Trouble is that in the last 5 games we have gifted goals in each game with stupid mistakes... Burnley's second was appalling defending by several players, the og at Chelsea was terrible defending, the goal the goons scored was from a terrible mistake, Southampton equalised from terrible defending and again today...there comes a point when it is no longer bad luck but awful defending...no clean sheets in 5 games and lost 4 away games on the bounce and not won in 5 is an awful return for a club hoping for top 4. We have scored just 4 goals in 5 games and conceded 9. Not scoring from good positions is a regular occurrence as is giving away goals. I have no idea what the problem is that is causing this but we can't keep saying it's bad luck to be honest.
I looked at the Chelsea result and was very deflated but nodded and thought would the same happen, late goal but the other way around and I thought of Lawro's prediction.......2-1. This fixture has more own goals than any other in the PL so no change. Beat Palace and away we'll go.
I thought he was too. There was no proper replay that would have shown it though, surprise surprised think the hame should have gone to 98 minutes, extra two for their goal celebration and two for the injury. Might not have made any difference but it’s the principle. We all know how much would be added if it was the scousers losing.
Salah looked offside tbh but we had enough chances to win that and didn't take them. I only caught the 2nd half and we played very well but we simply can't control the midfield and as a result everything kept coming straight back in. They have fabulous crossers of the ball and eventually one of them was going to go in. Painful defeat yet again but I've spent the intl break musing that a 5th place finish might well be the kick up the backside the owner needs to invest. CM is crying out for it and has been for 2 entire seasons.
Can have him for free. Just needs to go now. Been a great servant but he's becoming a severe liability and I don't want him to be remembered as a calamity keeper, which he's been for the past two seasons.
RCL I was talking about today not the last few games where we have not shined. I can say it was bad luck TODAY. Southampton etc is a different story. Our defence has never been as secure this season as it was last season and there are a number of reasons which I'm sure we will discuss another time. Loris is one of them.
Pretty sure Rose played him on, but there weren't any good replays of it. Don't think the officials got that one wrong.
I think what we’ve seen so far in 2019 is the importance of signings, not just for the squad depth but also to kee players motivated and give them a kick to raise their game. Too many have been coasting this season.
I've said similar but I'm still royally pissed at how we've bottled about a 9 or 10 point lead for our CL spot. The mentality in this team is absolutely embarrassing.
We are very close to being good enough but not close enough. It does make it possible to consider that we MP can do this with some strengthening of our midfield. We badly need a midfield enforcer and that would make the difference.
Total lack of a DM throughout this season. Every defense will make numerous mistakes and leak goals in a league this competitive if they have zero protection. How and why we retained Wanyama beyond the summer when it has been clear for months that he is a shadow of his former self is beyond me. Questions also need to be asked about Dier's fitness and consistency. Cut your losses and move on or we risk becoming the new arsenal, hanging on to permanently crocked players for years on end. CM needs urgent, urgent attention in the summer but won't get it. Grealish isn't enough. We need established class talent already playing at peak level to walk into the side and improve it. The CM version of VDV would be lovely, even if it costs £60m so be it.
I thought we were robbed, we the better side for an hour and created the better chances, but we have to be clinical when we create the chances, one of those matches where none of our players were outstanding, but 6 or 7 played well enough for us to have won the match and we certainly didn't deserve to lose, but we did and we now need to win at least 6 of our last 7 to have a chance of top 4. Lets hope that the new stadium gives us a boost, because we must hit the ground running on Wed and Palace will be up for spoiling the party.
7 games remain, 5 at home. That could be huge. The new stadium could and should make a huge difference in lifting the players and fans. Keep the faith. COYS
The evidence provided by 31 PL games suggests that we are actually further away than at any point under Poch. Even the 2014/15 team filled me with more optimism as it was jam packed with young players improving game on game. Fast forward 4 seasons and our squad is now filled with players who have reached their peak and, sadly, it would seem that with the exception of 5 or 6 of them, that peak isn't good enough.
I see it differently. We have a number of players who are at their peak but we have lost Dembele and and in form Wanyama and as good as Sissoko has been he is not a good enough replacement for those two. We are therefore far more fragile atm. Sort out our midfield and we can take a leap forward beyond where we were in recent seasons.
We were very close to being good enough last summer. Now we're absolutely miles off. We need a creative CM, a DM, a RB, a CB to replace Toby and a CAM to replace Eriksen, whilst a decision has to be made on our GK now because Lloris is an utter liability.
We bottle it, mate, it's a simple as that. None of us like being labelled with that term, the media and rival fans have been using it for seasons but the harsh truth is that we are indeed bottlers. So many times our players (and manager) talk a big game but we never deliver. About 5 weeks ago we had players talking about winning the title, we're now on the verge of dropping out of the top four. Talk is so cheap and unfortunately we don't walk the walk.
