There has been a fair bit of criticism about Rafa's conservatism, dogmatic team selection and lack of attacking flair, all of which I can understand. Last night, though, we maybe saw what we get in return. Brighton's win put the lads under pressure before the game started. The penalty incident could have been the cue for The Great Toon Collapse as seen in any number of previous seasons. The moment when the players lose the plot, the 10 point lead over Huddersfield starts to be frittered away and we end up in the playoffs (in which failure is inevitable). The penalty decision enters local folklore in the long catalogue of might have beens. Didn't happen though. Heads didn't drop or become separated from bodies altogether. Panic stations were not manned. Grafted and got a result. Penalty incident becomes historic footnote. Can't say how much of that is down to Rafa, but maybe lots.
Good comment. Huge credit to Rafa, but also to the leaders within the dressing room and their application; Ritchie, Lascelles, Clark, Shelvey all motivate with in-game management. Before we were relying on Colo, Sissoko, Wijnaldum - players looking to these idiots with their huge ego's and getting no leadership in return. Right now it's about getting results. Hell, the whole season has been, but now more than ever. The financial impact has hit us hard, Charnley's latest comments a bit scary ahead of the Summer. I'll take two more 1-0's then see if the team can relax. I think we'll destroy at least one team once promotion is confirmed.
I absolutely love the sexy Spanish bastard. Still cannot believe he is out manager. Every time I think about this fact... I cannot stop smiling.
You can have both if you manage correctly. It comes from transfer policy and then set up. If you make sure you buy a blue chip brigade they tend to drag the rest along. If you buy the right balance of dogmatic and flair players, exuberance of youth and experience, then you get a fully functional team. It just comes down to managerial style - some managers like to focus more on one aspect or another. For instance Wenger seems to focus heavily on technical and attacking play, Mourinho is more interested in defensive set ups. Whereas SAF trumped them all. He made sure his teams were rock solid through their spine, had both you and experience, and while they were attacking in nature they worked from a solid foundation.
