For five months last year, from May to the end of August, we walked around with grins on our faces and a deep, warm glow in our proud chests. But tbf, halfway through September, even though we were still unbeaten, a lot of us thought "hang on, this isn't quite right." We'd excused our poor form in May as the team being on the piss. No problems, so were we.
But six or seven games in, whilst we expected teething problems with that many new signings, only Ekitike actually looked class. Yet the new signings weren't the biggest problem, imo. Szobo and Gravy aside, everyone, including Macca, Mo, Konate, and, yes, even Virgil, was underwhelming, to say the least. 'Oh, it's Jota,' said a few, and understandably. But by October/November, we could see that this team was dead on its feet, frequently outrun and outfought by the opposition, and clueless about its identity. And that, I'm afraid, isn't about new signings or Jota - it's about a half-fit side that isn't being coached properly.
It took the other PL teams those first five games to spot it.
