Honestly, just to take a comment from JD, I don't think Gomel are THAT poor of a team. I mean obviously they're not great, but if you watched the first leg, you would see that they have some players that can really impact a game, and if they're organized they're difficult to get around. I think we were just THAT good tonight. But I don't want to get carried away, because it's still early days, and we were awful less than one week ago.
But really. Anyone who says that was just a "decent" game must not have watched us last season. It was like night and day. We occasionally played pass-and-move last season, but it was usually just passing and moving with no real purpose or direction, most of it sideways and backwards even when under no pressure. A lot of players without bollocks just knocking it around with no desire to go forward.
What we saw last night was something totally different. It was a mixture of tiki-taka and the more dynamic way that, say, Dortmund play. And wow was it fun to watch. I know in the end it was basically a glorified pre-season match, but we really showed some class. And that was with Downing in the side and Lucas not even anywhere near his best yet. This could get even better. If we somehow were able to add Sahin, a great striker and a dynamic winger, I don't think there's any reason we shouldn't be aiming for top four.
What I loved most about the match was that Suarez wasn't doing everything on his own. Last season we often just gave Suarez the ball and stood around watching, just waiting for him to do something. Last night he was moving everywhere, but everyone else was moving, too, so the defenders couldn't just focus on him alone. Stevie was all over the field, Borini had great movement, hell even Downing was like a different player. Suarez still was spectacular, but it seemed more to be part of a larger attacking force from the team instead of Suarez being our only threat. I think it bodes really well, and I think it's also really important because he'll be able to conserve energy more often. Instead of him getting the ball and having to beat three or four people (and inevitably be exhausted after each move), he only had to beat one or two, it freed him up, he didn't have to put as much energy into everything, etc. It was a really good sign.
We haven't played that well in years, honestly. The closest we came was spring of 2011 when Kenny came back, we played really well back then, probably the best of that run was away at Fulham where we walloped them 5-2, where Maxi, Maxi Rodriguez ran down the wing and got us a hat trick. That was great. But last night... that was something else. If we play anywhere near that well this season, we are going to be really dangerous.
Can't wait.
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