As Chelsea were narrowly losing a heavyweight contest in the north, columnist Pat Nevin was across the Atlantic watching some other sporting giants in action. He noticed similarities.
I think it was the late George Harrison who had an album called 'All Things Must Pass' and of course they must, even when it is an unbeaten start to the season. If you had to point to a couple of games at the start of the campaign which would be the hardest, then Man City away would probably have been one of them.
To say it was a close game is to under play it, the first goal for whoever was probably always going to settle it. Football can be like that sometimes, the width of a post can make the difference between a win or a loss. Had Ivanovic scored instead of connecting with the woodwork then who knows what would have happened. Actually even more than that, just consider JT and that penalty kick in Moscow. All the headlines, the history and millions of wise words written would all have been totally different.
This weekend I went to a football game myself, but not my usual style. I was in New York on a short family holiday and we went along to see the New York Giants play the Tennessee Titans at American football.
The Giants have always been my team, but I had never seen them live before and it was quite an occasion. Without going into any detail about a litany of fumbles, missed tackles and amazingly poor discipline, the Giants got whipped. But just like the round ball game, it seemed to tip in just a few very specific moments.
The final scoreline may have been pretty wide, but had the Giants touched down when only two yards out I think they would have won. That is sport, small moments can have large consequences.
On my return as I read some of the reports in the English papers that suggested Manchester City had finally arrived, I had a little inward smile. But for the width of a post the story would have been about City having spent millions and still being way off the pace. All nonsense of course, it is simple, it is going to be a tight affair this season, everyone will drop points and the difference in the end will probably still be pretty marginal between the top three or four. I say three or four because it remains to be seen whether or not Tottenham or Arsenal can sustain a real challenge this season to ourselves and the Manchester clubs.
Arsenal will get their chance at the weekend after the Champions League adventures, I just get the feeling that Arsene's men might just struggle to keep it going on all fronts. It could be a case of having a real go at either the Champions League or the domestic league competition. I only say that because the strength in depth in Manchester and here in SW6 looks to be a bit too much, but time will tell. In essence Chelsea can afford to lose this weekend's London Derby, in reality Arsenal cannot.
The same could be said about the match against Didier Deschamps' Marseille. If the French lose this one it will mean zero points from six, a nightmare start to the campaign. Chelsea on the other hand have three points in the bag already and three more would mean almost certain qualification, even a draw would not be a disaster. What it means in the simplest terms is that for a change a team will turn up at the Bridge and almost certainly have a real go at Chelsea. This is refreshing stuff as most plump for the most defensive system and hope they can sneak a breakaway goal.
We could be in for an unusually open game tonight, which is a real change for the Champions League group stages. The competition has many merits but there is sometimes a problem with either meaningless, predictable or over negative tactics in the early stages. Deschamps will not disappoint this time I suspect and European football at Stamford Bridge should be an exciting and unpredictable occasion. Isn't that what football is supposed to be about?
What football is not supposed to be about is 47-year-olds getting their boots on again, but worryingly I have taken a step closer to that. I have actually signed on pro forms for Chester, formerly Chester City. Madness I hear you cry and you would be right. I may well run five times a week, over an hour each time up and down Scottish hills, but getting the size 8 Pumas back on is still pushing it.
It all started as a bit of a joke to get Chester FC some publicity, but when they told me that they had to get international clearance for the contract I began to wonder. Happily it is all sorted out, I will be an unstripped squad player for the season along with former Arsenal striker Perry Groves. If they ask me to play for ten minutes in the last game when promotion is assured, then I might just have a go.
Suffice to say I just hope that any Chelsea fans who came to watch me in my days playing for the Blues agree to do the decent thing and NOT come and watch me now. Trust me it will not be the same.
Another mistake from yours truly was to set too easy a question for last week's quiz. Yes I now realize you all know that Salomon Kalou has a brother called Bonaventure. My inbox will never be the same, but thanks to the many, many hundreds of you who took part.
I think it was the late George Harrison who had an album called 'All Things Must Pass' and of course they must, even when it is an unbeaten start to the season. If you had to point to a couple of games at the start of the campaign which would be the hardest, then Man City away would probably have been one of them.
To say it was a close game is to under play it, the first goal for whoever was probably always going to settle it. Football can be like that sometimes, the width of a post can make the difference between a win or a loss. Had Ivanovic scored instead of connecting with the woodwork then who knows what would have happened. Actually even more than that, just consider JT and that penalty kick in Moscow. All the headlines, the history and millions of wise words written would all have been totally different.
This weekend I went to a football game myself, but not my usual style. I was in New York on a short family holiday and we went along to see the New York Giants play the Tennessee Titans at American football.
The Giants have always been my team, but I had never seen them live before and it was quite an occasion. Without going into any detail about a litany of fumbles, missed tackles and amazingly poor discipline, the Giants got whipped. But just like the round ball game, it seemed to tip in just a few very specific moments.
The final scoreline may have been pretty wide, but had the Giants touched down when only two yards out I think they would have won. That is sport, small moments can have large consequences.
On my return as I read some of the reports in the English papers that suggested Manchester City had finally arrived, I had a little inward smile. But for the width of a post the story would have been about City having spent millions and still being way off the pace. All nonsense of course, it is simple, it is going to be a tight affair this season, everyone will drop points and the difference in the end will probably still be pretty marginal between the top three or four. I say three or four because it remains to be seen whether or not Tottenham or Arsenal can sustain a real challenge this season to ourselves and the Manchester clubs.
Arsenal will get their chance at the weekend after the Champions League adventures, I just get the feeling that Arsene's men might just struggle to keep it going on all fronts. It could be a case of having a real go at either the Champions League or the domestic league competition. I only say that because the strength in depth in Manchester and here in SW6 looks to be a bit too much, but time will tell. In essence Chelsea can afford to lose this weekend's London Derby, in reality Arsenal cannot.
The same could be said about the match against Didier Deschamps' Marseille. If the French lose this one it will mean zero points from six, a nightmare start to the campaign. Chelsea on the other hand have three points in the bag already and three more would mean almost certain qualification, even a draw would not be a disaster. What it means in the simplest terms is that for a change a team will turn up at the Bridge and almost certainly have a real go at Chelsea. This is refreshing stuff as most plump for the most defensive system and hope they can sneak a breakaway goal.
We could be in for an unusually open game tonight, which is a real change for the Champions League group stages. The competition has many merits but there is sometimes a problem with either meaningless, predictable or over negative tactics in the early stages. Deschamps will not disappoint this time I suspect and European football at Stamford Bridge should be an exciting and unpredictable occasion. Isn't that what football is supposed to be about?
What football is not supposed to be about is 47-year-olds getting their boots on again, but worryingly I have taken a step closer to that. I have actually signed on pro forms for Chester, formerly Chester City. Madness I hear you cry and you would be right. I may well run five times a week, over an hour each time up and down Scottish hills, but getting the size 8 Pumas back on is still pushing it.
It all started as a bit of a joke to get Chester FC some publicity, but when they told me that they had to get international clearance for the contract I began to wonder. Happily it is all sorted out, I will be an unstripped squad player for the season along with former Arsenal striker Perry Groves. If they ask me to play for ten minutes in the last game when promotion is assured, then I might just have a go.
Suffice to say I just hope that any Chelsea fans who came to watch me in my days playing for the Blues agree to do the decent thing and NOT come and watch me now. Trust me it will not be the same.
Another mistake from yours truly was to set too easy a question for last week's quiz. Yes I now realize you all know that Salomon Kalou has a brother called Bonaventure. My inbox will never be the same, but thanks to the many, many hundreds of you who took part.
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