For once, the arrival of yet
another, season-disrupting,
momentum killing, boredom
inducing international break,
isnt exactly the end of the world.
Though, to be fair, the September
and October sojourns from the
Premier League didnt exactly
prove detrimental to our
conquest to cement first place I
think it would be safe to say our
last seven matches constituted
our worst period of the season
so far (excellent win at Anfield,
aside). So here are five reasons
why now is probably a good
time to take a short break from
the club game.
1. A chance for Diego Costa and
Cesc Fabregas to recuperate
Finally, the Spanish national team
seem to have seen sense and
have left Costa out of their squad
to play against Belarus and
Germany. Fabregas also has been
relieved of his duties this time
around after picking up a slight
hamstring injury. Sergio Ramos
comments about the pair
perhaps showing a lack of
commitment, by withdrawing
from the squad, I thought were a
tad strange. If the Madrid player
thinks commitment means
playing through pain until you
are utterly incapable of
performing, then Id suggest his
idea of dedication is somewhat
distorted. Costa has proven all
year he is prepared to play
through injury whilst Cesc is an
international veteran of 10 years
and has won everything with
his country surely he is owed
the benefit of the doubt? The
whole club v country argument
in football is a constant, it will
always exist to some extent, but
when it comes to Cesc and to
Costa in particular, I think we
have been more than reasonable
for long enough.
2. A chance to marvel out our
league position Its difficult to
tell to what extent our lead at the
top of the table is the result of
our decision making and great
work thus far, compared to the
terrible form of pretty much
everyone else. Already Man Utd,
Arsenal and Liverpool are out of
the running (if Liverpool were
ever even in it?). Man Citys poor
form is far less explainable
though and also far less likely to
last. Manuel Pellegrinis side are
simply in a rut, suffering from a
lack of confidence and clearly
missing their most important
player in David Silva. They still
might be too far behind to catch
us but should we go through a
similar period to the one they
have just endured, you can bet
that theyll be close enough
behind to capitalise theyre
certainly the only ones who can,
at any rate.
3. A chance to marvel at our
finances This morning the club
announced a profit of £18.4m
and a record turnover of
£319.8m. The sales of Juan Mata,
David Luiz, Kevin De Bruyne and
Romelu Lukaku certainly helped
things, but even so, theres no
denying, to the outside eye, we
look an exceptionally well run
club at the moment. With the
growing influence of Marina
Granovskaia only seeming to
reap good things, and with
Mourinho and Michael Emenalo
enjoying as solid a relationship
as the former has ever cultivated
with a technical director,
confidence in the skill and the
harmony of the back room has
possibly never been higher.
4. A chance to reassess and
refocus Scrappy wins against
Shrewsbury (or strawberry if you
ask Eden Hazard) and QPR, as
well as a rubbish draw in
Slovenia were useful reminders
that even when (pretty much) at
full strength, results and
performances will elude us at
times. Having established such a
lead already means that our
focus may now entirely rest upon
ourselves; on not allowing
concentration to fade or
complacency to creep in. Having
a combination of experienced
winners in the dressing room,
along with a group of
phenomenal young talents
looking for their first major
trophy win in English football,
and a manager for whom sloppy
performances are intolerably
offensive, I think stands us in
good stead. Our next match at
home to West Brom starts a run
of 12 games in 40 days. Well
need all of that experience, talent
and focus to maintain the
position of strength we enjoy
right now.
5. A fresh start for those out of
favour If were being honest,
this hasnt been a productive
three weeks for the careers of
some players at the club. Andre
Schurrle has been consistently
dreadful when given the chance
to play. Mohamed Salah can no
longer even get on the bench.
Gary Cahill has fallen below his
typical standards, whilst Thibaut
Courtois has failed to keep a
single clean sheet since he last
played for Belgium. Cesar
Azpilicueta spent most of the
period suspended after a stupid
tackle at Crystal Palace also. Its a
testament to our strength as a
unit as well as the depth of our
18 man squad that weve
managed to pick up results in
spite of all this; its also a nice
reminder that things can, and
hopefully will be, so much better
than they have been for the last
three weeks. Theres still so much
clear room for improvement so
as to completely demoralise the
rest of the league, it they havent
been already, that is.
