It’s the day after the League Cup final victory and despite not winning the game convincingly it’s still a good feeling to know we’ve got a trophy in the cabinet before the end of February. I’m going to write in more detail about what the victory means tomorrow but for today I’m going to write about a few things I observed from this weekend’s football.
Man City don’t yet have the belief required to win the title. Imagine the scene, it’s Anfield, late February and we’re 3-0 up with ten minutes to go, victory will take us five points clear of Man Utd at the top of the league with twelve games remaining – Anfield would be rocking, absolutely bouncing, full of noise and atmosphere. Compare that with the reality of the Etihad Stadium on Saturday tea time, City were in that exact position and the stands were half empty and silent, the result was beyond doubt but instead of that meaning it was time for celebration it simply meant it was time to head home. If the belief they will win the title doesn’t come from the stands it won’t reach the team. I’ve felt Man City fans aren’t matching their team since the Carling Cup semi finals when they failed to sell out their allocation for either the home or away legs against us. Oldham sold all their tickets for their FA Cup 3rd round visit to Anfield, as did Brighton for the 5th round clash despite having to travel huge distances to the game for a 4:30pm kick off on a Sunday for a game that was on TV. Man City’s owners have got a huge task on their hands turning the club into a worldwide brand if they can’t generate high levels of interest in their own back yard. This may change with time but the signs so far are not good. There are several teams, the likes of Aston Villa, Everton, Newcastle, that consider themselves to be sleeping giants only needing the right opportunity to see them rise to their rightful place at the top. Man City should be a warning to them that things don't always go as well as you expect. Football fans support their team win or lose so the expectation that stadiums will begin to fill as the team begins to win are slightly unrealistic. And the new fans who turn up only because the team has heavy investment can be the type of fan the traditional supporter doesn't have any time for.
Mud sticks – but only if someone slings it. I saw Gareth Bale dive to win a penalty against Arsenal and the commentators said ‘there was no contact’ but didn’t use the word ‘cheat’ or ‘dive’ or even ‘unsporting’ to describe it. In fact the debate for the rest of the half and at half time focused more on why the ref didn’t send off the Arsenal keeper than the fact Bale blatantly cheated and it shouldn’t have been a penalty to begin with. Bale also dived at Anfield when running past Daniel Agger recently and should be picking up a reputation as a cheat but as he is still the next great hope nobody seems willing to criticise him. Kenny Miller dived twice in the Carling Cup final, once running next to Downing when he just dropped to the floor looking at the ref and the commentator had the cheek so say he ‘slipped’. It’s not just one commentator, it’s all of them, they seem very unwilling to tell the full truth about the majority of players. Contrast all this to the reaction Suarez gets when he goes down. I’ll be honest, he exaggerates his falls sometimes, he gets his body between the defender and the ball so he gets kicked, he appeals for free kicks frequently when he is on the receiving end of a hard but fair challenge, but I’ve honestly not seen him go down under no contact. His close control is excellent and he keeps the ball right next to his feet so regularly when a defender wins the ball from him they will also take his foot leading him to believe he’s been fouled when he hasn’t. It was after such a challenge on Sunday when Alan Smith said Suarez didn’t win the free kick as his reputation went before him. The ball was won cleanly and the follow through went through Suarez, there was a fairly hefty amount of contact but it wasn’t a foul and it wasn’t a dive, no need for any such comment from Smith. There was also a second half incident when a long range shot struck an outstretched Cardiff arm in the penalty area, Suarez appealed for a penalty. It happened at speed and I’m not going to criticise the ref for missing it but TV replays showed it was handball and the closest person to it with the best view was Luis Suarez. Cue several replays from different angles of Suarez appealing, making him look like he was trying to con the ref when what should’ve been said was ‘that was a clear handball and you can’t blame him for appealing for a penalty in a cup final’.
To be successful you need an organised defence. Cardiff didn’t offer a whole lot going forward but deserved to take us to penalties on the strength of their well organised defending as a team. Putting that sort of effort into keeping the opposition out can bring real rewards and if they had been a bit better at taking penalties their defence would’ve won them the trophy.
You can be successful with a shocking defence as long as you’re good going forward. Arsenal were an absolute shambles at the back against Spurs and could’ve conceded far more than the two they did on Sunday but still came out with a fantastic win courtesy of their quick and accurate attacking. Arsenal’s performance in the North London derby was a coaches dream if he’s looking for examples of what to do and of what not to do in a football match.
Penalties are the fairest way to decide a game. Steven Gerrard’s penalty was saved, Charlie Adam’s went somewhere close to the moon and all of a sudden you need to think of a better way to decide a drawn game. And you need to think of something that can be approved and implemented within the next thirty seconds or so. Think fast. Goal attempts? No, it will just encourage people to shoot from the halfway line so their team has more attempts. Fouls commited? Nah, will just encourage players to cheat to win more free kicks. Running from the halfway line with the ball, ten seconds to score? Nope, did you see how tired the players were at the end of the match? It wouldn’t really be a spectacle. Cardiff miss three penalties and you can only reach one conclusion - at the end of the day penalties are not only the most entertaining way to select a winner but they are the fairest and should never be replaced.
Those, ladies and gentlemen, are my thoughts. YNWA.
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