Time to fight our own battles for a change

THE hard work begins now.

I’m not joking. Arsenal and Chelsea were beaten. United and City should have been beaten. It makes dropping points to Sunderland, Swansea and Norwich seem especially careless.

‘There but for the grace of God’ is a phrase even atheists utter sometimes, mostly when they hear awful news like the death of Gary Speed. But reds usually become especially grateful to the Almighty when they witness a slice of Evertonian bitterness.

Yet in a Champions League week a small trickle of pleasure was gleaned from Mancunian misfortune. That shocked me because I’m not usually that bothered, but it would be naïve to completely ignore the role of schadenfreude in football.

This is after one whole season in the wilderness; multiply that by 20 and maybe the difference between reds and blues has little to do with God’s grace and more to do with circumstance. We just think we’re special.

Boredom plays a part too. I didn’t think we’d miss midweek football after last season’s excruciating Europa League ‘campaign’, but we do.

This season is really about progress. It was a surprise to learn the last team to get 70 points and fail to qualify for the Champions League was Liverpool in 1996. Given the investment in the squad and how poor last season was, Kenny needs to be looking at that sort of figure to justify the faith shown.

With the form Arsenal and Tottenham are in, it still might not be enough. We’d just have to accept that improvement was made and it will have to suffice.

For the moment people seem pleased with what they’re watching. A clutch of upcoming mid-to-lower table fixtures will put us in a funk which is crazy obviously, but justified given everything we’ve witnessed.

Some were quite fearful of a thrashing before Sunday, the infamous 6-1 made a sizeable impression (once we’d stopped smirking).

There’s another trace of unwanted bitterness right there; wanting City to make sure United do not get too far ahead of us. Arsenal and even Chelsea have been unwitting recipients of this ‘largesse’.

But the overwhelming feeling is one of frustration. When are we going to fight our own battles for a change? We’ve shown some real spirit on Sunday and had the upper hand long before Balotelli made his indelible mark.

Our finishing is still poor, even the equaliser was a scuffed effort, and Suarez was a bit too isolated early on. For the first time this season we seemed to up our game for the second half.

Poor shooting often gives the impression goalkeepers have played a blinder, but Hart genuinely did keep us at bay. But as Kenny rightly said afterwards, not getting your just reward in a football match doesn’t compare to what the Speed family have lost.

Suicide freaks me out, invoking the grace of God again. I suspect I’ll still be grumbling and miserable when I’m 70; it’s those who experience the real highs of life who perhaps can’t deal with its seedier, savage side.

Whatever happened at Stamford Bridge last night will be brushed aside as either of Kipling’s impostors. It’s a shame if we lost when we were taking the competition seriously, but if we had European football the second 11 would have been playing anyway.

And probably wouldn’t have got past Brighton. Beggars, choosers etc.

* Steven Kelly