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Yes, Fucking International Break ... again!!

I know, I know ... two very important World Cup qualifiers for England but I just can't get myself excited ... sorry!

If anybody cares, the next 4 games we have after the FIB are all away and will pretty much shape our season ...

Starts with West Ham away, well, we already saw what they did to Spurs today; they'll be home and our away form questions and all that ...

Next is CSKA Moscow to be played in Moscow too, very important for CL especially after the loss to Bayern ...

Back to London next and it's Chelsea Away ... I guess that's a top two encounter this season; again our away form plus this would probably be our toughest game this season in my view ...

And 4th away game on the trot will see is go to Newcastle ... a do or die (league) cup tie, win and qualify for QuarterFinals, lose and that's one trophy less to fight for this season (and probably the easiest of the lot) ...

Anyone else bored over the two weeks? Oh, well at least we'll get to see City in non-stop action after that ... 7 games in 21 days post this FIB!

Oi! Who's the ref for this fib game?

At least you got to start a new thread.

One bright light in this FIB, Vinny will be 2 weeks nearer fitness

aaron bond wrote:At least you got to start a new thread.

:-)

I don't think I mind having the International break this time around due to our up and down form. The only issue is injuries and travelling time. Seeing as it's the qualifying then most of the games are within a couple of hours which is nothing these days. Spain have 2 homes games so that's a few of our players not really having to extend themselves and our England contingent will be just down the road at Wembley. It's the further afield ones like Argentina where the likes of Zab and Sergio may have the long haul. Should our squad be able to cope with that though?

The next 4 are going to be a bit cagey though due to them being away games. However, I don't think we've lost to the Hammers for a while now and it's 1 win and 2 draws from the last 3 aways. I think we can do well there and at minimum come away with a point.

The CSKA game maybe difficult, only 4 days after, but seeing Plzen put 2 past them and CSKA just scraping the result at home gives me confidence that we can take them on in their back yard and fly away with the 3 points.

Now Chelsea, probably the biggest test mentally. We've seen how we can both play and it's plain to see we are far the superior side going forward but it's still that worry that we will lose out defensively. Chelsea have the same run of games as us albeit that they've got 2 home games and not as much travelling but I can see the players being up for this one as they've proved over a couple of seasons now. We step it up in these games and I can honestly see us coming away with all 3 points, regardless of Maureen.

And finally, Newcastle in the League Cup. Well for me this is a game where we give the weary leags a rest, why not, hopefully they've deserved it. Play a nice mix of 1st teamers, those that regularly come off the bench and a few of our up and coming. The Toon have a game away to the BlackCats on Sunday and a home game afterwards to Chelsea on the Saturday. Although I'd guess they'd want to progress, I can't see them fielding a 1st team 3 times in 6 days. Can you?

After that we've got a steady run of 5 games, 4 home and 1 away (3 PL, 2 CL), with Spurs being the highlight of the month. Sunderland are the only away team and it'd be nice to get another monkey off our back. Then Xmas and the grizz of 9 games in 32 days. Sounds a lot but remember that all the other clubs have the same (some less 1 CL game) and that should be where our squad rotation policy should kick-in and where I think us and Chelsea will rise to the top. Only the Dippers face little distraction with Europe but have they got a stronger squad to compete over that period or have the likes of Arsenal or Spurs got the mental fortitude to push through. I'm not quite sure.

So, in truth I'm not too worried about us going forward and actually looking forward to a bit of a break, allowing the new system to sink in with the boys and once back I can see us going onto bigger and better things.

You know it makes sense ;-)

There is no way a draw at WHU could be considered a good result.I know what you're saying but after 3 dismal away results we can't accept another one with Chelsea to follow.Imagine just managing 2 points from our first 5 away games and only 1 could be considered in the "hard " category.We simply have to start winning away. A draw at Chelsea however would be fine as would a draw at Moscow.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:There is no way a draw at WHU could be considered a good result.I know what you're saying but after 3 dismal away results we can't accept another one with Chelsea to follow.Imagine just managing 2 points from our first 5 away games and only 1 could be considered in the "hard " category.We simply have to start winning away. A draw at Chelsea however would be fine as would a draw at Moscow.

I'm not saying it would be a good result Doug, what I'm saying is that due to our current form then it may be inappropriate to raise expectations. We should be beating the likes of West Ham but then again we all thought we'd beat Cardiff, Villa and somewhat Stoke.

The above are my thoughts on how the games may pan out, not my hopes and fears. I do believe we will beat CSKA and also come out firing against Chelsea. That's not to say that I maybe wrong and then those 2 games will be fine if we come away with a point but I do believe we'll be skipping along nicely after the 4 games have finished.

Got to beat the likes of the hammers if we are to win league.realistically we can only lose 2/3 more games & with 2 v arsenal,chelsea,dippers & spuds to go a defeat at west ham might be a defeat too many already. Couldnt give a toss re the internationals.englands team is full of shite rags & dippers.wouldnt watch if it was in my back garden

I hate international breaks.
Bored to death.

nottsblue wrote:Got to beat the likes of the hammers if we are to win league.realistically we can only lose 2/3 more games & with 2 v arsenal,chelsea,dippers & spuds to go a defeat at west ham might be a defeat too many already. Couldnt give a toss re the internationals.englands team is full of shite rags & dippers.wouldnt watch if it was in my back garden

I think we could lose 7 games this year and win the league as long as we take points from the teams around us.

No one is going to run away with it this year. The top teams aren't that good and the rest don't seem scared to have a go at anyone and its fucking awesome.

No wonder they are talking about a super league again, its just turned back into a competition and teams are having to fight for it.

losing 7 isn't that bad if you win 28-29 games.

Breks wrote:losing 7 isn't that bad if you win 28-29 games.

Yup, it's the draws that kill ... pull out last year's stats and see how many draws we got especially away and that was the difference between the title winning season and last one.