I think many people's memories of life under Hughton don't always match the facts https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/chr..._id=1123&liga=1&wettbewerb_id=GB1&trainer_id= We took some heavy losses including 7 nil to Man City on the 2/11/2013, 5 - 1 to Liverpool on 4/12/3013 and 5 nil to Liverpool on the 19/01/2013. In total under Hughton (who I would suggest set up to defend) we beat Man City once, 3 -2 on the last day of the season to stay in the PL, when many Man City players were already on the beach. We lost to them twice 7 nil & 3-4 and drew with them once 0-0. In reality there's very little difference between our record against Man City under Hughton or DF. We only played Liverpool 3 times under Hughton and lost every time 5 - 1, 5 - nil & 5 - 2, after Hughton left we still lost to Liverpool, but only 3 - 2. In the season we stayed up we lost to Liverpool twice 5 - 2 & 5 - Nil. Lost to Man city once 4 -3 and beat them once 3 - 2 (last game of season) So won 1 out of 4, interestingly the same as under DF 2 season ago, the difference being we went down. Interestingly in the season we stayed up under Hughton we lost the first game 5 - nil to Fulham. We beat Arsenal, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Wigan, Everton, Reading, West Brom & Man City. So of 9 teams we beat only 3 are still in the PL and 2 are in league 1, We drew against QPR (twice) Spur's (twice), Newcastle, Fulham & Swansea. As you can see most of the teams we took points from are no longer in the PL and I would suggest the strength of the competition now is much stronger than if was then. Not that this matters 1 bit other than support the view that it's not the results against the top 6 teams that are going to define our season and some people look back through rose tinted spectacles.
Good post Canario. Those big giant slaying wins are most memorable, but they are few and far between when you actually look at the facts. I agree that Farke doesn’t look like he really wants an out and out defensive midfielder. He wants a dual role for the centre midfielders seems to be the indication.
Unfortunately we followed on the performance with a 2 nil loss to Burnley, whereas Man City went on to beat Watford 8 nil. Interestingly we scored 1st from a set piece, Mclean header from a corner, of course this played into our hands as we were able to maintain our low block and counter. If Man City had scored first that plan would have gone out the window.
Leicester Edit Arsenal Watford Everton Burnley Brighton Chelsea Leeds Brentford Saints Wolves I know we are in the middle of a run of fixtures we are not expected to win but can someone tell me when the easy games start ? The only one I think looks winnable is Burnley but we didn't do well against them last time.
Hate to break it to you, but there's no easy games. Having said that if you could play Liverpool or Man City again instead of 1 of those teams, would you? You missed out Arsenal after Leicester. They're all winnable, but we won't win them all, we might win none of them. Look at it another way how many of those teams will be looking forward to their games against Liverpool & Man City. Probably only Chelsea are on the same level.
At our best, we could beat all of them, though in the case of Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal we would need them to also have a mediocre day. At our worst, we will lose to all of them.
We usually get done by Bournemouth so that's not exactly a game to experiment in the cup. I think with a different approach we may pick up a few points during that run , but the lesser sides have all invested in decent defenders and set up with midfielders to defend. Add to that Pukki hasn't really touched the ball since he went off to the Euros and it's not easy to see where the next clean sheet or goal is coming. I can see why Farke is after that Man U full back and expect him to play on the left if he joins. I would personally push the boat out for a centre back and DM. Until that happens drop Pukki for Sargent, bring Dowell back in put Kenny and Sorensen as the 2 holding and possibly even give Gunn a run out . Rupp shouldn't be anywhere near the starting line up and Gilmore is too small and inexperienced to play as the main cover for our leaky defence . Give Pierre a few more games to settle in same with Rashica who is showing signs of promise . Love Handley but the guy looks a bomb scare Gibson as someone else mentioned Is not exactly puffing out his chest and marshaling his side he's shrinking into his boots. Todd spent much of the 2 games trying to "win" free kicks by dribbling into dead ends then sitting down under the slightest contact like a poor man's Grealish. Sorensen deserves a run of games in his strongest position and Dowell has a goal in him for them to be ignored in place of bang average at everything Rupp and Gilmore must be annoying. If it doesn't work at least we tried .
Calling them from my head and not my heart , I think we'll beat Leeds and draw against Burnley lose the rest including Arsenal. Leeds are better than us but we seem to always ruin their day and hopefully end our record breaking run of doom
Agree with a lot of that. Hanley is still in pre-season, just like last time we've put him in almost a no win situation. Best hope he doesn't get injured, because we will be a lesser team without him.
No I think because of the last 2 games you are being overly pessimistic. So far nothing has happened that wasn't expected, only the most optimistic of fans would have expected us to have points at this time of the season.
No I'm judging them by 2019-20 Premier league performances too . Project restart was like groundhog day for lackluster ****ty performances leading to our 12 straight defeats scoring 1 and letting in 30 something I lost count . We are way too good for the Championship and nowhere near good enough for the Premier league. IF we sign a quality centre back or 2 and a striker to rival Pukki and a decent DM them I will completely change my tune but judging what's there we are going down without a whimper like last time. Selling Buendia is an enormous loss and Pukki looks lost without him . I really hope I'm wrong and I won't want Farke sacked if we go down but I don't see any improvement on the team that got relegated last time . Perhaps Gibson
The window still isn't closed, but I agree our ideal starting 11 is perhaps no stronger than last time, what we do have is a lot more strength in depth. We have a chance to survive this season, if we do then we will be in a much better place to go on for a second season than we would have been if we stayed up last time. If we go down then for me it's a case of keep improving and winning the championship with a 100 + points. I don't want to risk the long term stability of the club on the roll of the dice this season.
I agree with experimenting with Gunn at some point. You have to love Krul for his efforts for the club, but too often we seem to concede with shots on target and there comes a point when you have to wonder. I disagree with drawing anything from our 19-20 performances here, though. Farke’s tactics are different apart from anything else - like the differences in the squad, the experience of some players, the teams we have played so far
Just to remind people how good Man City can be (and were yesterday) to the point where you could argue that playing them is not a litmus test for how we might play any other team in the league… Yesterday they completed 684 out of 730 passes, which apparently is their second highest percentage completion in the premier league since Opta started measuring in 2003/4. Now you could question whether this was because we let them have loads of possession, but actually possession statistics were 67%/33% - which is pretty average for Man City and our pass completion was 84.8% which is above average against Man City. To put it into perspective, when Man City beat Newcastle 3-4 last season, setting their record pass completion statistic of 94.2% since Opta began recording, they had 82%/18% possession and Newcastle’s pass completion rate was 67.7%. In short, we unfortunately met one of probably the top five clubs in the world yesterday, with quite possibly the best and most expensive squad, with several players and their team having a point to prove, playing at some of their most precise best. And we still only conceded two goals from their pure skill rather than unfortunate ricochets…
I watched Brighton v Watford yesterday Brighton flirted with relegation again last season but look like a really decent side. Villa are supposed to be another yoyo club but signing Ings has given them another level he scored a Worldy . Saints used that to by Armstrong who will score goals . Watford are more suited to grinding out results and stopping sides from walking all over them . Brentford have a solid defence and their main striker Tony looks decent . By our standards we have spent big but Gibson and Gianoulis were from last seasons budget I believe and Gunn and the 4 midfielders were probably about what we received from Buendia with change . I realise I'm a broken record but our season will most likely be defined by who we recruit before the window closes . We are a suspenjury away from disaster already if Pukki or one of our 2 best centre backs go . Idah isn't going to score us the goals to keep us up and Omobamidele is not ready to compete at this level week in week out . We are going to war without a gun again at present
Well Pukki scored 6 in his first 5 games last time and ended the season getting 5 in the next 33 most of them penalties. He had a pretty good season in the Championship but barely touched the ball at the Euros and carried that form over . This is his 4th season with us with literally no competition for his place still. I'm hopeful that Sargent will push him or replace him but he's not really a striker. We could certainly use a hard hat too
