for United and City
tonight and a great result for us tomorrow. Until next time.
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