Mark Hobbs
LIFE will not be so bright without the Tangerines. For a period in the nineties Blackpool was home to the world’s fastest and tallest roller-coaster. Now the locals just pay their money and take their chances at Bloomfield Road.
Sunday’s Old Trafford highs and lows was perfectly indicative of the season the west-coast side have endured; and neatly presented everything that is commendable and lamentable about the way the team go about their business.
As in the corresponding fixture at Bloomfield Road, if Blackpool were intimidated in any way by the stature of Manchester United, they failed to show it. Their intentions were made clear within 30 seconds when Charlie Adams pulled back an inviting pass for Keith Southern, who pulled his effort wide when a goal seemed inevitable.
Fearlessness and positivity have been a hallmark of Ian Holloway’s tactics board all season; while promoted teams often become introverted on the bigger stage Blackpool took to it as if it was their natural home.
On their Premier League debut they wasted little time in showing the football world what to expect. An opening day 4-0 triumph away to Wigan was promptly followed by a resounding six-goal reverse at the Emirates to Arsenal. Within a week they had announced themselves on the biggest stage in England, yet also bared their striking limitations.
On Sunday, against a United side set to lift their nineteenth league trophy, Holloway’s men again played with a confidence and skill level that made a mockery of their perilous league position. For much of the first-half Blackpool looked the most dangerous side, and when Taylor-Fletcher gave them a 2-1 lead in the second-half the movement in the build-up to the goal was easily as impressive as anything the champions could muster.
But, as it has all year, it was how they coped at the other end of the pitch that ultimately sealed their fate.
The positivity and charm of the Lancashire side is complemented by their most endearing quality - their naivety. At times it has been difficult to watch, but it ensures that their games always promise drama and excitement.
Each of United’s four goals were avoidable in some way, and were facilitated by hopeless defending. From Evatt’s complete misjudgement of the ball’s trajectory for the host’s opener, to the space afforded to Owen for the fourth goal, each was a reminder of Blackpool’s crippling defensive deficiencies.
They simply do not have the mentality, nor the ability, to soak up pressure. As good as they can be with the ball, they are clueless without it. Once the momentum shifted to the home-side the visitors were unable to change their philosophy - what could have been a heroic win at Old Trafford to live forever in the club’s folklore became yet another lesson that life at the top can be cruel, and that winning hearts does not always translate into winning games.
Blackpool scored the same amount of goals as fifth placed Tottenham, but conceded a staggering 78 times – an average of just over two per game.
Now that they are consigned to life in the Championship there will be no shortage of Premiership suitors for their attacking talent like Adams and DJ Campbell. There is unlikely to be much of a queue for the defenders.
At the beginning of the season Holloway joked that they would try to out-score their opposition in the coming campaign as they were terrible at defending anyway. What began as a light-hearted comment soon became an ethos for the west-coast club, and has led to some of the most entertaining games of the year.
An incredible eight of their league games saw five or more goals scored. In total, 133 were scored in their thirty-eight games in the competition.
Blackpool’s approach may not appeal to the pragmatists and tacticians. But for everyone else, for neutrals that enjoy exciting, open football – then they were the team to follow. They were the league’s great entertainers, and the neutral could not but reserve affection for even their imperfections.
Considering the history of Blackpool FC, they certainly would have been forgiven for an early season bout of stage fright. The club’s promotion to the Championship in 2006/07 was their first appearance at that level in 29 years, and even last term when their play-off victory over Cardiff City bridged a gap of 39 years since they last held top flight status their average attendance was 8,611.
The Seasider’s achievement this term, ultimately not quite enough for survival, can be an inspiration for QPR, Norwich and either Swansea or Reading - but it must also act as a cautionary tale.
They chose to live by the sword, and they certainly died by it. Blackpool and Ian Holloway have made a lot of new friends.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/a3jylO0bjts/post.aspx
European football Dmitry Medvedev Global climate talks Foreign policy Peter Beardsley Steve Coogan
No comments:
Post a Comment