++ [ originally posted by Glen ] ++
Slack/chinq: We do agree alot on what we would 'like' to see. I just think you, while painting a rather grim image of the visual quality of our performances thus far, forget that we are a team that does what's enough. Contrary to Inter that spills blood to do anything. We have been behind only twice this year. At Chievo and Olympiakos. Eventually... we won both anyway. On difficult grounds. It's a very cynical way we approach things and it would be great if we tried to please more, but I rarely get the impression that we couldn't do more if we wanted to.
Eventually... it's the Lippi way, and to be honest I would not want anyone else just to please my own aesthetics. His record is simply too great for that in my opinion.
Alrighty, perhaps we shouldn’t agree so much then
Gosh, you’re the 1st person I see to draw a smiley outta denco
I am certainly a little displeased about aesthetics leading up to Real Sociedad. I can’t agree that we’re a team that ‘just does enough’. That has hindsight imprinted all over by the way of results. To do that, a certain degree of control is a given and I won’t exactly include frequent bail-outs aka individual brilliance as one. In fact, I think its overstated. Quite another problem arises after we ‘think’ we’ve done ‘enough’ (which I’ve just mentioned) and there comes your late scares. Oh yes, we do have quite a lot of them and if the others had it the way we have, well … ? The 3rd concern, which you stated, is that we couldn’t have done more if we wanted. That might be acceptable if we didn’t know better
Our capability goes far beyond the current in terms of squad makeup, individual qualities etc. For some reason, we aren’t even remotely close to our potential and that’s disconcerting to say the least.
Anyway, my gripe isn’t about how we mess up with a quarter of a match to go as I believe that’s something time will iron out as the season progresses. Rather, its where we’ve supposedly won the match or more pertinently, how we’ve won it. A slight footballing improvement over the same period last season but not enough to warrant that much difference in results. Results though, inevitably paint a whole different picture that’s hardly as indicative as most would like to think. The flipside, an aspect few are willing to touch on or even contemplate, is that it could have gone either way in some instances. We’re all glad it hasn’t. Luck does play a part and you can say we make our own but banking on it to last the distance won’t get us very far. Making a projection that things will only get better is just what it is - an assumption.
The 96-98 teams had MUCH more than functionality. How would you account for them being more of a collective with arguably inferior quality than now? I don’t have the stats but in those years, I can’t recall a team having a higher turnover (and we’re talking about superstars here) and yet no matter who we stick in (be it a newb or seasoned campaigner) it worked; the transition was almost seamless. Hence, I don’t think players getting accustomed to the style is as much an issue. We have even more of a core presence now than we ever did in those days, unless there’s something wrong with the ‘style’ or ‘system’ perhaps ...
Which brings me back to the final point : what do you expect from the Scudetto winners?
1. Horizontal progression : would you be content to extend/maintain the standard on functionality and wrap things up even earlier than the last?
or
2. Vertical progression : would you rather see the team elevate themselves to a higher level at the risk of some consistency?
or
3. Perverse entertainment : mess up deliberately, give others a headstart, make things more interesting and conclude - damn, we're good! (maybe that's what we're doing eh?)
I prefer the 2. for if not now, when?
That said, I don’t see it happening when Tudor is the 1st freaking midfield choice over Maresca. Again, not because we can’t but more like we won’t … highly annoying.
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