by bigmick » Sun Sep 02, 2007 9:28 pm
Well it just shows what happens if you hit the ground running, take the first game of the season seriously and give yourselves a chance. Since then there has been some rotation, (rather more than I would have gone for, but it would be churlish to suggest that it has affected the team up to this point, it hasn't) but it has been largely sensible. Important partnerships have been allowed to grow and currently we look to be just about the best team in the league.
All that said, while you can lose the league in the first half dozen games (as we proved so painfully last season) you can't actually win it. Both Chelsea and Man Utd look off the pace at the moment but they will definately get better. Equally, there are more testing teams ahead for us than Sunderland and Derby, but you can only beat what is put in front of you. We are slowly but surely becoming THE team to beat in the early stages of the season, and this will bring added pressure which will need to be handled.
I think we are definately good enough to go very very close. By very very close, I don't think anyone is going to win it by ten points this term, there will be a couple of teams fighting it out in the final weeks and we have the capabilities to be one of them. Unsurprisingly, I think the key is team selection and not allowing ourselves to get carried away with our "squad". Such is the strength of the personel at the club right now that I wouldn't have too much problem with just about any first eleven Rafa comes up with. Provided he picks nine or ten of those in just about every game (in fairness he could probably put me in goal against Derby and we'd still win), and all of the fit ones if there are any injuries then we might just do it.
"se e in una bottigla ed e bianco, e latte".