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PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: SUNDERLAND V CHELSEA
The Mackems were not in the top flight the last time Chelsea scored fewer than the current five goals from the opening three fixtures of a season: 2004/05. It is hardly a phenomenal statistic, though. Several times we have recorded six from the first three games.
Imagine how Sunderland’s fans feel, though. They have managed to hit the net just once in 390 minutes of competitive action this season. The glory days of beating local rivals Darlo 3-0 at the Northern Echo Arena in early August must seem an age away.
Perhaps as a result of the barrenness since, Steve Bruce refilled his summer shopping basket before the window shut. Leaving Anton Ferdinand on the shelf (the previously ever-present centre-back is now at QPR), the Mackems manager made it to the checkout with Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal just before the store closed.
The tall Danish striker, never one to sell himself short, was the last arrival in a formidable spree that saw key arrivals from Bruce’s previous clubs Manchester United (Wes Brown and John O’Shea) and Birmingham City (Craig Gardner, Seb Larsson). Larsson is their sole goalscorer to date.
Other notable signings were winger Ahmed Elmohamady (twice Africa Cup of Nations winner with Egypt) and pricey striker Connor Wickham, who figured in Ipswich’s 0-7 FA Cup thrashing by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.
One of eight men to have started all three league matches, Lee Cattermole, is now joint 12th in the all-time Premier League list of dismissed players with five. Over the same six and a bit seasons the 23-year-old midfielder has been cautioned 50 times.
Multinational Chelsea have not fared especially well in recent matches following Fifa-imposed breaks. Last season, for example, the Blues won only two post-internationals games, drawing three and losing one.
Already this season, although England’s pre-season friendly against Holland was cancelled as a result of the rioting, plenty of other nationalities trotted round the globe and played. With less time for preparation Chelsea drew the next league match, at Stoke, 0-0.
Former Chelsea coach Brendan Rodgers plots the further downfall of Arsene Wenger at the Emirates. The Swans actually boast a 50% success rate away to the Gunners.
Wigan will be looking for their first win at Man City since 2007, but they have failed to score at Eastlands since then. The same year brought Bolton’s last win over Man United.
Your attention please
I used to think time was the most limited resource. It’s so limited that you can’t even save it for later. Every day you spend more time, and tomorrow you have less than you had yesterday. You can’t make more, and you can’t really buy more, so it’s limited and fleeting and those are the rules.
But there’s something even more limited than time. It’s your attention. Attention is a subset of time, therefore it’s more limited. How you spend your attention is more important than how you spend your time.
Attention is about focus and careful, thoughtful consideration. Unlike time – which can be broken into convenient chunks of 15 minutes – attention doesn’t divide quite so neatly or easily.
You hear a lot about “quality time” being valuable, but I think quality attention is invaluable. Giving someone your attention is giving more than just giving your time.
The greatest things you make and do are the ones that get your full attention. It’s helpful to take an inventory of what you’re doing and then ask yourself where you’re spending your best attention. You can fill your time, but you have to spend your attention. How you spend it is probably a better measure of priority than anything else.
Next time you say yes to something, ask yourself if yes means “yes, I can do that” or “yes, I can spend my attention on that.” If you’re not willing to spend your attention on it, is it worth doing? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s a good thing to think about the next time you take something on.