{"id":2018,"date":"2020-12-22T07:45:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T07:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2018"},"modified":"2020-12-22T22:40:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T22:40:21","slug":"shadow-of-a-doubt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2018","title":{"rendered":"Shadow Of A Doubt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Marc Atkins – Offside<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ideally speaking a League Cup (or Carabao\nCup as it has been named in this incarnation) \n quarter final with Manchester\nCity of the present era \u2013 with a squad stacked with two first elevens\u2019 worth of\ntop 4 PL teams — should have been a low-key but pleasant experience to look\nforward to, to see how the young gunners fare, to simply enjoy the good\nperformances and moments of creative sparks without worrying too much about the\nresult. Many of the first eleven players would also typically enjoy the match\nfrom the sidelines or their seats in Emirates box, and the conversations before\nand after the match will mostly be about the weekend league game to look\nforward to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least that\u2019s how I remember experiencing the League Cup matches. Even the three (?) finals we lost with Ars\u00e8ne \u2013 unpleasant though they were, and especially in case of the loss against Birmingham unacceptable \u2013 didn\u2019t bother me beyond the next few days. There was always some good football to look forward to in league and sometimes in Europe, and even though it could get a little tensed at the end there was always an assured top 4 finish league finish. My favourite League Cup memory is Flamini of all people scoring with a volley from outside the box for his double to sink the trophy-dodgers.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those days surely look idyllic compared to\nthe traumatizing run of performances and results we are going through now.\nSignificant leadership transitions are always difficult, especially more so\nwhen such a transition is planned with short-sightedness. If anyone ever had\nany illusions about how difficult it will be to find ourselves back in the upper\nechelons of the league table, the last couple of months were a stark reminder\nthat how challenging it is to consistently maintain high quality performance\nyear in, year out while playing a football of signature style irrespective of\nthe players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot has been written \u2013 here and elsewhere\n\u2013 about how we find ourselves in the position we are in, and what can and\nshould be done, and whether Mikel should be trusted for as long as it takes or\nshould there be changes once a certain level of alarm has been reached, whether\ncertain players should continue to be played, which types of players to be\nbrought in the winter transfer window etc. I feel all opinions that can be\nexpressed have been expressed, and the arc of our fortune in the coming days\ncan trace so many different shapes through time that any form of absolute\ncertainty about solutions \u2013 immediate or<\/em> long-term, immediate and<\/em>\nlong-term \u2013 is problematic. Months — and probably years — of changes,\ntrials-and-errors, adjustments big and small are to be lived through before we\narrive back at the top table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the inflexion point we are now at\nthis season \u2013 a few more consecutive league losses and we will be dragged right\ninto the relegation battle however unlikely the eventual possibility of that\nmight be, a few consecutive wins on the other hand can quickly propel us to the\ntop half of the table and bring a semblance of confidence back to what seems to\nbe a rather fragile team now \u2013 this match presents a considerable dilemma to\nour under-pressure manager. If he chooses a strong team and yet loses will that\nfurther erode the confidence in league? If he chooses the starting eleven along\nthe lines of the Europa league matches (who, let us remind ourselves, won all\nsix of their matches and scoring a hatful of goals, albeit the quality of the\nEuropa oppositions until now haven\u2019t at all been comparable to the premier\nleague) and the team gets overpowered will he be criticized harshly for\nthrowing away chance of a trophy? We have already beaten two high quality teams\nin Liverpool and Leicester in the Carabao Cup this year on our way to the\nquarters, so he may want to carry that cup form forward. Given the top four\nthis season is now nearly improbable (but of course not impossible) and top six\ntoo is highly unlikely, cup runs are essential to stand any chance of European\nfootball next season. Our opponents, star-studded though is their squad, has\nbeen noticeably underperforming in the league and Guardiola may choose to not\nrisk any of his in-form players which can open up for us a higher chance of\ngetting to the semis. Mikel in his short stint has already shown himself to be\na highly capable cup manager with razor sharp tactics calibrated to the\nstrengths and weaknesses of the opposition and willing to play on the\ncounterattack, and more importantly to get his players to behave exactly the\nway he wants in those matches. I think Mikel will find this match an\nopportunity to not only keep us going in the League cup, but also to use a\nvictory here as an inspiration to boost confidence and morale in the squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I myself would like to see players that\nhaven\u2019t been starting league matches given a chance here, but I think Mikel\nwill be more circumspect and will use more of his senior players. But he will\nalso mix in a few of the youngsters who have shown themselves to be capable of\nperforming precisely to a plan in a counter-attacking set-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My predicted line-up in a 3-4-3 formation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mustafi \u2013 Gabriel – Mari<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hector \u2013 Dani \u2013 Joe \u2013 AMN <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reiss \u2013 Lacazette \u2013 Willian <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am hoping Balogun, ESR, P\u00e9p\u00e9, Saka, Eddie\non the bench will provide necessary attacking variations when needed. If\nChambers is doing well in the practice Mikel may want to play him in place of\nGabriel, moving Mustafi in the middle and playing Calum as the right sided\ncenter back, but I doubt it. I would have actually liked to see Balogun is\ngiven a chance to start and impose himself on a defense which can be prone to\nmistakes and is willing to move higher, but on the other hand Laca finding a\ngoal or two against City may just be the tonic he needs to get back to scoring\ngoals in the league.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My prediction (hope?) is a minimal possession, rearguard action, counterattacking 2-1 victory. An early goal from Lacazette and a late goal from Balogun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy the match! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ideally speaking a League Cup (or Carabao Cup as it has been named in this incarnation)   quarter final with Manchester City of the present era \u2013 with a squad stacked with two first elevens\u2019 worth of top 4 PL teams — should have been a low-key but pleasant experience to look forward to, to see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2018"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2032,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018\/revisions\/2032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}