Eh? Where did I say we're not allowed to drop points? My point was that we had a sticky couple of months which allowed the mancs to build a lead and make us need something truly exceptional to win it. We almost achieved that but just fell short. The run in was great but up till then it wasn't as if we were blowing teams away left right and centre. We had a good season till then, I'm not saying we didn't but we left ourselves too much to do. That's all.
As for "what a shit 2 months" - well yeah, it cost us the league unfortunately. I'm not having a go at anyone for it, I'm not saying we should've sold xyz or bought abc or played tactic 123. It's one of them things but it was our own fault we didn't win the league that year because we weren't good enough.
We were indeed good enough. Liverpool Football Club scored more goals, lost less matches, and were one Arshavin hattrick short of being the stingiest team in the league defensively, all the while unbeaten at home, caning United and Chelsea home and away in epic fashion on the way, and earning a push against Arsenal.
Furthermore, if we weren't good enough, did United look the part? They managed no points out of 6 against us, just one of six against Arsenal, and a split pot off Chelsea home and away, a feeble 4 points out of 18 available against the top four. Admittedly, no points are ever "dropped" by the champions, but all else being equal, when given the choice of beating the top 4 and the bottom 4 what would you choose? Take 6 from Stoke or take 6 from Chelsea ? Given the choice of beating the top 4 and the bottom 4, which would *you* choose?
It wasn't the dropping of points against supposedly inferior opposition, nor was it "not being good enough" that cost us the title. No, what cost us the title that season was Ginsoak the flat track bully Ferguson, the thousand pound gorilla leaping for his third banana in a row. The referee rider rode the refs. He rode the FA. Opposing teams littered with ex-United scumbags at the helm didn't just *park* the bus - they never actually even stepped off it onto the parking lot. Even when Rafa shouted from the rooftops that we were running an uneven race, few folks got the message. Those that did were labeled insane. Andy@A was neither paranoid nor nuts. Zonal marking, Rafa cracking up, 4231, two defensive midfielders, Carrick being compared to
Xabi Alonso, coming from behind to win 3-2 at Fratton Park with commentators munching on lemons. "Did you hear something on ehSky?" The pressure was on *us* and never on *him*.
The ridiculous number of 1-0 wins over shit opposition that United scraped is staggering. Pompey away. City away. Sunderland at home. Stoke away. Boro at home. Wigan at home. Bolton away. Everton at home. West Ham away. Hull away. Then consider the other games they won by a single goal. Hull at home. Blackburn at home. Newcastle away. Villa at home. Sunderland away. Wigan away. They weren't
better. They had Ferguson, sitting on a three-peat. He made the difference.
We played pocket Kings from early position and had the best hand, djes. Everyone folded, wary of the drunk Scottish bigstack on the button. Emboldened by the lack of opposition and superior position, and just having won two hands in a row, the ginsoaked hard shoulder shitter called our massive raise with A2 off suit, and flopped a 345.
We got fucked. He got lucky. It happens. But we did play that 2008/09 hand right, and it was good enough. I'll take that hand every time - 86 points, most goals, almost least goals, only two 2 total losses against insignificant opposition, no home losses, and 14 points out of 18 against the top four.
Every time, mate. Every time.
