THREE things are certain in this life: death, taxes, and whenever Arsenal or Manchester City lose a game of football it will be attributed in part to a lack of leadership.
It’s a hoary old trope that comes unstuck with just a courtesy glance at the other top six sides. After all, who is Tottenham’s leader? Eric Dier? Toby Alderweireld? Whoever it is they need to seriously improve their Patten patter, given that another hoary old trope is that Spurs are perennial ‘bottlers’. Who is Chelsea’s motivator-in-chief? Gary Cahill, perhaps; a defender who has seen just 21 minutes of Premier League action this season, a scant return that amounts to 4% of Vincent Kompany’s game-time. Vinnie of course is held up in comparison here because it’s his demotion to third choice centre-back that supposedly makes City appear rudderless in strong winds.
As for Manchester United, their resurgence has been accompanied by a great deal of media giddiness of late, not least in the assertion that Paul Pogba possesses real leadership qualities. This is the same Paul Pogba who had an almighty bust-up with his boss before indulging in a prolonged and damaging sulk, and in reality, he is anything but a leader. In reality, he’s the type to shout ‘charge’ then hang back to post a moody shot on Instagram.
This matters not though, not in the great scheme of things, because what the French midfielder does have is the substantial self-belief required to get up on the main stage and be the headline act. To do what stars do and exhibit his talents under extreme duress. To perform, and when it goes wrong, to perform again. In short, to lead by example, and these are the traits that inspire in the modern game, not grinding your fist and bellowing out clichéd Sunday League lingo. Get into ‘em lads. We go again.
We go again. That famous battle-cry by Steven Gerrard, squeaked out in a post-game huddle in 2014, was the long overdue death-knell of old-fashioned leadership, illustrating as it did, that cheerleading passhun is completely counter-intuitive in a game that already resides in the extremities. What his team-mates needed in that moment was a good measure of calm. Instead they were roused; tipped over the edge.
Journalists know this to be true and pundits know this to be true, even the ones with most of their mind-set still loitering in the 1990s and stinking up the place with Davidoff Cool Water. Yet it still doesn’t stop them, espousing their nonsense once every ten or so matches when Manchester City are downed, suggesting that what the Blues need is an in-yer-face motivator; a John Terry type or a Tony Adams; even a Stevie G. All of whom naturally are English: all of whom have encouraged, coerced, and organised a nation that hasn’t won a major tournament for 53 years.
I wonder then what these footballing Brexiteers, who yearn for a by-gone age of trench warfare and toil on soil, made of City’s mentality during yesterday’s dismantling of Arsenal. Only five days earlier in the Baltic north-east, City took a first minute lead and succumbed to complacency to their great cost, unable as they were to raise their levels again when fortunes turned against them. It was an open goal for those who love to put spirit ahead of esprit and boy did they revel in tapping home the point. A leader was needed in that moment, they intoned. A rallier of troops.
Then along came the Gunners, in a must-win fixture with pressure ramped up to eleven, and Sergio Aguero once again notches a few heartbeats from kick-off. Only this time a lesson is learned and there is no relenting. City patiently build attack after attack, in what is at times a beautifully brave M-W formation. Chances are created at will and though luck is AWOL with a stonewall penalty turned away and a marginal – if correct – call for offside ruling out another that’s okay because a second goal is surely coming.
Most #PremierLeague hat-tricks
♂️ Alan Shearer – 11
Sergio Aguero – 10
Robbie Fowler – 9#MCIARS #MCFC pic.twitter.com/G9MPXQ7WHe— Unibet (@unibet) February 3, 2019
It was at this precise juncture that Arsenal equalised and you don’t have to be even an armchair shrink to surmise how devastating that might be to a collective psyche. Given the week they’d had. Considering the wrongs they had righted. And now here they were, back at square one and experiencing déjà vu.
As the players traipsed back into position we can only imagine how scrambled their heads were with panic setting in and immense frustration taking hold and it is in these exact moments that conventional thinking has it that a leader is needed to come to the fore. Someone to dole out a hard stare. Someone to mime out the inhalation of a lungful of air.
Here though no-one did. No-one had to.
Instead their belief stood firm. Their belief in Pep’s teachings. Their belief in themselves. De Bruyne showed for it, re-inspiring those around him through ability and application. Bernardo Silva did the same, time after time, as too did Raheem Sterling, despite being booed by the away end and having a decidedly on-off day. That’s the kind of courage I can get behind. That’s the kind of leadership I’d follow into conflict.
At the back, Ederson continued to be eerily laissez-faire, even though everything was again on the line and that surely reassures significantly more than a verbal gee-up. Fernandinho meanwhile, ensured the team’s rhythm and intensity didn’t drop by making sure that his didn’t. Actions like that speak louder than words. He got into them lads.
For one individual to play without fear directly inspires a team-mate to do likewise and that is what constructs the mental fortitude in this team. Anything else frankly is unnecessary; a public display to appease those who prefer their passion to be visible for no discernible reason at all.
A £10 bet on Manchester City to win the Premier League returns £23.00
