Well, we deserved it. We deserved it like crap deserves to smell. Like Hull (really) deserves to be relegated, like Birmingham fans deserve Birmingham.
Watching Arse this season has been a mix of sheer joy and occasional frustration. Last night was weird. It was more like...boredom. It didn't help that Alkmaar are basically, a really crap team. Just as crap as Liege, if not more crap. So for the first half hour, we operated at 30% capacity, and second gear to boot. Must've been the cold, coz we really looked out of it. Think about it - while Alkmaar's passing went nowhere, we were outpassed by a mediocre Dutch team which West Brom would dispatch with ease.
Our goal then, had to come from an Alkmaar mistake, and the couple of passes from RVP to Cesc were probably the best passage of passes we had the whole game. And apart from the goal, I must say Cesc was equally crap the whole night. That said, going one up was probably the worst thing that could've happened. The team then figured that..."Hey! We've been crap, and we're still one up, and these people are so crap, let's just have a little stroll and rest up for West Ham."
So that was basically it for the next 40 or so minutes. Until for some reason, around minute 75, Alkmaar decided to actually pass the ball towards goal. And then, it happened. Alkmaar contrived to miss when it was easier to score, one player getting in the way of a goal bound shot. From a set piece no less.
You'd have thought that that would be perfect kick up the khyber, to let it be known that this traipsing around at 1-0 was not going to be any good. But no...you could just see it happen.
And honest to god, I did. 90+3 minutes. Free kick, and I say to myself, hmmm...I wouldn't be surprised if...
In short, we deserved it, for playing like we thought we deserved the win, playing at a crap 30-40% capacity. Le Boss says it was naivete. This adds to the "accidents" that happened in Manchester. It wasn't naivete. It was complacency, plain and simple. A team challenging for the league and Champions League cannot be naive. Come on. How come he in one breath say our boys are ready, while in the next claim naivete? Methinks complacency would be a far better explanation. Put it this way, if Alkmaar had gone one-up in the first 15 minutes, I'm pretty confident we would sit up and put the game away. But to get to 1-0 and continue to coast through mediocrity, is nothing more than complacency.
But anyway. I'm glad it happened. It's like when your kid nearly slices his finger off after you tell him not to play with the friggin' Swiss Army Knife for the 10th time. It hurts you, it hurts him, but you're kinda glad it happened. Better he nearly slices it off, and learns his lesson than slice it off completely the next time. (Oh shit...did I just suggest that we have a team of kids???)
Anyway - a draw is not big catastrophe. Surprise surprise, it's our first draw this season, and while it was bound to happen some time, we can only hope that the way it happened would teach us a lesson or two. Good thing too that if all goes to plan, the draw would be inconsequential anyway. Just win our two next home games, and draw away to Olympiacos, and we'll top the table. If we can't win at home to Alkmaar and Liege, well then...
For those who are so inclined, match highlights right here:
As for the player ratings:
Mannone 7 - Decent enough, and couldn't blame him for the goal. One wonders what plans are for the boy.
Sagna 6.5 - Good enough, but non-descript enough as well. Didn't have much to do in defence (save defend a few stupid set pieces!!), and was as clueless as the rest going forward.
Gallas 7 - Workman-like performance, but in the last second of games, you'd expect him to be yelling out orders to his defence.
TV 7 - Ditto.
Clichy 6 - Getting a little bit suspect, I'm afraid. Letting too many people and balls get by him too easily.
Eboue 7.5 - Strangely, one of the few who seemed to look like they actually cared. Some great runs, but his usual occasional crap final ball.
Diaby 4 - Should just go home. Again, he was in the thick of it in letting the goal in. Seriously needs to work on his heading if he's to remain anywhere near the first team. Nearly scored another own goal when he fell asleep defending...a set piece.
Cesc 5 - By his high high standards, a rather nothing performance. Nothing in terms of lifting the team, nothing in terms of creating anything. His tap in was all the work of RVP and the Arsh, and a (crap) Alkmaar player.
Song 8 - My favourite, increasingly. Played his usual committed game, and provided good enough cover for the back, and tried his best going forward.
Arsh 6.5 - Not his best game by his high standards, but still miles ahead of Cesc and Diaby.
RVP 7.5 - One of the better players on the day. With Arsh, the only sources of anything worthwhile. Should've put away a first try early in the first half though.
Before we get too down on ourselves, let's just think for a minute. Barca 1 - Rubin Kazan 2. Pool 1 - Lyon 2. Strange the things that spring to mind...
Funny looking at Barca's group. Everyone's on 4 points, with Inter on 3. It's as open as open ever will be. I'll be keeping out an eye on that. I liked Guardiola's explanation. Basically, shit happens. Wish Le Boss would say that too. Shit happens. Sometimes, it's shit performances. And Pool? Well, I really enjoyed that. And we thought we had a bad result letting in a last-minute goal...
On the subject of Pool, looks like their loss to Lyon was the first time they've lost 4 on the trot since the days of er...Kenny Dalglish no less! What larks. Anyway, now that they've lost 4, guess who they play next - Man U and then Arse in the Carling Cup. Now, the possibilities are endless, but what joy to be had if our little tykes put them to their 6th!
So toodle-oo. I hear Nasri's back. Methinks our boys need some re-energising. Another tricky away game after Europe's never good. Fingers crossed lessons have been learnt. In the meantime, gotta go watch a few nice games tonight, not least Madrid - Milan.
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