1. I GET AM BEFORE NO BE PROPERTY
No fan, not even any one of them could predict what happened to the almighty Manchester United this season. At the beginning of the season, some analysts rightly predicted that the boys from the Old Trafford would struggle under David Moyes not because Moyes is not a good manager but for the simple fact that succession is usually an uphill task.
Manchester started the season as the reigning Champion of the league. FACT! Starting a season as the reigning champions has a way of making players and fans cocky and that was how the Red Devils started the league. However, by the time the league had progressed, the reigning Champions had become doggy and were looking for match points more than we looked for NEPA light in this part of the world. The champions were nowhere at the top of the league, infact they were at some point struggling to stay in the first half of the league table. Continue after the cut...
String of poor performances plagued the Red Devils like in the days of Pharaoh and Moses; however that did not stop some Old Trafford faithfuls from believing in the squad. Their faith in the squad was not driven by good performance but by the ‘I get am before’ kind of faith/confidence. Well, it is not totally their fault, they’ve gotten used to winning the trophy or at least ending the seasons on a high. So whatever poor result they had were regarded as a temporary setback. Game after game, instead of pulling out of the wood, the Red Devils were plunged deeper into the woods. All the records that fans held so dearly were smashed, all of them.
Lesson: The skill or achievement of yesterday may not be relevant or good enough for tomorrow. Always look for ways to improve upon your last achievement/skills.
2. DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES TO THE STRATEGY OF YOUR OPPOSITION, LEARN ONE OR TWO THINGS
If Liverpool FC had drawn the game between them and Chelsea, they would have probably won the league. Something struck me after the game. I watched Brendan Rodgers bemoan Chelsea’s approach to the game. Mind you, Liverpool needed just a draw in that match to move into pole position to clinching the trophy. Fans were angry after that match accusing Chelsea of parking the bus even Brendan Rodgers said it was a double Decker. I remember listening to John Dykes and Andy Townsend. They both criticized Brendan Rodgers, infact Andy was equivocal; he called Brendan Rodgers “a rookie.” The approach Mourinho adopted was exactly what Liverpool needed since Liverpool had better fire-power. I still believe they could have out-smarted Chelsea in counter attack. A week, the same woes befell them and Crystal Palace drove in the final nail that knocked the trophy out of their reach.
Lesson: Always make use of your strength like Chelsea did in a couple of matches. And when your strength is not enough, look for that weak part of your enemy that you can explore. Don’t allow the hatred you have for your enemy to becloud you to the extent that you discard everything from their quarters.
3. IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL IT’S OVER
In football, they say it’s not over until it’s over. This cliché played out well in the season that just ended. The likes of Sunderland, West Ham United and Crystal Palace lived up to that cliché. Not too many bookmakers believed these three club sides would be able to pull out of the zone of death of the league. Tony Pulius, Sam Allardyce and Gus Poyet proved all of them wrong and once again proved that it’s not over until it’s over.
Lesson: As long as there’s life, keep surging on, cling on to everything you can. Like Winston Churchill said and I quote “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
