Haven't posted on here for a while but thought I'd share my thoughts on the season so far. I'd be very interested to hear what other's think too, innevitably everyone's thoughts will differ. I've managed to get to every game this season except Everton and WBA away so I think I have a fairly good grounding to judge before people start questioning my credentials. Just like to pick out a few areas for particular highlight, we'll strart with some cons first so I can end on the positives! Cons Goalkeeping situation - it can't be good to not have an established number one who has a rapport with his defence. I actually thought Boruc has been good since 30mins into the Arsenal game. A few instances during the Villa game he bellowed out his calls to take command of potentially uncofortable situations. I think we should stick with him going forward. Squad depth - I fear for us with injuries. Fonte being out has exposed Hooiveld and, although we got a clean sheet Saturday, it was easy to see how slow he is. Worse still,another injury exposes Seaborne who is very much an unknown quantity. We know this is a target for the window and is crucial to us staying up. I also fear for some of the quality of our other back-up players. De Ridder looks painfully one-dimensional when he comes on, Mayuka looked lost when he started vs Sunderland and I'm not convinced yet by Reeves. But, this youth policy is something we're commited to so we have to understand there may sometimes appear to be weaknesses. Concentration lapses - We still sometimes seem to switch off during games. Yoshida is a prime example. He can be excellent for 89 minutes and then contribute a cock-up of monolothic proportions, invariably leading to a goal. I know you might say this can happen to anybody but he's been guilty of 2 or 3 and had one against Villa yesterday which led to a 4 on 2 which they contrived to mess up and obviously Dyer's goal for Swansea. He's not alone in sometimes giving the ball away. Pros Puncehon - Wow. What a transformation!!! This guy looks class and has tormented every left back he'scome up against in the last 6 weeks. Good crossing, a goal threat, a magical first touch and good pace - really a complete winger now. Great link-up with Clyne too making our right hand side a real strength. An England call-up would be deserved but is unlikely unfortunately. Centre Mid - Shneiderlin and Cork have been exceptional. Both very gifted players who really do look complete now. They bossed Arsenal's midfield 3 which takes some doing and were physical against the likes of Tiote when necessary. Have to signal out Morgan for individual praise, I think his development has been remarkable. The fans - the difference between out atmosphere, one of unity and optimism compared with that at Villa Park was tangible. We really do provide the player's with a healthy environment in which for them to flourish. Academy - We all know how good it is but wow Luke Shaw looks fantastic! No coincidence that his emergence has coincided with an dramatic improvement. Fantastic all-round player already! I really am optimistic for the second ahlf of this season. I think we've looked miles better than QPR, Reading, Villa,Wigan and even Fulham and NEwcastle so far so I'd want tolook upwards instead of downwards. But I think we'd all take 17th knowing we have the money to push on next year! Love to hear your thoughts on the season so far!
Good post. I still fear for us, but things are looking gradually more hopeful. I do still think we'll need that one unlikely victory somewhere along the line though. Home to Everton up next could possibly be it. Two or three decent signings this month, followed immediatelyu by a win away to Wigan, and that fear of mine will subside somewhat.
Yeah, a good post, covered most of how I feel. Still nervous about our stay, some of the mistakes we have made really have had us playing catch up, & I'd imagine it will be the same right down to the final game. Getting beaten by the Manchester clubs late on stung, but wasn't a massive surprise, but dropping points to Swansea & Norwich really hurt. It so important to pick up wins when you can because there shall be plenty of games where we are just not going to be in it, just hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. Also, I think NA has done a great job, just hope his loyalty does not cost him, that would be awful. Both the goal keeper & CB positions has been a raging debate since the summer, he needs to be tough, maybe with NC aswell, afterall its his job on the line.
After the thought you've put into that post, I'm not going to reply with a one-liner, because that's just unfair. I think we're all agreed that the first few games of this season knocked the players back quite a bit. It was wonderful to see the lads unintimidated against Man City, on the first day of the season. For ten minutes or so we were in footballing heaven, and then the reality set in. Against ManU we played well against greater firepower, but Wigan was a set back, and Arsenal at the Emirates was a real low. Since then it hasn't really been so bad. Not having your superb record of access to games, I often find that reaching for the news of the result somewhere on a Saturday evening actually doesn't fill me with trepidation. I sort of look back on the last 21 games and wonder why we're not midtable, given the quality of football that we've played, and the truth is, is that it has been those individual mistakes, and bits of poor fortune that seem to plagued the naive or incompetent, that has stopped Saints from being in a half decent lower midtable position. We've almost learned our second Premier League season right here and now, and I don't expect a slump, starting next August. I think this club is really going to go places. I believe it is going to be far more successful than it has ever been in existence before, and although I think Cortese won't be spendthrift with the finances, he'll have no problems when it comes to making sure we spend on quality when we have to. After all, even with the excellent Academy that flourishes again at SFC, not all the spaces can be filled by it, although we do seem to produce an awful lot of quality LBs..! The 2nd half of this season will be crucial, and although I'm not 100% confident we'll escape relegation [who could be..?], I'm reasonably so. From there on I expect Nicola to really start driving the club on. It's not going to be dull.
I think we are the most consistent of the lower positioned clubs. We had such a bad start that it took a few decent results to get us out of the bottom for more than an odd week. Still too many draws, but perhaps that is better for team morale than the odd win followed by several losses. I feel we have turned a corner and stand a good chance against any team except the top six. I'm willing to bet that QPR, Reading, and Villa fans don't feel like that, although they will stick with their team of course.
Good post Morgan Schneiderlin has been our player of the season so far in my view. Small dip in performance before Xmas but has been incredibly consistent from game one. Shame about those dropped points highlighted as 4 would have us up with Sunderland, Fulham etc which I think has been our level. Hope we can pick up points over the next set of tough fixtures with our injury concerns
The Chelsea result has changed their mindset somewhat. Bet Rafa won't be as kind with team changes on Wednesday, the git.
Fortunately, the Chelsea game is our in hand, so unless our GD takes a hammering then I don't think it matters. Can't disagree with OP and it's well thought out, although I am beginning to hope that our goalkeeping problem may be resolving itself with Boruc growing into the role. Fingers crossed on that one!
