.....Even in the worst case scenario of not picking up a single point against Citeh, Manure, Arse and Chelsea, we would still be very handily placed in the table, in touch with the top 4 and that is not taking into account that we have yet to play struggling Leicester, Palace, Burnley and Villa. We have a pretty good record over the last couple of years against the big clubs, especially at home, so we are likely to pick up a few points against them (we have already beaten Arsenal away this season). There comes a point when you have to recognise a club on its' results and not its' history and 10 wins out of 11 is an astonishing achievement. We are not a "flash in the pan", we a just a very good Premier League team that is improving from week to week.
On the 'soft' schedule, for the hell of it: if you were to assume that our results to date are perfectly representative (ie., averaging 0 points against the six 'big clubs', averaging 2.75 against the other thirteen) we'd finish the year on 72 points, which is top four contention.
The people who criticise are mainly non-players...any player knows that 7 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses is terrific form. And you can add in 3 cup wins. However, it is reasonable to say that it will be interesting to see how we do against teams that are usually top four.
if you manage to squeeze a couple of points out of the top sides you would be as good as, erm, Arsenal, who just about manage it. It's looking to be the best chance for a smaller team to get to the CL, Liverpool don't look all that, Man Utd are leaking all over the place, Tottenham buy show ponies and Arsenal havn't really looked like a challenging team since Viera left. I can't see any reason why you can't break into the top 4, you've been the best side we've played this season.
The key thing this year is that although we haven't played many of the big boys yet, we are beating all the teams who are a similar perceived level/size as us, and the big boys are not. Just off the top of my head Man City lost to Stoke and West Ham, Arsenal drew with Hull and Leicester, Liverpool have lost to Newcastle, West Ham and Villa, Man Utd lost to Leicester, drew with Burnley and West Brom. So even though on paper our fixtures have been "easy" because of other teams dropping points pretty frequently even if we went and lost to Chelsea, Arsenal, City and United we may have built up such a cushion that they wont overtake us even with victory.
Even if our fixture list has been kind so far, you've still got to consistently excellent to be 2nd after 10 games. Look at Arsenal, they've dropped points against Leicester and Hull among others and that's not even mentioning Liverpool and Spurs. There are no easy games in the PL, which makes our start even more remarkable.
I think it's great that people/pundits keep saying we're only 2nd because we haven't played the top teams, as it continues to show they are underestimating us. The players we have brought in are better than those who left, the players who stayed have improved. Koeman is light years ahead of Pocketthemoney, and the team spirit has improved following the loss of the "deadwood" A lot of credit has to go to the Board who have really proven themselves over this period. Yeah, we're only 2nd because we haven't played the top teams, yeah we're a flash in the pan, yeah wait until we get injuries, yeah all the team will want to leave in January, yeah wait until the bad weather comes, yeah we will be put up for sale, yeah Katherina will cash in and sell all of our players in a fire sale, yeah we have no right to sit at the top table, jumped up little Southampton should be happy to be relegation fodder year in and year out. Please please please keep underestimating us everyone - under the radar we go!
Cheers mate. Its true that apart from Man C and Chelsea none of the big clubs are performing anywhere near expectation (last season we had 1 point less after nine games and sat in 5th rather than 2nd this season) so this is a great chance for us..and your lot, to make a break for the top which would be fantastic for the fans and football in general. I think our momentum and confidence will allow us to at least have a crack at the big teams when we face them. If it works and we get some results maybe we can shatter that illusion that says 'little' clubs are supposed to lose and the likes of Man U and Arsenal deserve to be at the top by virtue of their name/history.
We haven't played any of the "Big Four." Man Utd's only losses have come against teams in the bottom four.
Liverpool are only struggling at the moment because Suarez is missing. When does he come back from his ban? They'll kick on like they did last year when he does come back.
