Let me tell you what that somewhat vague title alludes to.
My friend sent me a text this morning, & said "We now just have to hope Arsenal turn Chelsea over this weekend", & I thought to myself, "Do we?". More importantly, "Can I hope for that?".
I'm not sure I can hope for that yet. Every ounce of my brain, the conscious, analytical part of my brain anyway, says that it's the obvious thing to do, that our squad is too weak, the last month's worth of poor results & complete dirge on the pitch make it plain that we simply cannot challenge this ultra-cynical Chelsea side who keep literally grinding out results.
However, despite that month of shite, despite our thin squad being exposed, & most of all, in spite of our lack of ideas in the final third, I'm not ready to give it up yet.
We're ten points behind, we've passed that threshold that Modo stumbled upon showing that teams in first place at the end of January almost always go on to win it, & yet, yet I see a faint glimmer of hope. Not much, not much at all, but the barest suggestion of a glimmer, a trace of it just on the edge of my senses, like the peal of a far away bell caught in the wind.
We have rest periods between games now, which means that the thin squad is less of an issue, that our attackers should be able to shake of this mental malaise that's befallen them, & last night I saw a side that can match the league leaders blow for blow, I saw parts of our game that were promises we can get back to our scintillating best.
Chelsea meanwhile, have rarely looked convincing during this impressive run of results. The results are no less impressive, but the performances aren't, which suggests that they could falter at any time when one or two of their best players drop their levels, which they inevitably will do.
Who knows, some good confidence boosting wins in the next couple of games & Arsenal beating Chelsea could see us in the ascendancy & Chelsea starting to waver.
It's unlikely, I know it is, fuck, it's just as likely that we'll drop points at Hull as we so often do after performing against the better sides in the league, but you know what, fuck it, I can hope, I can dream, & for the next few days at least, so I'm going to.
My friend sent me a text this morning, & said "We now just have to hope Arsenal turn Chelsea over this weekend", & I thought to myself, "Do we?". More importantly, "Can I hope for that?".
I'm not sure I can hope for that yet. Every ounce of my brain, the conscious, analytical part of my brain anyway, says that it's the obvious thing to do, that our squad is too weak, the last month's worth of poor results & complete dirge on the pitch make it plain that we simply cannot challenge this ultra-cynical Chelsea side who keep literally grinding out results.
However, despite that month of shite, despite our thin squad being exposed, & most of all, in spite of our lack of ideas in the final third, I'm not ready to give it up yet.
We're ten points behind, we've passed that threshold that Modo stumbled upon showing that teams in first place at the end of January almost always go on to win it, & yet, yet I see a faint glimmer of hope. Not much, not much at all, but the barest suggestion of a glimmer, a trace of it just on the edge of my senses, like the peal of a far away bell caught in the wind.
We have rest periods between games now, which means that the thin squad is less of an issue, that our attackers should be able to shake of this mental malaise that's befallen them, & last night I saw a side that can match the league leaders blow for blow, I saw parts of our game that were promises we can get back to our scintillating best.
Chelsea meanwhile, have rarely looked convincing during this impressive run of results. The results are no less impressive, but the performances aren't, which suggests that they could falter at any time when one or two of their best players drop their levels, which they inevitably will do.
Who knows, some good confidence boosting wins in the next couple of games & Arsenal beating Chelsea could see us in the ascendancy & Chelsea starting to waver.
It's unlikely, I know it is, fuck, it's just as likely that we'll drop points at Hull as we so often do after performing against the better sides in the league, but you know what, fuck it, I can hope, I can dream, & for the next few days at least, so I'm going to.
