Another big match lost, this time 2 – 1 to Chelsea. Arsenal are arguably the best football team in Europe. Manager and coach, Arsene Wenger has with somewhat limited resources, put together some of the best young (and older) talent available on this planet who play a brand of football which for the purist, is unsurpassed for sheer brilliance, fluid passing motion, and the pleasing effect that remains long after a game has concluded. However, the team is dogged by constant injuries to key players, several at a time. Arsenal contested this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against the big guns of Chelsea with a completely make-shift back-line, including reserve goalkeeper, because of injuries. If it’s not the midfield or forwards who are decimated through injury, it’s the defense. Will this team ever experience a time when their entire squad are fit and available?
The Sharks have lost, two weeks in succession, this time by a narrow margin (13-10) to the Crusaders, who are the reigning Super 14 champions (although their form this season belies that title). The Sharks could have had that title a couple of seasons ago, but were denied by an oversight from the referee. The Sharks have got to be one of the unluckiest rugby teams around; they always seem to cop some of the most dubious refereeing decisions, and somehow manage to get key players injured at the most crucial times. But the team is gifted with some of the best talent anywhere in the rugby-playing world, North and South of the equator. They just looked a bit jaded this week (and last), and maybe that bye this coming weekend is much needed to revitalize and join the fray, anew.
After watching both the Sharks and Arsenal losing this weekend; I considered how monumental bad luck seems to hound both these teams who deserve so much more than they are currently getting in terms of results and recognition. I even contemplated that perhaps there is a supernatural presence out there conspiring against these teams; and maybe a god that resents human achievement does indeed exist…
Lenny Says 