Stock taking

[The RDBD]

So that was the season that was, and these are the salient facts :

1. W/D/L = 19/13/6, for 70 pts.
2. 3rd in the PL.
3. Best GD.
4. Second best GF.
5. Best GA.
6. Kane is PL top scorer for the season.

7. Qualified for the 2016-17 CL group stages.


Are we happy with that ??

 

[PleaseNotPoll]

Yes? We weren't scoring enough goals early on and we've conceded a few sloppy ones when dominating games, but we've been very good, overall.
Still need a couple of players in January, in my opinion, but they've got to have the right mentality and be willing to fight for their places.

 

[deedub93]

So a third of the PL season gone, and these are the salient facts :

1. Averaging GD of +1 per game
2.. GA of less than one per game.
3. Unbeaten in 12 consecutive games.

4. Only one team has a better GD.
5. Only one team has a lower GA.


Are we happy with that ??

Very happy, but we need to press on. beat the chavs by three or four next week and it will start looking good.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

Dammit, Poch, stop giving us belief - the papers will be sharpening their knives if you do that!

 

[Citizen Kane]

Agreed. I'm reserving judgement until after the Chelsea game, especially coming as it does immediately after the hardest away trip in European football.

I'd earmarked November as the toughest month of the season when the fixtures came out. If we can get through it unbeaten in the league and with EL qualification secured, I will be delighted. It sets us up very nicely for a December that will be tricky but is full of winnable fixtures.

 

["Thanks for that Brian"]

Poch needs to point out that we are 4 places and 4 points behind Leicester. As well as we may think we are doing, they are outdoing us and we need to aim to overtake them. Game by game we need to improve performances and results until we are top. If Leicester can outperform both Manchester clubs and
Arsenal then I see no reason that we can't do the same. There's no more talent in their side than ours and we have more resources to deal with injuries and suspensions. From here on it's about attitude and heart as much as skill. If we can put that in week in and week out then the sky's the limit. Well done to all at the club. We are proud of you!

 

[remembercolinlee]

Man utd ... same points as last season
Stoke .... plus 1 point on last season
Leicester ... minus 2 points on last season
Everton ... minus 2 points on last season
Sunderland ... plus 2 points on last season
palace...plus 2 points on last season
man city ... plus 3 points on last season
swansea ... minus 2 points on last season
Liverpool. ..plus 1 point on last season
Bournemouth (swapped with qpr) ... equal to last season
Villa... plus 3 points on last season
Arsenal. ..equal to last season
west ham...plus 2 points on last season

That puts us on plus 8 points game for game on last season.

 

[No Kane No Gain]

I think our performances have been even better than the 24 points won suggest. I guess that's both good and bad as we're playing really well but not always getting the reward for it.

It's certainly nice to see our GD doing well and not lingering around -3 to +3 region as it usually does for most of the season though, it's been nice going into games knowing that we could potentially give any opposition a thrashing on our day and knowing that we're unlikely to give anyone an easy 3 points.

 

[cini65]

...If Leicester can outperform both Manchester clubs and Arsenal then I see no reason that we can't do the same. ...

But this is inherently flawed logic. I could just as easily say that if Leicester can outperform City and United there's no reason why Arsenal can't do the same as there's no more talent in their side than ours. Liverpool could justifiably say the same. Many teams could argue that they should be up there. I think we all know Leicester won't finish even in the top 6.

 

[littleDinosaurLuke]

10 factors IMHO:

1. Alderweireld was an excellent signing.
2. Kane has hit a purple patch after a drought.
3. Dier, Alli and Dembele might not have been playing together had Bentaleb, Mason and Chadli stayed fit
4. The team has got used to playing a high pressing game
5. In view of 4, there appears to be greater licence and confidence to move the ball more quickly and push forward when in possession
6. The defence are playing regularly together as a unit
7. There is an emphasis on youth - which has brought greater energy
8. Walker is still making gaffes, but not as many
9. The manager appears to have been able to recruit players he wants
10. The defence is protected by a genuinely defensive midfielder

Now it's all about maintaining form, fitness, avoiding too many enforced or unenforced changes, coping with EL commitments etc.

A good team is always greater than the sum of its parts - as Leicester are also proving.

It's too early to predict where teams will finish - as all the regular top six to eight sides have looked equally great and rubbish at various times- but it looks to be a very open league with no outstanding candidate for the title and with 8 or more teams having genuine top 4 claims

 

["Thanks for that Brian"]

But this is inherently flawed logic. I could just as easily say that if Leicester can outperform City and United there's no reason why Arsenal can't do the same as there's no more talent in their side than ours. Liverpool could justifiably say the same. Many teams could argue that they should be up there. I think we all know Leicester won't finish even in the top 6.

If you had read the post you would see that I indicated that Pochettino use it as a motivation to further effort to attempt to move us even further up the table. As I point out it's a call to heart and attitude by continually setting targets and collective challenges and is not a logical argument. If you'd ever played the game or any sport at a significant level you'd understand what I'm saying.

 

[deedub93]

10 factors IMHO:

1. Alderweireld was an excellent signing.
2. Kane has hit a purple patch after a drought.
3. Dier, Alli and Dembele might not have been playing together had Bentaleb, Mason and Chadli stayed fit
4. The team has got used to playing a high pressing game
5. In view of 4, there appears to be greater licence and confidence to move the ball more quickly and push forward when in possession
6. The defence are playing regularly together as a unit
7. There is an emphasis on youth - which has brought greater energy
8. Walker is still making gaffes, but not as many
9. The manager appears to have been able to recruit players he wants
10. The defence is protected by a genuinely defensive midfielder

Now it's all about maintaining form, fitness, avoiding too many enforced or unenforced changes, coping with EL commitments etc.

A good team is always greater than the sum of its parts - as Leicester are also proving.

It's too early to predict where teams will finish - as all the regular top six to eight sides have looked equally great and rubbish at various times- but it looks to be a very open league with no outstanding candidate for the title and with 8 or more teams having genuine top 4 claims

LDL
Correct me if i'm wrong but I think Kane may be the leading goalscorer for 2015. If that is a drought I can't wait for the rainy season.

 

[littleDinosaurLuke]

LDL
Correct me if i'm wrong but I think Kane may be the leading goalscorer for 2015. If that is a drought I can't wait for the rainy season.

Yes, but he didn't score in the first 8 PL games, which was hardly Vardyesque!

 

[deedub93]

Yes, but he didn't score in the first 8 PL games, which was hardly Vardyesque!

Correct me if i'm wrong again but i think he didn't start until November last season. But agreed, hardly Vardyesque, However, all strikers go through a barron patch, the strength of a good striker is to get back on track putting any minor lean spell behind him. Kane appears to have done that.

 

[Citizen Kane]

A huge part of Kane's barren patch actually had nothing to do with the player, as anyone who watches our games will attest that he played quite well and was consistently one of our better players despite not scoring.

A key part of the problem which it seems has now been solved was simply giving the team around him time to settle. Eriksen's return from injury was also key, but the main part was incorporating players like Alli, Dier, Son and even Dembele into roles that they'd never occupied before, at least in the PL.

The number of chances we create per game has increased exponentially since this impressively rapid transition, and we've gone from struggling to score to score multiple goals with relative ease.

Although the simpler explanation behind Kane's form is that I took him out of my fantasy team and summarily stopped predicting him as a goalscorer in Spurf's league. Oh, the things I do for this club!

 

[cini65]

If you had read the post you would see that I indicated that Pochettino use it as a motivation to further effort to attempt to move us even further up the table. As I point out it's a call to heart and attitude by continually setting targets and collective challenges and is not a logical argument. If you'd ever played the game or any sport at a significant level you'd understand what I'm saying.

But I can see through it in five seconds. If a manager said that sort of gumph to me it would mean nothing, because I know the same thing would apply to several other teams. So no, I don't agree it would work as motivation, unless you were a moron.

 

[Citizen Kane]

But I can see through it in five seconds. If a manager said that sort of gumph to me it would mean nothing, because I know the same thing would apply to several other teams. So no, I don't agree it would work as motivation, unless you were a moron.

I think what Brian meant is that if Leicester are top of the league after a third of the season, it indicates that this year is as wide open as it's ever been and literally anything is possible.

Before the season started, most fans and players probably thought it was a foregone conclusion with City and Chelsea battling it out for the title with yourselves and United providing backing music and ourselves and Liverpool contending 5th.

No one saw West Ham or Leicester doing as well as they have done. If Palace win tonight, which I strongly suspect they will, they'll move up to 6th and will be just 2 points below us and 3 below you. Again, not many would've seen that coming after a third of the season.

So yes, I think a massive motivating factor, especially for a group of young players, is to get the league table out and say 'look, anything is possible this year...make it yours'.

 

[PleaseNotPoll]

If Palace win tonight then there's an 8 point gap between Leicester in 1st place and Liverpool in 10th.
Not only is that an odd sentence to type, but it's a bloody tight table right now and a good run sees anyone push right up.

 

[cini65]

I think what Brian meant is that if Leicester are top of the league after a third of the season, it indicates that this year is as wide open as it's ever been and literally anything is possible.

Before the season started, most fans and players probably thought it was a foregone conclusion with City and Chelsea battling it out for the title with yourselves and United providing backing music and ourselves and Liverpool contending 5th.

No one saw West Ham or Leicester doing as well as they have done. If Palace win tonight, which I strongly suspect they will, they'll move up to 6th and will be just 2 points below us and 3 below you. Again, not many would've seen that coming after a third of the season.

So yes, I think a massive motivating factor, especially for a group of young players, is to get the league table out and say 'look, anything is possible this year...make it yours'.

Do you honestly see Leicester or West Ham being anywhere near the league winners at season end?

 

[Spurf]

Do you honestly see Leicester or West Ham being anywhere near the league winners at season end?

In the case of Leicester as league leaders after a third of the season you cannot dismiss them. I haven't seen enough of them to make an assessment but after 13 games it is surely a bit more than a fluke.