Interesting news from the offal today. I think Dan has already done an article like this when there was a bit of speculation about our European squad at the weekend. But the latest from Hodgson today is that he will play his strongest team on Thursday night. There might be a few changes because of small injuries to Hangeland and Etuhu but overall, we are likely to see a team very like the one that played against Arsenal on Saturday. Hodgson makes a very interesting comment when he says that he will treat Europe like the top four do when they a field a very strong team in the Champions’ League. It tells us how seriously he is taking Europe despite many fans worrying about a rather slow start to the campaign.
I don’t think that fans should be getting on the back of Hodgson and the players because at the end of the day – look where we are! We may be lower down the table than we would like but we have had alot of tough matches. Yes, we should have played better against Wolves and Villa but they were two very difficult away matches. The goals will come and so will the points. Let’s just stop getting ahead of ourselves! If by Christmas we are in the same position as we are in now then we can worry!
Hodgson also mentions that he doesn’t think FC Basel will be much better than Sofia. I think that if we win all our home matches and pick up the points on the road then we will go through to the group stages. Let’s create an awesome atmosphere at the Cottaage tomorrow and cheer the lads to the knock stages! Also, for anyone like me who is slightly too far away to be there, the game will be live on ITV4 tomorrow evening.
