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| MIND GAMES DON'T COMPENSATE FOR A QUALITY SQUAD |
| Posted on 18/04/06 at 04:44 by ABU |
There's an uneasy silence over OT this morning after the latest bout of mind games by Sir Alex et al failed to work. For the past month the press have reported with undisguised enthusiasm Sir Alex's attempt to unsettle a rival. Last year it was "Chelsea's players have no experience of winning the league and will crack", the season before it was "Arsenal's foreigners dont fancy it" while this season it was the barely credible "Chelsea have never been put under pressure before" (Surely he must realise by now that what worked on Keegan has no noticeable effect on Jose and Arsene?). No, this week you won't find the Manager or a senior player mouthing off because all is lost Even if Chelsea lose all their remaining games, it would take them getting hammered every game to send the trophy to the Franchise. And thats IF Manure can manage to pick up maximum points in the remaining games. In truth it was over by January and you rather wonder if the mischievous Jose will rest his best players in the remaining games in the hope Man U can finish on an equal points total - Guaranteed to get the teeth gnashing at Carrington and zap morale for next season
But look deeper and the news is even worse for Sir Alex. Chelsea have been poorer this season than last, both defensively and points wise, yet ManU have failed to improve to any noticeable extent.Theyve lost the same amount of games as last season and while you would expect their disastrous CL and FA Cup results to allow them to concentrate on the league while their rivals were still competing, it hasnt materialised. Add to that, Ferguson has been allowed to spend millions on Vidic and Evra - One looks out of his depth, the other looks average - with no noticeable improvement.
But the real worry is their squad. While Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have youngish squads with the financial ability to replace any aging players, at The Franchise, Scholes, Giggs, Neville and Der Sar are entering the veteran stages of their careers. With Ferguson still not having replaced Keane, a conservative estimate to replace those 5 players with the same quality must be 45m or more. That, as those in the know at OT will tell you, is not going to happen and with Liverpool rapidly closing the gap on them, maybe Sir Alex will not even have the chance to use mind games next season. Its been 3 Aprils now since Sir Alex was able to relax knowing the title was his. As he clears away the empty whisky bottles from his desk this morning, he must wonder if he'll ever experience that feeling again..
STILL HATED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
One of the favourite sayings of the post '88 plastic rags is that Manure are hated because they are successful. I've often argued that back in the 70's and 80's when Liverpool were winning everything, Manure were still the most hated team in the land and indeed are still the most hated now despite their lack of success recently. Whether they didn't follow football then or it's just rag tinted glasses, this has always been greeted with hoots of derision from the rag faithful. "Chelsea are more hated now than we ever were and Liverpool were despised in the 80s they say. Of course Ive been hoping for a story to prove them wrong
Well last week it happened. A small fire at OT united (heh!) the whole football world as one. On message boards from Aldershot to York, fans laughed their heads off and followed the fire story with glee. Teams with no rivalry or apparently interest in the world of the superrich premiership all had their own 40 page plus threads on this apparent disaster. Now The Franchise haven't won the league for 3 seasons so it can't be jealousy and yet posters on every club's board felt the need to laugh at them. Now this wouldn't happen if there was a small fire at Highbury, Anfield or Stamford Bridge. Why? Well I think we should ask the rags that......
To discuss this article further ABU can be contacted at Ademir@centralpets.com
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