There was a scary revelation in division 7:128 this week as FC Tanon beat their then closest rivals, Iran, 2-0 at their beloved UpYours arena. The result itself was nothing spectacular on its own, but what the rest of the league saw was a league leader cruising to a comfortable win with 4 of their starting XI suspended. Ercwlff Young, who was the team's leading weekly Xpert Eleven member; Laurent Lhote, Tanon's long time playmaker; superstar Szilard Dunai, the leading goal scorer; and Emilien Demay were all suspended for the visit of Iran.
Despite that, Keithsiah's men won comfortably, scoring with half their chances and reducing Iran to just one look at goal. Goals from Colby Irons and Augustin Christanval secured the win and gave the rest of their challengers a glimpse at just how deep in quality this squad is.
While they may not have the best starting XI in the league or any player the calibre of someone like Claes-Erik Ahlback, who was on the opposite end, for example; the overall quality of this squad is something all of their rivals can envy. The fact that new boy Bjorn Wennergren, a player who would have been expected to have come in and be a staple starter at most other division 7 clubs, is allowed the chance to slowly work his way into the team without pressure just goes to show the back up quality that Keithsiah has at his disposal.
The manager quoted after the game:
"I definitely do sleep better at night knowing I can rotate and rest players whenever I need to. It's important that I use every resource available to me if we are to win the league. The fans trust me and they trust the players to give a worthy performance week in week out, no matter who is on the field.
"Every player goes home after training prepared to play at midweek."