lifeof...
Well-Known Member
- Mar 18, 2005
- 2,073
- 248
If you haven't read this yet......A copy and Paste from Pete Gill F365
I don't agree with all his points........But hes right about what we did on the night.
All credit to Tottenham and their manager, all failure to City and the caution of their manager...
* English managers, eh? What a few days for that written-off old boys' institute. Roy Hodgson has defied the miles and the might of Juventus to guide Fulham into the Europa Cup final. The wally with the brolly Steve McClaren has restored his reputation by inspiring Twente to an unprecedented title success in Holland. Nobody is mocking him as Schteve now. And Redknapp has become the first Englishman to manage a Premier League team into the Champions League since Bobby Robson.
Is this the explanation for why some peculiar people have recently taken to fixing the flag of St George to their cars?
* So much for those obituaries for the 4-4-2. If only Spurs' victory was fortunate, it could be written that fortune favoured the brave at Eastlands. Instead, they were simply superior, with Harry Redknapp's decision to select an offensively-minded midfield quartet without a recognised holder thoroughly vindicated by his side's excellence.
* Because of the money and teams involved, guiding Spurs into fourth exceeds lifting the FA Cup with Portsmouth as the pinnacle of Redknapp's managerial career. That cup success, in which Manchester United were the only top-flight side Pompey faced, was funded on money they did not own and could not afford (and also paid out bonuses that almost bankrupt the club). Tottenham have speculated heavily to accumulate fourth, but not as heavily as City and, depending on how the figures are interpreted, not as heavily as Aston Villa. The milking of a £30m cash-cow is their purely-profitable reward.
Moreover, they have secured fourth place through deserved victories in the crunch period of the season against Chelsea, Arsenal and, in their own backyard, Manchester City. Give credit where plenty is due. But for losing the FA Cup semi-final to - of all clubs - Pompey, Redknapp would be manager of the year. He still might be.
* Because of those three victories against Arsenal, Chelsea and City, there can be no quibbling with the right of Tottenham to be in the Champions League (assuming, of course, they pass through the qualifying stage if they do not end up in third place). They were the better team in every department at Eastlands.
Conversely, nobody, not even the most blue-blooded City supporter, can argue that Roberto Mancini's team have been unlucky. Remove their fortunate 'double' over Chelsea from consideration and their results against the elite this season have been singularly and remarkably unimpressive. In three of their last four games, against United, Arsenal and Tottenham, they have failed to score. In this calendar year, they also have failed to score in the season's worst game against Liverpool and against Everton in 180 minutes of football. They haven't just flopped; they have flopped with spectacular tedium.
* Mancini's decision to play safe at Arsenal has proved to be a strategic mistake with grievous consequences. The point City took at the Emirates two weeks ago is of no use now, and had they opted to attack, rather than trouble the ripe-for-exploitation Lukasz Fabianski with just a single shot, then they might still have a hope of finishing fourth.
All things being equal since then, a City victory at the Emirates would have meant that they could have still overtaken Arsenal on goal difference on the final day of the season. Mancini's caution has let the Gunners off the hook.
* If, of the elite, Spurs and Arsenal are the over-achievers of the season, then City have to be considered the biggest under-achievers. By a distance. City fans may try to talk down their expectations in hindsight, but the mid-season sacking of Mark Hughes revealed precisely what the club thought was a reasonable expectation: Anything less than fourth equals failure. To rub insult into injury, the manner of that failure will sting. They were no better than poor against Spurs. Limp, unimaginative, soulless. Spurs had heart and adventure. City had neither.
* Roberto Mancini is probably correct in believing he will remain City's manager for next season but the security of his position is only a result of his failure. Regardless of the riches on offer, Jose Mourinho will not join a team out of the Champions League and unless a manager of Mourinho's standing is available then the virtue of managerial stability should win out in the City boardroom.
But his failure has also made his job far more difficult. Mancini will not be able to attract a Kaka or a Fernando Torres this summer. He'll have the money but not the temptation or the immediate potential. In the build-up to Wednesday's game, it was remarked that, for City, then 'if not this season, next'. But failure means that they will start next season back where they started in August. Perhaps their time will come but it has been delayed at least 12 months and history is littered with stories of anticipated times that did not come. Had they qualified for the Champions League this season then next season would surely have begun with City listed as genuine contenders to win both the Premier League and the Champions League. Not now. The blue revolution has been officially postponed until a date yet to be bought.
* A great result for Spurs, a very bad one for City, and, somewhere in the middle, a good one for Chelsea and Liverpool. Unable to offer Champions League football, City have slipped back in the chase to sign Torres, probably into third place behind Chelsea and Barcelona. Though Liverpool might ultimately prefer a bidding war so that selling Torres could fund a substantial overhaul, the prospect of their prized asset staying at Anfield went up a significant notch on Wednesday night.
* The debate is over: Ledley King has to go to the World Cup. He has proved that he can, in make-or-break circumstances, play twice in a week - and the World Cup is all about make-or-break circumstances. He was beyond outstanding at Eastlands and the only unanswered questions are whether he will be on the plane to South Africa in the company of Michael Dawson and just how much their candidature is benefited by the attraction of having an established partnership waiting in reserve behind John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
* Twelve months ago has called asking for its outraged disbelief back. Emmanuel Adebayor's apparently uninterested performance in last May's Champions League semi-final in Manchester was the final straw for his Arsenal career, and he might have strolled his way out of Eastlands this midweek. City have been found to be not good enough. Ergo changes will be made. It would be no surprise if Adebayor is this summer's headline departure.
* Adebayor's departure from Arsenal to City last summer was symbolic of an apparent shift in power from London to Manchester. A website not a million miles away suggested that, with City expected to take Arsenal's place in the elite and United favourites to land a fourth successive title, the capital of English football had to be found in the north-west. Instead, the story of 2009-10 has been of London's unexpected fightback: Chelsea's likely championship and the over-achievement of both Arsenal and Tottenham. Manchester hasn't been routed but it has been humbled.
* No prizes for guessing where the high-fiving Craig Bellamy will be playing next season. Or at least where he expects to play. His substitution even seemed to include a wave goodbye to the City faithful.
* Unbeaten runs are over-rated. In their last ten matches, Spurs have lost twice but have still managed to collect 24 points. In their last ten matches since being beaten at Spurs in February, Everton are unbeaten but have collected 20 points. To repeat the point made in the last edition of Winners and Losers, counting the number of defeats is a red herring. The number that matters most is victories won.
I don't agree with all his points........But hes right about what we did on the night.
All credit to Tottenham and their manager, all failure to City and the caution of their manager...
* English managers, eh? What a few days for that written-off old boys' institute. Roy Hodgson has defied the miles and the might of Juventus to guide Fulham into the Europa Cup final. The wally with the brolly Steve McClaren has restored his reputation by inspiring Twente to an unprecedented title success in Holland. Nobody is mocking him as Schteve now. And Redknapp has become the first Englishman to manage a Premier League team into the Champions League since Bobby Robson.
Is this the explanation for why some peculiar people have recently taken to fixing the flag of St George to their cars?
* So much for those obituaries for the 4-4-2. If only Spurs' victory was fortunate, it could be written that fortune favoured the brave at Eastlands. Instead, they were simply superior, with Harry Redknapp's decision to select an offensively-minded midfield quartet without a recognised holder thoroughly vindicated by his side's excellence.
* Because of the money and teams involved, guiding Spurs into fourth exceeds lifting the FA Cup with Portsmouth as the pinnacle of Redknapp's managerial career. That cup success, in which Manchester United were the only top-flight side Pompey faced, was funded on money they did not own and could not afford (and also paid out bonuses that almost bankrupt the club). Tottenham have speculated heavily to accumulate fourth, but not as heavily as City and, depending on how the figures are interpreted, not as heavily as Aston Villa. The milking of a £30m cash-cow is their purely-profitable reward.
Moreover, they have secured fourth place through deserved victories in the crunch period of the season against Chelsea, Arsenal and, in their own backyard, Manchester City. Give credit where plenty is due. But for losing the FA Cup semi-final to - of all clubs - Pompey, Redknapp would be manager of the year. He still might be.
* Because of those three victories against Arsenal, Chelsea and City, there can be no quibbling with the right of Tottenham to be in the Champions League (assuming, of course, they pass through the qualifying stage if they do not end up in third place). They were the better team in every department at Eastlands.
Conversely, nobody, not even the most blue-blooded City supporter, can argue that Roberto Mancini's team have been unlucky. Remove their fortunate 'double' over Chelsea from consideration and their results against the elite this season have been singularly and remarkably unimpressive. In three of their last four games, against United, Arsenal and Tottenham, they have failed to score. In this calendar year, they also have failed to score in the season's worst game against Liverpool and against Everton in 180 minutes of football. They haven't just flopped; they have flopped with spectacular tedium.
* Mancini's decision to play safe at Arsenal has proved to be a strategic mistake with grievous consequences. The point City took at the Emirates two weeks ago is of no use now, and had they opted to attack, rather than trouble the ripe-for-exploitation Lukasz Fabianski with just a single shot, then they might still have a hope of finishing fourth.
All things being equal since then, a City victory at the Emirates would have meant that they could have still overtaken Arsenal on goal difference on the final day of the season. Mancini's caution has let the Gunners off the hook.
* If, of the elite, Spurs and Arsenal are the over-achievers of the season, then City have to be considered the biggest under-achievers. By a distance. City fans may try to talk down their expectations in hindsight, but the mid-season sacking of Mark Hughes revealed precisely what the club thought was a reasonable expectation: Anything less than fourth equals failure. To rub insult into injury, the manner of that failure will sting. They were no better than poor against Spurs. Limp, unimaginative, soulless. Spurs had heart and adventure. City had neither.
* Roberto Mancini is probably correct in believing he will remain City's manager for next season but the security of his position is only a result of his failure. Regardless of the riches on offer, Jose Mourinho will not join a team out of the Champions League and unless a manager of Mourinho's standing is available then the virtue of managerial stability should win out in the City boardroom.
But his failure has also made his job far more difficult. Mancini will not be able to attract a Kaka or a Fernando Torres this summer. He'll have the money but not the temptation or the immediate potential. In the build-up to Wednesday's game, it was remarked that, for City, then 'if not this season, next'. But failure means that they will start next season back where they started in August. Perhaps their time will come but it has been delayed at least 12 months and history is littered with stories of anticipated times that did not come. Had they qualified for the Champions League this season then next season would surely have begun with City listed as genuine contenders to win both the Premier League and the Champions League. Not now. The blue revolution has been officially postponed until a date yet to be bought.
* A great result for Spurs, a very bad one for City, and, somewhere in the middle, a good one for Chelsea and Liverpool. Unable to offer Champions League football, City have slipped back in the chase to sign Torres, probably into third place behind Chelsea and Barcelona. Though Liverpool might ultimately prefer a bidding war so that selling Torres could fund a substantial overhaul, the prospect of their prized asset staying at Anfield went up a significant notch on Wednesday night.
* The debate is over: Ledley King has to go to the World Cup. He has proved that he can, in make-or-break circumstances, play twice in a week - and the World Cup is all about make-or-break circumstances. He was beyond outstanding at Eastlands and the only unanswered questions are whether he will be on the plane to South Africa in the company of Michael Dawson and just how much their candidature is benefited by the attraction of having an established partnership waiting in reserve behind John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
* Twelve months ago has called asking for its outraged disbelief back. Emmanuel Adebayor's apparently uninterested performance in last May's Champions League semi-final in Manchester was the final straw for his Arsenal career, and he might have strolled his way out of Eastlands this midweek. City have been found to be not good enough. Ergo changes will be made. It would be no surprise if Adebayor is this summer's headline departure.
* Adebayor's departure from Arsenal to City last summer was symbolic of an apparent shift in power from London to Manchester. A website not a million miles away suggested that, with City expected to take Arsenal's place in the elite and United favourites to land a fourth successive title, the capital of English football had to be found in the north-west. Instead, the story of 2009-10 has been of London's unexpected fightback: Chelsea's likely championship and the over-achievement of both Arsenal and Tottenham. Manchester hasn't been routed but it has been humbled.
* No prizes for guessing where the high-fiving Craig Bellamy will be playing next season. Or at least where he expects to play. His substitution even seemed to include a wave goodbye to the City faithful.
* Unbeaten runs are over-rated. In their last ten matches, Spurs have lost twice but have still managed to collect 24 points. In their last ten matches since being beaten at Spurs in February, Everton are unbeaten but have collected 20 points. To repeat the point made in the last edition of Winners and Losers, counting the number of defeats is a red herring. The number that matters most is victories won.
