I don’t think a few lucky or against the grain wins will do much to be honest. I just think we’ve gone too stale and have too many average to poor players at the club to realistically achieve our ambitions.
We don’t have a top four calibre defence any more.
We don’t have a top four calibre midfield.
Son continues to have spells of brilliance and mediocrity and Kane has yet again had injuries and is currently receiving little to no service. Combine all of that and it’s not really a surprise to me to see where we are in the table.
For sure, there has been dodgy decisions and you could say we’ve had more than our fair share of bad luck but ultimately we’re just not very good either, or more to the point, not good enough for where we want to be.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before but go back to 16/17 and look at our XI and then compare it to now.
Hugo
Walker, Toby, Jan, Rose
Wanyama, Dembele
Son, Eriksen, Dele
Kane
At that particular period, we had an XI of players who were easily in the top four best of their position in the country. We arguably had the best XI in the league that year, we just lacked the squad depth to have seen us over the line.
Fast forward to now, I’d say only Hugo (just!), Lo Celso, Son (although he needs a massive rocket) and Kane would make the XIs of all or some of the other top four/ top six sides. Four out eleven starters... Damning.
Jose hasn’t really helped matters either, his style of play can be hard to watch when you’re not winning games and depending on what side of the fence you sit, his treatment of certain players may or may not irritate you but ultimately I will still reserve judgement on him until he has more of his own players. He is dealing with a team that is nowhere near where it used to be.
Personally I just can’t wait for the season to end.