We’ve all seen the game and read about it again this morning, so there’s little point in going through a blow-by-blow account of the match.
I will say this though. We were the better team and the only one creating the sort of chances that could win the game. Ledley was magnificent, Crouch deserves his moment as a hero considering all the stick we give him and Younes Kaboul on the rampage down the right flank against Craig Bellamy, was curiously reminiscent of Jonah Lomu bulldozing his way through Tony Underwood.
So we’ve finally achieved the holy grail that we’ve been chasing for the last five years. What now? If City had got fourth then they would have gone on a major spending spree and bought every world class player available. We don’t have the kind of resources to do likewise, nor would it be in our interest to disrupt what has become a very good team.
Because that’s what we are – a team. City are a hastily assembled collection of quality players and unless they give a manager the time and space to create some cohesion between those stars, they will never equal the sum of their parts.
What we need to add to the mix are just a few finishing touches, to add even more quality, to what is already a quality squad. Gomes needs some decent back up and unless we consider that one of the Kyles is good enough, we also need another right back.
Our midfield could maybe do with one new face and if that face comes attached to someone who can score some goals, then so much the better. Goals are also a problem up front. None of our strikers are really top class and bringing in someone that could lead the line as Berbatov once did for us, should be our absolute priority and where we should spend the bulk of our funds.
Ultimately though, it would be disruptive to make too many changes and on the evidence of this season, it’s not something that we need to do.
But the transfer sagas and planning for next season, are for tomorrow. Today we should just enjoy what the team has achieved and start thinking about those possible foreign away days next season.
By the way, the 2010/11 Champions League final is being played at Wembley. Convenient…
