It’s hard not to start off by saying how excited I am that Man City lost. We are the last big team standing but as Man City has learned (twice now), pulling off the FA Cup is not as easy as it appears. This was really a game that wore on me while watching. I was concerned going in as Everton are a solid club with great players and a very good manager. All things aside, we pulled out a great win with a much more lopsided score than what really played out on pitch. 

One interesting pick to play this one out: Sanogo. Kind of surprising given that Bend-over has found the net when leaned on early in the year when we were a bit injury depleted (yes, I can’t believe I am saying that either). Aside from Sanogo, you could tell we ran a very solid lineup out there. To me, however, the biggest addition and difference maker was the Ox. AOC has been a beast in the absence of Theo. He is the attacking prowess and pace we need on the counter; a great addition to the starting lineup. The effort he exuded in earning that penalty was fantastic and exactly the kind of effort we needed from him; pure quality from a great, young winger. The other big benefit to this match was Flamini (although I am not the biggest fan of both Flamini and Arteta on the pitch but in the absence of Jack I get it). 

What was a breath of fresh air was seeing a rejuvenated Ozil provide for our first goal (lovely slot) and then an assist later on. I don’t care what people say, that lad is pure quality and you don’t go starting for Germany and Real Madrid without grande cajones. It was only a matter of time before he perked back up after a much needed rest (come on, it’s his first year in the BPL and that has to carry with it adjustment if you believe all the hype of it being the best in the world-maybe…). 

It was nice seeing TV5 getting the start but boy did he have a few bone-headed mistakes that really could have been detrimental to the outcome of this game. In the end it didn’t ruin our chances but I think the rust was apparent at times (really makes you appreciate what Kols/BFG partnership means to our club). 

Lastly, you can’t deny this was a great boost for the big OG. Two late goals not only sealed the game but are the exact confidence booster a striker needs going into our CL match with Bayern; especially given that he nailed a brace in less than a half. The fact that Ozil walked away with another assist helps too and hopefully they will carry that confidence into our CL clash. 

The wonderful part about this game is that our boys hung 4 on a solid team without exhausting all out players. It also helps knowing that our lads can hang with Bayern in their home stadium and hopefully this year we nab that one necessary goal to see us through one more round. 

It is looking more and more like Chelsea/Man City are going to dominate our league cup. I know mathematically we still can throw a wrench in it all but we have to really run the table in order to keep pressure on and have a chance. It is looking more and more like the FA may be our only silverware (fingers crossed) this year. Big question right now, which is more likely: We run to the top of the league table OR we pull through to the next CL round? Yeah… 

Just shite. Yesterday’s game was a bit rough to watch (uninspiring?). Arsenal couldn’t string together much passing and every time we garnered some possession we couldn’t do much with it. Stoke are always a tough play for us; and they have been even tougher this year at home with some of the big boys. Yesterday was no different and as soon as I saw the hand ball by Kols I knew this one was over. Don’t get me wrong, we had a few decent chances but the continual grab ass, foot stomping, shin kicking way in which Stoke was allowed to play just threw us completely off our game (anyone else seeing a pattern with how to frustrate us this year?). It seemed like the Ref was just content to allow everything to play on when clearly there were a few missed yellows (the stomp on Giroud was just despicable).

I thought this one was an interesting side that we ran out there but after the first few minutes is quickly became obvious we were missing speed to link up with Rosicky (who I thought was easily our man of the match). It wasn’t until very late did we see The Ox come on and really start running at them (sad to Rosicky come off when that happened). With the way Stoke muffled us I wonder if Frenchy paid any attention to the fact that our best chances came on the counter (where we always seemed one man short from really making a difference).

After watching a bit I felt like we seriously misplayed our starting 11 in this one and hoped that speed was going to come on in the second half (and possibly an enforcer). To me, the subs should have been The Ox, Gnabry and Flamini on for Poldi, Wilshere and Arteta. Poldi actually had a decent chance early on (and was denied an opportunity later when Santi struck instead of laying off) but we needed wingers and some D to match up against what was going on with this game. Our counter lacked any pizzazz and given that we constantly got knocked off possession it seemed that the only answer to Stoke’s molesting was the run and gun. When that didn’t happen we saw witness to a hand ball that on replay looked more like uncontrolled body movement coupled with the luck a re-direct in mid-air (the image of Walters shoving Kols right after pretty much sums of this match).

We now find ourselves losing serious ground with plenty of teams waiting in the wings. Tater Totts keeps crawling up. Liverpuke keeps winning. City still has points to gain in had. And Blue balls still command the top spot. This could easily be one of those seasons where we barely hold on to 4th while only being a few points from 1st. Not a great feeling when the race is this tight and we start to drop points where we shouldn’t. That isn’t to say Stoke didn’t earn their win (admittedly they earned at least a share of a point) but we can’t be dropping points this late in the season. This is where we need to make the kind of run we have made in the last few years. The big difference? This time a run like the past could have us at the top rather than fighting for the last CL spot…

COYG.