True, but I'd also say that Carrick/Park with Scholes don't "fit" really well - one because of an attempted overlap in positional play (Carrick) and one because he's a player whose main contribution is work rate and deceptive runs/pulling defenders out of position (Park). I thought Scholesy was fun, was fresher than others, and played a very non-Scholes role - almost a Xavi role. It was fun to watch. Signed, The PS Apologist!
If we'd played Scholes next to anyone other than Carrick or Keane in his prime, we'd have been slaughtered through midfield routinely and our CBs would have been faced with midfielders and or strikers running at them pel-mel all day every day.
When I was in grade school there was a tale of the 5th grade teacher who was tough. Extremely tough. One story was that she administered a test and anyone who did not get a perfect score was whooped. Interestingly the lower your score the less of a whooping you got. The one kid who score 99 out of 100 got whooped up so bad he was sore for weeks. Of course he could not tell his parents or he would get a second dose. (This was in Jamaica back in the day) the teacher rationale was that the ones with low score either are not interested or not very smart so to overly punish them would not yield the best results. The one kid that got 99 though clearly had the talent and aptitude but was careless. That means the kid is solely at fault for not getting a perfect score. And that is unacceptable. She was my favorite grade school teacher because she pushed me in ways very little people have and made me realize the immense importance of giving your all each time as the margin of victory (success in your field) can be minute. Just think. If United subscribed to her philosophy (clearly they don’t cause as some of you pointed out it was not as bad a season) we would be 20 times champions and City would still be in the cellar. Think if athletes and teams accepted the second best mentality that is pervading the United fans this season – what if Elway pulled out and went to ground instead of holding onto the ball and somersaulting over the defense into the end zone – Broncos would not have those championships. What if Jordan didn’t elevate all the way up and follow through on his last second shot against Byron Russell? We wouldn’t have a two time three peat Bulls. What if Leezak on the US Olympic swim team thought as he approached the end of the pool on the last lap oh well at least we did ok considering how the rest of the event had gone? Yes that’s right Phelps wouldn’t have the gazillion trophies he collected. (I would use Usain Bolt as an example but that wouldn’t count as the rest of the field was running backwards) My point is there is never any excuse for not doing your job and them settling for the oh it was a good season anyway. If we were good enough to get this far we were good enough to win. That we didn’t is careless. Some guys on this team will never get another opportunity to win a championship and here it is that we piss it away and claim we have 4 championships in 6 years so we should be happy. Stop using last season success to justify this season’s failure. Season was a bust. Utter failure. Stop being losers. Rid yourself of the loser mentality and admit it. My grade school teacher was right. If you can get 99, you can get a hundred cause sometimes 99% is not good enough
I don't agree with that position at all. That approach would see many kids (teams) who only needed self-belief and encouragement and maybe some who needed a kick in the ass finish as mediocre or failures. I agree that you must hold yourself to a high standard, but there is such a thing as being too competitive. Burnout and of course disillusionment can come from not recognizing or rewarding good performances. No one is happy that we failed to win, but considering the situation, we did a good job. There's work to be done but there's no point beating yourself up over it. Take it. Learn from it. That's all we can ask. This is not a season after which there should be any self-flagellation.
I had a teacher like the one he described in standard 5 who used to beat the crap out of us. I mean I was terrified of him. He used to have vocabulary quizzes after each lunch break and you got a lash (with a taped tree branch) for each word you got wrong. He also happened to be the best teacher in the school and the best teacher I've ever had in my life. (helped me pass for Fatima). All he cared about was winning and that's what he got from most of us.
Well I had an assload of teachers like that in primary school and secondary school and despite my intelligence (bias aside, I know I'm quite smart) what it got me was "this" close to dropping out of high school and totally disinterested in school, academics and learning to the point where I had 2 teachers in my last 8 YEARS of school in Trinidad that I actually valued and who I felt valued me. And it wasn't a lack of desire. When put into a proper environment of can do and inclusion I blossomed as a student.
I skimmed through that post above and thought it read, "What if Michael Jordan didn't push off Byron Russell?" lol I am pretty sure the guy's name is Bryon Russell.
My teachers point wasnot so much that you had to come first each time, but that you compete at the highest level each time. I dont hsve a problem with us not winning. it is the manner in which we lost that gets me. if we had applied that teacher's principles we would be sipping champagne in the champagne? room instead of dicking around about being happy about a medicore season. @ johno - I was with you in your first response to my rant until something about self-flagellation (or some such). what the hell is that? speaking English you &**((
Uh?? What do you think he's been ********ing doing for the last 4-5 years now??? That's nothing new. Maybe I'm angry and bitter because I'm having BS issues tonight, and its' got me all agro, but comments like that just make me.....arghhhh!!!
I think I have gotten over it. I went to a filipino party last Saturday, and I really only knew two people there. Well I was sporting my jersey, and everyone wanted to talk about the final minutes of the season with me. Even though they were be respectful and not really trolling, I just smirked and hope they change the subject. Normally I like socializing and talking to peeps and messin around but, meh, not this time. I guess I still have not gotten over it, eh.
I've had someone call me a real life troll recently. There were about 10 of us present and only 3 people got the reference. It was very sketch.
After having time to reflect it was a crappy season, probably more annoyed by the CL exit than the Prem. At least we have this:
That was awesome. But if that's anyone's favorite moment in a season, they should go support a smaller club.
Sure we had other good moments like the 8-2, the comeback at Chelsea but those counted for nothing in the end.
yes thank GOD looking forward to this season. Won't you help me sing Redemption Song!! (sorry had to pull a Marley)