City Vs Utd
Sven Eriksson was much criticized for his failure at the last World Cup with regards to England’s failed campaign in the midst of heightened pre-world cup talk. Now that his Manchester City is doing well at the start of the new EPL season, people in particular, the media appeared to be ‘shocked” and some even suggesting that City could be the surprise of the season.
I can’t help but think that these people are either incredibly stupid or just plain stupid, period. There is a fundamental difference between being manager of England and that of a club. Erickson was known for his club successes prior to hire by England FA. While one could call up any world class English player to form the national team, it doesn’t mean automatic gelling of players to form that cohesiveness or teamwork. Because these players spent more time playing and training under a different coach and style, it takes a while before it can do anything substantial. Whereas at club level, the manager gets the players to train on set pieces on a daily and weekly basis. The camaraderie is easily formed and understanding builds through weekly doses of EPL if not championship league or UEFA ties. The England manager often encountered deliberate attempts by club managers to deter the calling of their key payers through “injuries.” The club manager knows if a player is truly injured or not. He can benched or sell away the player if he is not up to mark at club level. Not being called up for one’s country may not directly jeopardize one’s football career though it certainly adds feather to the cap, so to speak. Beckham may have had some difficulty, but his club performances is so well coupled with England’s dismal performances literally “forces” Mclaren to issue recall to the former captain. What a load of pride to swallow!Would Erickson do well for Manchester City this season? I think so but perhaps not at the top-four placing for starters. It’s time for this underachieving club to at least attain top-ten spot this season and helped boost the fans’ morale seeing they’re often overshadowed by their more glorious rival, United.
With MU having drawn two games and two “R”s missing, it will be interesting to see the resilience of this team this season. Carlos Tevez may once again prove to be the man for the hour. And that’s my thought for this weekend.
