For goodness sake people it's happening again (the negativity bandwagon). We've had the most attempts of anyone in any match this season but to read the thread you'd think we'd lost 4-0 or something instead of being unbeaten in the league (and we weren't exactly dominated in the CL either were we). Is there some golden rule where you have to look for all the negatives? Sure there are comments to be made about room for improvement, and sure things could be better but for feck sake guys, I believe we're third top not third bottom!
I don't share your confidence sorry. They're sailing through the opposition whereas Spurs are not. You can say Spurs thrashed Stoke but isn't everybody?
What about them? It's this season that matters not the last two. What's the point of broaching a statistic when this season and the last 5 or 6 matches of last season he's been rubbish? A tap in against Stoke and a tap in against Sunderland don't fill me with much optimism.I HOPE he comes good.
The one where Janssen is doing everything right apart from scoring and Kane is doing nothing right apart from scoring. Kane has played professional football non-stop for 2 years solid, culminating in one of the most soul-destroying appearances by England in an international tournament in living memory. If you think he hasn't been affected by all of that, good luck to you. I've personally never seen a player whose middle name could be 'energy' look so drained of it - physical and mental - so early in a season. Even last year when he had that barren spell he was buzzing around wreaking havoc for 90 minutes. This season he has almost retreated into himself. I firmly believe that a decent break will do him and everyone else concerned the world of good, and will allow Janssen the opportunity to shine.
So you would have dropped him after the first few matches last season? Its amazing how people draw too much inference from too little data. There's an old saying - class is permanent and form is temporary. But a lot of people make the mistake of seeing a good or bad run of 'form' (luck would be a better word) as a reason for changing the team. That's exactly as sensible as betting on black because black has come up three times running
Too right. We've scored 8 goals and conceded 2 in 5 PL games. That's top two form over the whole season. And we've done this while not at our best. What exactly needs to happen to make people satisfied?
Whatever universe you want to live in, Kane getting injured is not a blessing. He's underperforming yeah, but still has two goals and with him out we're down to 1 striker... Again.
Well no. We didn't thrash Stoke, we beat them 1-0. It felt like a fairly comprehensive 1-0 that could and should have been more, especially if not for an excellent performance from their GK, but that doesn't change the scoreline. But for a goal line clearance from Walker it could have been a very different game. I'm glad we won of course because winning is an excellent habit, as is keeping clean sheets, and one or two players had excellent games, but at the same time the game seemed to have the hallmarks and frustrations of some of our most turgid performances of the past - lack of width, slow congested play...so its not all roses. I agree that right now, City are a level above Spurs, we've got nearly 2 weeks to pick ourselves up and play ourselves up to that level, which I see no reason why we cannot do with the right personnel playing to the best of their ability on the pitch. At this stage I wouldn't want to make a prediction on the game but I don't see why we can't beat them. City were good in the Manchester derby, but United still had a fair few chances in the game, and United were generally poor that game. And City will try to beat us, so the game will be more open.
Bitter sweet yesterday wasn't it? A much deserved 3 points but potentially 3 key players could be out. Poch said Mousa and Eric were taken off due to cramp, so I hope that's true but Kane... Man that looks like a good month out which is a huge blow. The starting XI surprised me a bit, I predicted Sissoko would get a start but didn't think Lamela, Eriksen and Davies all would've been dropped. In fairness their exclusions didn't make much of a difference, we played brilliantly but just failed to to score enough, a 4-0 score line wouldn't have flattered us, we were just as good as we were against Stoke but without the clinical finishing, so that's a great sign for me and hopefully against Boro we'll regain our scoring boots again and finish more than one of our 31 shots on target! . I found it weird when I read that Poch said Davies was dropped due to the fact he'd have had to have played 3 games in a row which would've been tough, baring in mind Walker, Toby, Jan etc have all played about 5-6, I think he was just being too nice and didn't want to say he was dropped after a below par performance vs Monaco. Son was incredible and MOTM for me, he absolutely butchered Denayer for the whole 90, don't think I've seen Sonny run as much as he did, his corners in the first half were also first class, although they dipped in the second. If he can maintain this form in the Prem then it'll be hard to drop him, which is great as that'll then give Eriksen a kick up the arse as he's probably the most vulnerable at the moment in terms of keeping in the XI right now. Walker was also ****ing superb and was just marginally beaten by Son for the MOTM award, his goal line clearance, cross for the goal and tackle on Khazri in the second half were all features of a great performance, I don't even really need to mention his constant back and forth bombing of the line as he's been doing it every week so far, without a doubt the best and most consistent player this season for the club. Dembele was Dembele, masterful in midfield and really helped us just completely dominate the game, his presence alone is a problem for the opposition, let alone his skills. Could tell he was tiring though, as expected baring in mind he hadn't played a league game for about 3-4 months. Alli was decent, nothing spectacular but had a solid game, won the header for Kane's goal which was great and forced a good save from Pickford. Harry was pretty quiet but did get the goal, a sign of a good goal scorer. Hopefully his injury is just a twist of the ankle and nothing ligament-wise but it doesn't look good - how ironic is it that in 18 months+ he's been our only striker and stayed fit, yet the moment we bring in competition he could be out for a spell... The world works in mysterious ways. Sissoko was pretty decent, made a good few runs down the right which their defence didn't like, although there were a few times where I think he could've made a run off the ball to give Walker an option, there were times where Kyle had it and no one was in front of him down that right which is where I think he should've been, but nonetheless it was a decent performance and he grafted well, something we'll all appreciate. Wanyama was also top class, it must've been pretty disappointing to sit out the whole of the Monaco game as he's been up there as one of our best and consistent players, today again he got stuck in and made some really neat passes. Toby, Jan, Dier and Hugo had a very easy day at the office, though Hugo's distribution was off at times - as usual! Good performance minus the finishing, 3 points and a clean sheet (again!) in the bag
He means Sunderland. Exactly right, and, as usual, well put. An enforced rest is ideal. Anything 4-6 weeks is providence. Just need Janssen to bury his first good chance and we'll be flying. Alli looks similarly knackered though. Son needs to give him a few games rest.
That's a surprise As for sailing through opposition, yes they've looked good but have a look at 4 of the 5 teams they've beaten this season... They're the bottom 4 clubs: Bournemouth 4-0 Stoke 4-1 Sunderland 2-1 West Ham 3-1 We've played Stoke and won 4-0 = A better goal margin than City. We played Sunderland yesterday and won 1-0 = Same goal margin but a clean sheet in our favour. We actually dominated them far better statistically than what City did, too. West Brom and Watford have knocked 4 past West Ham whereas City only put 3. Bournemouth... With the greatest respect 4-0 is about right when considering the stature and quality of players between both sides, we put 8 past them in the two games last season. Doesn't actually look that flattering now, does it?
Currently, results are okay and certainly up a level or three on last year. however, performances definitely have been incomplete. There have been periods in most games where we have looked asleep but these have been when we have been without Mousa and as per last season, in that respect. We remain a team that gets stronger in the second half but some of our first half performances haven't been up to snuff, so far, especially in the 3 games we haven't won. It's a concern and it needs sorting before we meet any more CL teams or Citeh because they'll bury us. Losing Kane is a real problem but Janssen's a good player to my mind and he needs game time and a few goals. A goal against Gillingham would help but dare we risk him? Mauricio is going to earn his money there.
Jeez people. We dominated another prem team. We won. Kane scored. We are unbeaten in the league. We are sitting 3rd. The world is good. Utd lost to Watford, Liverpool lost to Burnley. The days of routinely turning over teams are gone.
My concern is that there has been shades of AVB 2013-14 already this season. However, although there will not be wholesale integration problems as then due to the importance/amount of the ins and outs, there does seem to be a fatigue problem for key players (which may be the Pochettino regime from last season coming home to roost now) .
