So, as round 36 of the Barclay’s Premier League just about wraps up, I, like many of you, have wondered where our season has gone. It began so quickly and ended even quicker. The blog, for the most part, took the season off, mostly because of personal life reasons. I’ll admit, I missed it. Writing it during the summer was a lot of fun and provided an escape, at times, from the real world.
I hope to resume blogging on a semi-regular basis, or as much as life allows.
As for our season, I am sure I speak for many that it will be a nervy end to it. I’m not going to go through all the mistakes we’ve made this year, they’d been well documented and covered. It is my opinion that most people’s outlook on this season will be decided with these last couple of matches.
As far as the Stoke result, I can’t say I’m too disappointed. It was a well-contested game. Stokes antics were no surprise to anyone. In seasons past, we’ve struggled to get a foothold in the game and establish a rhythm. Not so, this time around. We controlled the pace and created some decent chances. Stoke did their part to try and keep up and, un-surprisingly nicked a goal, against the run of play.
I was a bit surprised when I saw that we actually committed more fouls than them. Not surprised when I saw that we had more shots, passes, and corner kicks than them though.
It was a game we deserved to win but, I feel, lacked that little bit of quality to provide that killer pass that was required to open them up. We’ve missed Jack Wilshere, in that regard (and others), so much this season.
Man of the Match was hard to decide but I feel Rosicky put up another great performance, as did the BacMan. Honorable mention goes to One Aaron Ramsey who, had a game, I feel, he *needed* to have. Had a few shots on goal that came close, did not cower from any challenges and ran his socks off for the entire game, all while getting booed by the same crowd who gave him “wanker” gestures and sang “Youve only got one leg” as he was loaded in an ambulance on that terrible night Lenny Shawcross broke his leg.
I am sure I am not alone when I say: I am very proud of that young man for standing up and being counted as he has taken a lot of flack this season. Some justified, most not.
As for that crowd of sub-humans who support Stoke, I can only say it would be foolish to hope the FA or any football organization will do anything to correct or punish their behavior on Saturday as that is the world we live in. I can only re-itereate the bosses sentiments when he said ” they have a relationship with me but I don’t have one with them.” I, for the most part, chose to ignore them as they are the last link of the food chain and will, hopefully, one day, be left behind by evolution.
So, here we are. Staring Champions League qualification in the face. Six points out of our last 2 games and we’re in. Anything less and we have to hope for other results. It’s an all too familiar story that we’ve rinsed and repeated all season long.
First up, Norwich at home. A team that got rocked by a fantastic (It hurts me to say it as much as it hurts you to read it) Luis Suarez hat-trick at their ground as Scarf Lady looked on. They’ve done the classic “We’ll play out of our skin for 3/4s of the season and the slack it the rest of the way once we’ve ensured we’ll stay up another year” routine. It’s a bit we’ve seen by many teams (Reading, Hull City, and Brum come to mind) in past seasons.
We beat them at their place this season too so that Liverpool win doesn’t seem to point anything out to me other than they are just a bit inconsistent. They have enjoyed some great results this season and play some good football but are, as we saw on Saturday, prone to defensive howlers especially when caught going forward. Their midfielders do a great job of moving the ball forward but can’t seem to make the link to the attacking players and eventually cough it up. Add to that the fact that they don’t pressure the ball very well and we should be able to win on Saturday.
To be honest, any other result would be unacceptable. The players know what this means, as does the manager. I expect a spirited performance and now that RvP has broken his little goal drought, may the floodgates open.
The same team that started against Stoke on Saturday should start this one. Some have suggested returning forward, Benik Afobe would be a good replacement on the bench for Diaby as the latter will be out with a slight injury. I am not sure the boss would go for it as Park has not played at all this season and will probably be preferred. It may be worth a gamble but if we are forced to make a change due to injury, I’m not sure I’d want a player we haven’t seen at all this season to one who captains his national team and has actually gotten in some minutes.
I’ll look ahead to the W.B.A. next week as we should have a much clearer picture as to where we are heading.
I want to take a minute to give a shout out to my good friend Joaquin ( @MorningPint on twitter) who is doing big things in preparation for the Euros and a study abroad program that will see him take to the streets of London this fall. Check out his website : http://www.themorningpint.com/ and follow him on Twitter for all the info.
I hope you enjoyed the return of the blog and look forward to hearing back from your guys. I will be posting more regularly now and hope you stay tuned for some upcoming projects I have going. I’ll leave you with this gem:
Cheers! Feel free to comment (good or bad).
Chilangoonerblog 
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