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Coventry 1 Crystal Palace 1 - Gimme Gimme Gimme
So we played a whole load better than we have done over the last couple of months, but still couldn't manage to win. Interesting.
Having stormed out in a huff at the final whistle on account of Coleman appearing content with a draw at home, I've now calmed myself and will reflect on things a more placid nature. If I'd written this immediately afterwards, the post would be entitled Swineathon 2009, I'd be crucifying Clinton Morrison again, and the FC Coventry City Mönchengladbach Saint-Germain dream would be back in motion.
But I listened to fans after the match, many verging on delirium that we'd not lost, and it shocked me. I couldn't help but wonder; maybe I'm expecting too much? Maybe, even with all our player whom I swear can perform far better, we're still only a bottom 8 team?
I hope not.
So rather than indulge myself in a bitter and ruthless analysis of the game which has become the norm over the last month or so, I'm going to keep things brief and simply run through the positives and negatives of Saturday's game.
Positives
- As a whole, we played better than we have been doing.
- Barnett and Wood both look pretty athletic as a defensive pairing.
- Michael McIndoe finally had a decent-ish game.
- Leon Best scored again.
- The shape of the team looked a lot more solid.
Negatives
- We have dropped more vital points at home.
- The attitude of the players and manager appeared to indicate that they were content with holding on for the point.
- Gunnarsson is still a shadow of the player we know he can be.
- Morrison is struggling to have any sort of impact.
- The referee, who thought that he could stop the game every 20 seconds to wag his finger around - only gave 3 minutes added time.
- Flaming wind and rain blowing in my face.
As happy as I am that we didn't have to endure the same twaddle we've been used recently, my immediate concern is that it's only November and we're already lumbered in and around the bottom of the table.
Couple that with the fact that even if we were to do the unthinkable and win 3 in a row, we'd realistically only move up to about 13th - things aren't as rosy as many fans would have you believe.
Not after 1 home draw, that's for sure. Ipswich will vouch for where draws in this league get you.
Lord help me for daring to suggest that I'm still not satisfied after Saturday; but I want more than a point at home to Crystal Palace. Yep, I really do.
Bilbao 1-1 Barcelona: Regression to the Mean
What Pep Guardiola started with his lineups out of a hat, H1N1 and thigh injuries are finishing. It looks like Ibra, Messi, Marquez, Abidal and Toure could be out of the Inter match next week. We got another taste yesterday of what the patchwork lineup can do -- all foreplay, no climax, except for that sexy thug Dani Alves. I've heard this is what 2006-07 was like. I didn't like my old job much back then, and I'm not liking this.
The Times has a nicely-documented piece today about how baseball champions (like the 2009 Yankees) regress to the mean if they don't take a cold look at their age and their overachievers and move to replace the old and the one-offers. It's clear that not doing renovations is fatal: For those champions that turned over 25% of their roster or less, the average increase in losses from championship season to next was eight. For those that turned over more than 1 in 4 players, the average regression was less than 0.5 losses. I don't know how closely this might apply to soccer. It's arguable that Pep should have turned over more of Barca's squad, not less. He was ruthless about Sylvhino and Caceres, and Ibrahimovic has been far more of a complete player than Eto'o; but Maxwell and Chygrinsky have been frightening. Cock your head a bit, and you can now see that Henry's year was probably the last garden party in the sunset of a career; that Messi would regress a bit to the mean; that Puyol would slow a bit. You might have made a case to get rid of Henry, Puyol, maybe not sign Toure to an extension; push harder on Fabregas. Instead of turning over the roster, though, Guardiola keeps turning over the lineup, which is not exactly the same thing, especially when you're playing Messi as a false 9. Swine flu is one thing; not knowing how to play together three months into the season is another. It's starting to look a little like Liverpool of last year -- lots of ties, lots of wins, few losses, much disappointment.(Image credit: boldorak2208/Flickr through a Creative Commons license.)
The Mike Stoops Convulsive Spasm Jump of Rage
via youtube.com
haha! Found it. A good summary of the game.
The Game
Heute hat es wieder stattgefunden. "Das Spiel" zwischen Yale und Harvard. Um eins gleich vorwegzunehmen. Harvard sucks!
Leider hat es nicht geholfen, dass das auf vielen Caps und T-Shirts stand und die "Fale"-T-Shirt Aufdrucke in Yale-Schriftart auf Harvard weinrot der Studis aus Cambridge hatten wohl leider ihre Berechtigung. Epic fail sogar denn die Bulldogs führten eigentlich 10:0 über 3/4 des Spiels. In den letzten 5 Minuten hat die Yale-Defense dann aber leider die Nerven verloren und Harvard konnte noch 14 Punkte einsacken. Das wars dann mal wieder und Yale ist auch beim nächsten Mal dann wohl wieder der Underdog. Das Tailgating war übrigens auch gut besucht ;)
