I know the manner of the previous defeats weren't great but they aren't as bad as we first thought.
Loss to Villa... They've won 4 out of 4.
Loss to Arsenal..
Loss to Leeds (just) who are also looking great.
Just lost to Wolves who are a very good team, not going down and it was close.
Then a draw away from home today and could have easily won. We have started to play a lot better.
It's not all as bleak as it looked a few weeks back
Great perspective
Well said., Before the season started I thought Leeds and Villa could be there for the taking. Very humbled now and it is why I NEVER bet on football.
Quote from: JoelH5 on October 18, 2020, 10:30:59 PM
I know the manner of the previous defeats weren't great but they aren't as bad as we first thought.
Loss to Villa... They've won 4 out of 4.
Loss to Arsenal..
Loss to Leeds (just) who are also looking great.
Just lost to Wolves who are a very good team, not going down and it was close.
Then a draw away from home today and could have easily won. We have started to play a lot better.
It's not all as bleak as it looked a few weeks back
Preach it. The sinners among us need converting.
I don't really understand this philosophy because there are NO easy games in the PL, particularly for a team of our standard. You could argue the same for results in any division around the world.
We just have to focus on getting as many points as possible to get 17th, and treat every game as an opportunity to get us closer to that goal. The fact that it's taken us 5 games to pick up our first point means that we're a way behind the 8 ball.
I applaud your optimism but several of those games were "must win" games. We've looked very, very poor and unless something drastically changes I can't see where we will get the points we need for survival.
Keep improving, esp in defence, this is a new team and it should get better as it has more time to Gel. Kongolo and Andersen will improve central defence. We can try and ship a few out in January and bring in a decent striker which will improve us again. All is certainly starting to look a lot more encouraging but there is still a long way to go.
There are passages of play, that really look good, against Leeds when we were 4 - 1 down, then yesterday after we went 1 - 0 up, all looks promising. But we need 90 minutes plus of it, not patches of good play.
This is all very well but now we must get points from the so called 'good' teams which have played poorly. Like Man U for example...however I just don't see that happening
It's in our own hands nobody else, we may not finish in the top six this season, but we can avoid the bottom 3, and finish somewhere amongst the middle 11.
The second half performance against Sheffield U. has certainly provided us with hope. Kongolo should be ready to make an appearance soon and perhaps Reed has recovered, that will help.
The players are getting to know each other and we should be seeing an improvement each week.
I am looking forward to 3 points next week.
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on October 19, 2020, 09:00:49 AM
It's in our own hands nobody else, we may not finish in the top six this season, but we can avoid the bottom 3, and finish somewhere amongst the middle 11.
At best we can finish 11th amount the middle 11. Getting clean sheets is enough to avoid relegation.
It's a fair perspective but more often than not the teams that stay up manage to get points against the big teams from time to time - these games can't be just seen as a write off.
Im not having this, you have to pick up points against all the teams. Need to get a win on the board on sat !!
Quote from: Jimmy Hill on October 20, 2020, 01:00:12 PM
Im not having this, you have to pick up points against all the teams. Need to get a win on the board on sat !!
Yes we do but it's hardly guaranteed that we're down like many pundits are making out. It's not a shock that we have as many points as we do from the games we've played
Quote from: The Rational Fan on October 19, 2020, 03:03:55 PM
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on October 19, 2020, 09:00:49 AM
It's in our own hands nobody else, we may not finish in the top six this season, but we can avoid the bottom 3, and finish somewhere amongst the middle 11.
At best we can finish 11th amount the middle 11. Getting clean sheets is enough to avoid relegation.
Not any more, we have failed to keep a clean sheet in any League game so far this season.
But starting Saturday v Palace if we can keep a clean sheet, and let's be honest we should have kept a clean sheet on Sunday v Sheffield United if it hadn't been for the penalty that never was, but at least we did not concede a goal in open play. So I am a little more optimistic after watching certain players displays and our overall team performance in the second half which I thought was encouraging. We must try and build on that, and v Palace is an opportunity and a win would do the team a world of good.
Of course Roy Hodgson is a wily old fox and game management will be crucial as ever.
Will it be a tight game, with the odd goal either way, or can we give them a bloody nose.
Teeheeheeheeeeeee......
:005:
A big if, but if we do win our next 2 home games we will have a point a game after 7 games.
I would have settled for that before the season started.
