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Mid-table meandering

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So here we are..... Project Restart is in full flow, and.....and....sigh. I’ve got no more enthusiasm for this than Everton’s one-paced midfield did watching us leak a Sunday league-esque goal off Michael Keane’s belly. The end result? A directionless languishing in mid-table purgatory where no matter how many games you play, everything stays the same. A mirror to our new lockdown isolation we all find ourselves in. Although I trust Carlo Fantastico with the reopening of the Merseyside coffers a lot more than I do Bojo or Donald with the economy.

I am thrilled and pained at the same time to see Birchy’s postings so far. As he has expertly noted, football without fans and passion is just not the real thing. But he at least has purpose....and there’s genuine emotion there, which is great to see. What is unfortunate, is the emotion is helpless abject despair....akin to my very real fear that RV rental rates in this COVID world are likely astronomical now, which puts Project 2026 - Stevie & Birchy’s World Cup traveling extravaganza in its first (of likely many) cash flow crisis.....

The shock factor has left the building with no fans in the stadium. While still enjoyable to see an outrageous ‘megging of England’s Harry Maguire right in front of the Stretford End at the weekend to put Bournemouth 1-0 up, there was no alarm or vitriol from overly-expectant Utd fans to create an acute panic attack amongst the red shirts.  End result? The clearly superior players walked to an easy win. Very similar reasons to see Arsenal improving - even with David Luiz - and Leicester, at least initially, falter slightly.

So I do worry about Villa. Implausible escapes fueled by frenzied fans appear off the table. West Ham may want to consider extending their lockdown procedures into next season though.... they’re about 10 pts better off from not having their fans getting on their back. Look for sightings of David Moyes appearing at  government pressers advocating for continued caution....

But I shall keep tuning in to hopefully be surprised. And one bright note to finish on... the lack of fans does give the young players a much easier footing to play....with Pulisic looking like he’s benefiting enormously from the lack of hype / expectation. It will do the game here stateside a world of good if he’s able to really hit the heights....even if it might push up those RV prices even more....






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