Football Debate Returns
Something has been mystifying me over the past few weeks. Although Football Debate has had some metaphorical tumbleweed blowing across it, it continues to get hits! Some dedicated followers out there vainly click on every day in the hope of a new post, but no avail. However, today, my friends, is your lucky day. I apologise if this post seems a little incoherent, or it lacks direction. This is because I genuinely don’t know what I’m going to write about, I thought I’d just write. So here it goes…
My first port of call has to be Spurs. I had a pretty bad day yesterday, but it didn’t dampen my anticipation of the Spurs game coming up in the evening. Then, Bobby ‘No Goals for Spurs’ Zamora stuck one away and I thought ‘here we go’…Fulham didn’t exactly play us off the park in the first half, but they did look resilient and organised. Duff’s throughball for Zamora to score was perfectly weighted, and it wasn’t the only time I had my heart in my mouth.
What pleased (and shocked) me the most about the game, was that ‘Arry actually made a bold substitution. Too many times this season, he’s preferred to stick with what he thinks is his best XI, and not chop and change if it clearly isn’t working. A double substition at half time, with Bale moving back into defence in place of Assou-Ekotto, and Bentley and Huddlestone coming into boss the midfield made all the difference.
People are saying in the media that Bentley has looked awesome ever since he has come back into the side during Lennon’s absence. I don’t totally agree with this. He’s the kind of player who looks good on tv, because he can put in the champagne ball and create something out of nothing. I saw him at Birmingham away (when he possibly lacked a bit of match fitness), and he didn’t work hard for the team and looked lazy getting back. None of that really matters though, if he can put in a good free kick and an absolutely exquisite ball to the back post like he did for Pavlyuchenko.
The Lane looked like it was rocking. Not only have we got through the semi-final of the FA Cup, but it also reinforced the idea that we have one of the best squads in the Premier League. In some ways, it’s actually better that we’ve had a few injuries, because it’s let some fringe players come in and prove their worth, as well as keeping people happy. If all 4 of our strikers were fit, at least one of them would be unhappy and ‘on their way to Villa/Moscow/Sunderland’. At some point, everyone in the squad who is recognised as a first team player has come in and done a job for the team.
I’m not going to boast about how we’re in outright 4th place and are clear of Villa, City and Liverpool. I’ve seen the fixture list for April, and I don’t think it really matters who is where at the moment, because no doubt there’s a few twists in the tale before the end of the season. However, I do think the Scousers should be seriously worried, and Rafa should start to think logistics – just how is he going to get all those lasagnes served up to Spurs, City AND Villa?
The news surrounding football today is mostly about Tony Mowbray. I’m afraid I really can’t muster anything remotely interesting to say about Scottish football, so I won’t bother.
Also, poor Franco Zola. I don’t even think West Ham are that bad. It looks inevitable that he’ll get the chop before or during the summer, and I think this is just another sad case of a young manager not being given enough time at a Premier League club. West Ham actually play some good football, they just don’t score any goals. They’re not Championship club, but then again, no one’s too good to go down.
I’m going to leave it there for now, but if you’re a football fan, I’d appreciate you checking out this link:
It’s a survey for a mate’s dissertation, but don’t worry – it’s about your experience as a football fan, and if you like going to matches, then you’ll want to get your views on this across. Cheers!
I’ll be back soon to talk about German football, England, and the shambles that is the FA….
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