What can I say... well we have played very well in the last two games and all of the sudden the goals have started coming. 3-0 against Bolton and 5-1 against Newcastle(our biggest away win thus far this season).
I am just happy Rafa has been comfortable with committing more men forward in these games. At the same time we have been more clinical in front of goal than for example in the stoke game.
I must admit I did not see the full 90 minutes of the two games but have seen Match of the day (BBC) summaries of them both and will base my comments on what I saw there.
I thought both Babel and Lucas looked promising in the Newcastle and I am still missing Pennant on that right wing. Saying that I think he is gone now so I should stop pondering on what Rafa has against him.
Hyppia has come back into the team with Arbeloa's injury and one could argue that he has been our best defender this year when he has been playing. His presence in the box and his experience is invaluable. I thought it was a genious move by Benitez to keep Sami around the club when there were takers out there (Blackburn, Newcastle and Villa to name a few) and we could have cashed in on him.
Hopefully we will see Sami step into a coaching role once he finishes much like Mauricio Pellegrino did when he hung up his playing boots.
Apart from that I must give a mention to Emilio Insua. The boy has come in and taken his chance brilliantly. If he keeps the playing like he has recently there is no way Dossena or Aurelio is going to get that left back place back without a fight.
Robbie Keane has also gotten 3 more goals and that one against Bolton seemed to give him his confidence back. I love they way you see him pointing where he wants the ball played. First he did it for Gerrard and then for Benayoun. You have got to admire someone like that, cause in all honesty I thought he would be a given in the first eleven when Torres was out.
Maybe that is Rafa's secret though, no one ever feels safe in getting a starting spot....apart from maybe the Scousers and Reina. That way he keeps them on his toes. To be fair I do not think Rafa has had the luxury of a good and large enough squad in the past to be able to do that, however as I have mentioned in many of the blogs so far I think he is making the squad better year on year and the points tally in the PL shows that at this moment in time.
We are coming up to the January window and I believe we need to business. That will be dealth with in a separate blog note though.
Right now I just want to enjoy still being top of the table and relish the fact that we have the upper hand going into the second half of the season. Who would have predicted that at the start of the season. I certainly would not. Man U is technically 1 pt behind us and Chelsea are 3. That is awesome considering the amount of money they have spent in the last 5 yrs compared to Rafa. What a lot of pundits fails to look at is how much money is recovered as well. In net spending Rafa is by far the lowest in the past 5 yrs of the top 3. Of course Wegner is lower, but look at where they are in the table right now and look at where we are.
To conclude I will just say hopefully we can keep this going and I hope that Chelsea beat united this weeked coming cause I think they are the weaker team and much more prone to injuries than United. I should mention that I saw Drogba play against Fulham and he really looked back to his best. Can not wait to see the match up at the bridge later in the season. Carra/skretel vs. Drogba....
Stian
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