That team in BD8: This week they were actually in WS1. As someone who went to Walsall to watch them play there in the Spring of 2006 when it was pretty much my local game, it's not a trip you make more than once. Being over here also makes it hard to repeat. Back then, seeing David Wetherall score an overhead kick remains one of the more bizarre things I've seen at a game. Today, I had to make do with the radio. Well, 80 minutes of the radio. For whatever reason, when I logged into Bantams Player this morning, having been up, as usual, at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, there were no virtually no games accessible. I'm puzzled why, at virtually the only time in the week that the Progress Group (also responsible for the appalling individual Football League club website redesign two summers ago) has any sort of product to maintain basically had nobody at work to realise the whole thing had come crashing down. I'm no fan of the Pulse's commentary, but after about ten minutes, it was sweet music indeed to hear them via their online channel (usually blacked out because of "Progress" Group's commercial rights).
Fortunately, I didn't miss much. The team continues on its merry way, and to bag a 2-0 win away at a team that had lost 3 of its last 24 games is another impressive feat. I keep thinking the bubble is about to burst, but maybe it isn't going to quite yet. In any other year, 21 points from 10 games would probably see them top, except that thanks to Leyton Orient's freakish 8-wins-from-8 start and the moneyed Wolverhampton and Peterborough, this time they sit in a relatively anonymous 4th place. They have now lost just 3 of the last 25 league games. Kyel Reid scored a wonder goal by all accounts, to add to his divisional player of the month nomination. All those people on the interweb that pull him to bits are very quiet at present. His crossing is a bit erratic, yes, but you don't get complete players at this level, there is usually a flaw somewhere. I'd also like to point out that the first two goals at the playoff final at Wembley came because his crosses were overhit. It pays off sometimes! And you can relive them in one week. Dead excited to get my hands on one.
Elsewhere: Another round of European games this week. Being the gentleman of leisure means that my lunchtimes are spent on the sofa watching games, and not keeping abreast of things on the internet or sitting at my laptop with one earphone craftily out of view. Two things: Firstly, the complete spanking that Manchester City received at the hands of Bayern Munich this week was glorious. They seem to have taken up the mantle that the first-Mourinho-era Chelsea had that no matter how much money you spend, you can't spend your way into the storied company of the continent's best clubs. That you can spend a gazillion pounds on a team and still be made to look like a fourth division side gladdens the heart. I hope the Sheikh was there to see the hilarious spectacle in person. Now I know that Bayern are not for nothing known as FC Hollywood in Germany, but they do possess several German internationals that were developed through their own youth system. They at least realise that as one of the duties of clubs in the Bundesliga is to develop players capable of representing the national side. I think the most humiliating part was that Bayern essentially said at 3-0 "OK, we're done now" and started showboating instead.
Also, Swansea continue to look at home in Europe after their League Cup final win. And though I've seen games of theirs on the TV since that hiding at Wembley, the game the other night brought back the bewildering off-the-ball movement they displayed that miserably cold February afternoon. I couldn't tell you what formation they were playing with the ball, the strikers ended up in midfield, the wingers were the furthest players forward. It must be like chasing shadows for the opponent.
Ship O'Clock: This week's action in the Ship was the Sunderland-Manchester United game. The prospect of a shock result with the amusing consequences of unhappy armchair fans was too enticing. And in the fifth minute, some Keystone Cops defending left bottom side Sunderland (1 point thus far) with a shock lead. And but for ablinding save from De Gea, they might have been too far into the hole before they eventually responded with two strikes from young prospect Adnan Januzaj. The thing that struck me most was the lack of tempo in their attacks. There isn't the cavalier attitude to getting players into the penalty area which ultimately is how they were successful late on in games, in so-called "Fergie time"; opponents were just too punch drunk to hang on for the full 90+ minutes. Moyes seems to be slightly recasting them into a more upscale version of his Everton side of the last 10 years. That might work against the lesser lights, but it's already not worked against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. It'll be interesting (read: very amusing if they can't) to see how they address this in the coming weeks.
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