“Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer
With only one week before another international break, it’s a tricky time to be a manager. Are your players going to be overworked in the next two weeks? Who’s also being flown around Europe for midweek club games? Is the week off going benefit your injured players more than your opponents?
In these uneasy times where we must be mindful of so many things, it’s best to take a deep breath, maybe the day off work, and get your strategies in order one more time before a well-earned break.
“Anaesthetize the panic, putting all uncertainties to sleep.”
– Shadows Fall, ‘What Drives The Weak’
Premier League
The key to winning a League is to not drop points to the teams at the bottom (or the middle, or the top). Arsenal struggled against Watford, Spurs struggle against Newcastle and Man United will struggle against any opponent at random. And they suffer for it. MFF however cleaned up comfortably against Rey BC this week and keep their place at the top.
These wins are necessary when there are teams like Smash and Boss keeping chase so fervently. Bigger than Brolin had a miserable week, they missed a chance to go third and lost by a single point in the CL to All Star Gunners. ASG got their second League win of the season and sneak up on the three teams above them who all lost.
FC Santa Barbara won both their League match and their CL game this week. If they beat Rey BC next week it will not only pile on to an excruciating start to their season, but FCSB will also get their 100th all-time BFFA win. I don’t think they make medals for that yet, but I think they should.
Championship
In 2007 Soilwork released an awesome album called ‘Sworn to a Great Divide’; this is a sentiment that the top two could probably relate to as they crowbar open the gap between themselves and third. This week their victims were Banana Swans and SB Town Baggers. East Loop United and Chucky Pad Warriors also suffered while Sporting Wicker Park and Voyageurs took advantage of the chance to move off six points. Perhaps surprisingly, Branwellington managed to do the same too, performing the feat against third-placed GoFYS, ensuring that they were kept back amongst the downtrodden.
League One
The 25th Icknield Derby saw the biggest score of the week move Route 57 into the top four. Their defensive 5-3-2 brought in five clean sheets and goals from N’Dombele and King put the game to bed well before 5pm on Saturday.
Another big score, 54, gave KH Granitza Sting a valuable win over fellow title-hopefuls Cornballers with thanks in no small part to double figures for Leicester pair Chilwell and Pereira. The Sting go top and are enjoying a 30-matchpoint cushion over second.
Goleta and Hung Like a Bony also won this week to move up to (effectively) joint-third. Hotspur edged out Cabezazo in a very close match – goals from Ndidi, Wood and Callum Wilson matched goals from Increible’s Sterling, Jorginho and Doherty, but a clean sheet for A-A made the difference. Hung, who scored no goals and had Aurier sent off, just about managed to steal the win from a 10-man Relic side by a single point, making goals from Kane and Yarmolenko redundant.
League Two
The talk of the entire League is about the unbeaten Tiger Tail Retaliation. Side-swiping away their nearest opponents, TTR opened up an enviable six-point lead at the top. In another six-pointer at the other end, Obi-Wan Bissaka saw off Chicken & Bacon Sane by a dramatic single-point in what may be described in future articles as “immaterial”. But with Battle VAR and Gloopy both losing, it will be quite easy to rise above with a good string of results. Sugar Daddies and Harambe both collected three points to keep their promotion hopes alive, but is it too soon to give up on the title?
National League
♫ Toblerone, out on its own… ♫ Sorry, Housewives’ Favourite are out on their own at the top of the League. Finally, the (Inter)National League is beginning to open up. But there’s still a power struggle, nay, melee in the middle as the other nine teams are scrabbling over each other in an effort to climb up the ladder towards the light at the top. Go towards the light! It is warm, it is welcoming, it is fun! Chi Spurs and Jaysokker get their fourth win and scramble upward, Cumberland and Chitown Gooners fail to move off of twelve. Katner steps up onto Ole’s shoulders and Diego’s hanging onto Slab Head’s ankles, reaching up to try and grab their elastic. It could get messy down there.
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