by bigmick » Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:11 pm
Well however the victory was achieved, whether we were lucky, whether it was in spite of or because of the manager, the fact remains that it was a huge three points taken in the context of our season. By the context of our season, I mean the fact that we have been stuttering a bit, and all of our rivals seem now to have settled into winning runs.
We know from experience that once Man Utd in particular, but Arsenal and Chelsea as well settle into a run they don't drop many points. It is absolutely crucial that we now also go on a run, a couple of defeats in the next few weeks and we will be out of it.
That is why, and I'm going to surprise absolutely nobody here, we must treat this win as a platform. A platform to build something from. What we expressly don't need now is half a dozen pointless little rotations for the Europe game, then the same number back for the league match. For sure if Agger/Torres/Alonso are fit and ready and we think they'll play Sunday, then bring them in. Equally, if we think Lucas did enough in the derby to warrant a period in the team bring him in. If we think Pennant is part of our team against the gooners, if we must then bring him in. But please none of this silliness, this "resting". As it is we are still playing with an absense of any real fluency and we desperately now need to build on our platform.
We have Arsenal next Sunday and based on what we are currently seeing from each team, we will be going into the match in my opinion as underdogs even at Home. We have got a real break in that Van Persie isn't playing (where are those now who didn't rate him at the start of the season) but the fluency and cohesion with which they and Man Utd are playing right now is in a different stratosphere to us. We absolutely must give ourselves every possible chance of winning the game, or at the very least not losing it. Defeat wouldn't be a mortal blow, but it wouldn't be far off it. Please Rafa, please pick the team now, sit on your hands and just let them play.
As an addition, as far as the Gerrard interview is concerned it's nice to see him act with a bit of class befitting the position he is in. For my part I didn't for one second expect him to demand a transfer based on a substitution, but the fact remains the interview by Rafa will have blown up many bridges. The episode won't be featuring in the "how to be good at man-management" book I shouldn't think.
Last edited by
bigmick on Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"se e in una bottigla ed e bianco, e latte".