by brite blu sky » Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:32 pm
im not buying into a lot of this..
dont get me wrong, there is some really good analysis of our weaknesses in all the what went wrong threads, and once again we will learn more as fans and players and manager from that defeat.
im not buying a lot of it, because it seems obvious to me that we allowed a goal against the run of play and then were basically up against it as Everton definately know how to play us, losing Ireland, not having RSC from the start, the dodgy Ref... etc etc, all contributed to taking away the knife edge difference we would have needed to overcome a good team that also has our number.
We will learn a lot form this, but we shouldn't go overboard that something is totally wrong, it is definately not right, but the difference is not THAT much. Everton certainly did not outplay us like at theirs, in fact we started well, and were all over them for a majority of the second half. I thought we were going to get an equaliser apart from what i felt at the time that we already looked hassled and were fluffing all the final balls and attempted shots. The goal and losing Stevie knocked us and made us have an almost panicky attitude.
i thing both teams knew from the off that whoever got the opening goal was more than likely to grab the points due to the teams being quite evenly matched ( toffees having better organised and disciplined teamwork, us being at home and generally more dangerous ).
We knew Everton would play well and we knew they had us sussed to some extent after Goodison.. so in my view we have improved dramatically since then. But just as the Stoke games showed us, we still have a lot to learn.. both players and Mancini.
These same players trashed Chelsea twice this season.. and Chelsea fans might bemoan their fortune in the second game.. and possibly quite rightly.. it is football after all and shit happens, mistakes and good bounces can make all the difference between fairly evenly matched teams. By us getting ahead of Chelsea at the bridge totally fucled them up.. suddenly the home record is in danger.. the title race is made a lot harder, the opponents are looking at getting 6 point from you.. Chelsea got rattled, lost composure, discipline and eventually 2 players.
imo we should have gotten back in the game last night, we played generally well enough to do so, but i think lost it to nerves.. by us snatching at the few opportunities that did arise. Now you have to give everton credit for their efforts at putting us in that frame of mind.. just as you would credit City for their play at Stamford Bridge.
Next season Chelsea will have serious concerns about playing City both at home and away, just as we will have serious concerns about playing the Toffees twice.
I still rekon we are better than we were.. i think we all knew this was going to be one of the most difficult games of the season. In reality it could have very easily gone another way, but that isn't good enough for our ambitions, so we clearly still have something to learn about playing teams like Everton and Stoke. I dont really see that this result or performance will have any negative effect on our mentality, because Wigan are going to get one hell off a hiding as this team really vents its frustration. Hopefully Bobby will also vent his frustration by simply setting us up to attack and letting the lads just get on with it.
Conclusion: although it was hard to take, this defeat will just spur us on all the more.. and there are some good cannon fodder teams coming up in quick succession.
If i was Manicin i would demand that we close the gap with Spurs goal difference.. seems to me that would be the right target to ensure we try and get the right attitude in the next few games.
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