Against Bistrita, Alb-albastrii have yet another exam to pass: The Gloria Exam. As I vaguely remember when St. Stoica used to say “our kids are in school now[…]”, it seems clear to me that this would be then, their final year. Is this probably or possibly? Would they stay up? – is the question you can hear merely as a whisper among the fans. I remember a time when that question was getting faces slapped all over Romania pointing out at the records of how many times had that actually happened before. But that’s not the point. We’re in 2010 and the games are different now. The UEFA “cards” are in hands of too many big shot “card players” advertising on tv. Too many people have too much too lose. The stakes are higher now and everyone is pushed to the side on the chase to the top. And curiously, everybody seems to be going for the big pot because we all saw last year, anyone can be at the top. In Bucharest, anything short of winning the title is considered a failure. Pundits agree that Craiova should stay at the table for the next round. Mititelu must then have a decent “hand” on this one. That means our boys should be getting ready for graduation. With Bistrita it’s not their final exam but it’s one of them and they better be treating it seriously. They did excellent on the one with Brasov and made us smile and remember why we love them so much. And they even did ok with Pandurii, even though they struggled with the answers a bit:) This is not THE FINAL final. That would be playing with the “r” in front of them, “on the table”.

In the field, the old game we loved when Napoli was here is clearly back. We develop a 4-3-3 that had worked pretty well in the past. And we always had the players for it. In attack, the two Costea on the flanks are heavy ammo for any defending shields that come their way. We saw what Dinamo’s defenders could do about it, and personally I can’t wait to measure Steaua’s line of defense. I almost feel sorry we didn’t meet them before Dinamo. In the center Wotte seems to have “acquired” a new striker: Mihai Dina. The center forward plays like a “screw”, always coming deep for the ball luring defenders towards him and creating spaces. Why does Dina play better? He seems to have regained the confidence in his game. That’s possibly because he can communicate with his coach pretty good. Dina speaks English very well, or at least he seems to be. Wotte spends more time talking to him than he spends talking to others. Dina was more of a utility player in the last game but he really stepped it up with Pandurii, and showed his true colors. They all did in that game. And when do you show your true colors the most? – they say: in great adversity and against the odds. Well they had that in Tg. Jiu. Against Brasov, the middle won us the game. Dilevski owns the center of the field and we know that push comes to shove, either the ball or the man will pass by him, but never together. On the centre-right, Prepelita showed us glimpse of his potential. He gave us a peak at what his role could be in the creation of our attacks. He shows vision and technique. He is brushing up on his composure and decisions. On the centre-left, Wotte improvised with Barbu and it paid off while reassuring the fans that he does know his roster. Barbu delivered beautifully which made his colleague Gaman exult and be “happy for him” while forgetting he’s not really a goal scorer himself. Our defense is built around Gaman. While Iliev too can surely provide adequate cover, Gaman can also strike a pass. Especially through channels for Mihai Costea. And of course we can’t forget Florin. Our talisman must come back and be the humble player that he was after the injury to his leg when we were in the second division. I still remember the picture with him in on the hospital bed. I didn’t know who he was at the time. But now I do. And so does Gloria. He has to push it today. And I don’t care if he scores, I don’t even care if he shoots. I don’t even care if he talks trash. I just want him to create panic and constantly harass the defenders with the audacity of the goalscorer record holder that he is. And I want him switching fast and crossing early. Whether Wotte will choose Barboianu, Paunovici, Trica or Barbu, it is at this time unknown. As is the outcome of the game. But what we surely know is that once again, we need our boys to leave the field with their chin up no matter what happens in 90 min of football.

KritiKal