The season so far…

Last season I was very slow out of the blocks due to the huge amount of injuries I’d suffered during the preseason, most notably to Dani Alves and Roberto Guana. This season I have been free of such troubles, so I’ve been playing as many games as I can manage to reduce the number of matches I’ll have to play towards the end of the season.

The premier league has gone very well. I’ve played 14 matches and I have a record of 12W, 1D, 1L, setting down a marker for other title challengers. I’m mindful that I had a pretty similar record last season, only to see a late season collapse lose me the title.

The Gold Cup has been a mixed bag, with 1 win and 1 loss against the next best team in my group, TheStoneColds. The Stones had always been a team ranked in and around the top 50, but this season they managed a transfer coup in the signing of one Sergio Aguero, which has propelled them into the top 10. I’m hopeful of qualifying for the knockout stages for the third year in a row.

However, this season has been about just one player at The Anchor. Yoann Gourcuff has been s immense in the playmaker role and Jeremy Menez is storming up and down the left wing creating real havoc, but Pato’s performances have been at another level. I’d had many offers for Guilherme over the course of the previous 4 seasons, but ultimately I had chosen not to accept any of them for the simple reason that there are only a handful of other strikers I’d have wanted in preference, and at the time none of them were for sale: Bojan, Balotelli and, of course, Pato. Others I would have considered, like Cani, Blazek, Paloschi and Jovetic, but ultimately all of their owners wanted the earth and then some. When it became clear that a deal for Pato would be possible, I’ll admit that I had second thoughts – Guilherme was a club legend with a brilliant record. I’m more than glad I went through with the deal. Pato has 42 goals and assists in just 32 matches, without taking freekicks or being involved in corners. In a word, he’s just phenomenal and is making the difference in a lot of matches.

In other news…

Derek Tobin has just restarted his blog, where you can find details of my stunning, cunning (and very lucky) victory in our recent cup match. You’ll find the link at the top right hand side of my blog.

I've also been made Saunders first official 'Chat Helper'. Don't ask me, Marco duped me into it. ;)