Jan/Feb Will Define Our Season

Hey all. The fixture list for next season has today been officially released; you can see the complete list over at the dot.com. It looks like the hardest parts of next season will be the beginning portion and then January and the beginning of February. So January and February could quite possibly make or break our season next year.

We open with a tough trip away to Everton, and that is followed up by a home game against Portsmouth that is sandwiched between the vital Champions League group stage qualifiers. Then, after the qualifiers comes an away fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford. This reminds me of the 2006-07 season when we had the Old Trafford fixture in the beginning of September as our fourth match. We won 1-0 on the day thanks to an Adebayor goal; let's hope for a similar result on August the 29th.

After that is a series of fairly winnable games before we finally face Tottenham at home on the 31st of October. A Halloween night fixture at the Emirates, but hopefully this time we'll do better than last year's corresponding game, also in October.

We face Chelsea at the end of November at the Emirates, and then go to Liverpool on 12 December. The rest of the month features the regular fixture congestion, and it may serve to injure one or two of our best players, as this time so often does. But we will want them back quickly for the turn of the new year, as the vital month of January begins.

It's already packed with F.A. Cup and Carling Cup fixtures, but in the League we face Everton and Bolton before the potential difficulties really begin. A midweek trip to Villa Park on 27 January is followed by a weekend fixture against Man Utd. Then we face Chelsea and Liverpool in succession, after which the F.A. Cup and Champions League resume.

So this period of matches really will define our season. After that, the run-in is surprisingly easy, and if we can survive this potentially deadly string of matches, then we will be in the best position of anyone to win the league comfortably. So assuming that we can start the year well, stay in the title running until January, and then come through this difficult fixture lineup unscathed, we can quite possibly say hello to a Premiership trophy.

The easy league run-in will also be a boost in our Champions League and F.A. Cup challenges, assuming we're still in both by this time. We'll quite possibly have the chance to rest our best players for the relatively easy league matches, and save them for when we really need them. So who knows, next season could be a glorious one. With the right signings and a good beginning to the season, we should have no problem claiming our first pieces of silverware in five years.

So I think in order to be successful next season, we will really need to hit the ground running, and have a fantastic start to the season. Difficult league matches and the vital Champions League qualifiers must all be won, and if they are, and we are able to keep our title tilt going, then come the defining matches in January and February. It looks like either way, we're going to be in for an exciting time next season. Till next time,

Fab 4