What do you want from a blog post like this? If you are expecting a 2000 word sweeping epic that picks apart tactical decisions and little details then this is not the place for you (this week).
As I begin to think about what to write it is currently 11:30pm on Friday night and I am watching back the BT coverage of our derby match with a beer in hand, and well, why wouldn’t I be?
All I do have to say is, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!!!!!!
Honestly, I spent most of this past week starting and then stopping my little pre-match, pre-review ramble but I felt so anxious and tense that everything I started to write just felt like it didn’t quite sum up my thoughts and what this week has been like. What the derby means to me and all of us in this wonderful city of ours is deeply personal and we all have our little stories and memories. It really is the best derby in football (and I know that my sentiments have been helped just a little bit by what has unfolded this evening).
What I did do these past few days was appear on my first ever podcast and today I wore so much tangerine in my work ensemble that I could have easily passed as an EasyJet employee. Derby week does funny things to people.
This blog post won’t be a long one, it doesn’t need to be. It is ironic in a way that I will write less about a game against Dundee than I might for other fixtures but a match like this, an experience like this doesn’t need me or anyone else attempting to explain using words what standing alongside 11,000 or so fellow United fans feels like. This is especially true during a 90 minutes that seemed to exorcise any ghosts, any hangovers and any baggage left over from the season we were relegated from the Premiership. A true turning point? A defining moment? It certainly felt that way.
A 6-2 win over Dundee will not win us a title but it could well be the tipping point in terms of the psychological barrier that may have still been there despite a perfect start to the league. Is this it? Is this the start of the season that will finally see us return to the top-flight? Ask anyone there tonight and anyone there at the end as the players lapped the pitch and you would be hard pressed to find a single person that would still have doubts.
Did I mention that we won 6-2?
Let’s check in on James McPake…
I feel terrible for even saying this but it was not a perfect evening and not a ‘complete’ performance (although I’ll take playing like that and still winning 6-2 every week). This is not the time to analyse anything, last night was just about a win (and what a win it was).
Time to check in on James again…
Players Ratings –
For one week only everyone gets a 10, but that much is obvious.
Man of the Match –
All of them.
Talking Tactics –
I really liked the bit where we scored six goals.
The Positives –
All of it.
Need To Work On –
The bridies. I was not impressed.
Up Next –
For me? Beer. For United? Something about a Caramel Wafer, I’m not so sure but I’ll get back to you on that.
I feel like I need to stop now, this was always a blog post that after a result like that could quickly slip into delirious ramblings. I was actually dreading writing about the game but only because I knew I couldn’t put into words how we might have felt after either a win or a loss. My ‘job’ is to pick apart the little details and sum up the things that maybe go under the radar. That can be done objectively and for games that don’t carry they weight of the world on my brain.
I’m not here to tell you all how you feel after a Dundee Derby. You all know what it means.
Tonight was a special, special night and I don’t need to say much more.
Top of the league.
Four wins from four.
A 6-2 win over Dundee.
Drink. It. In.
