REVIEW: The First Six Games

[Saint-Armstrong]

As is traditional, here is a review of our opening six games...

 

 

Played - 6

 

Won - 3

Drawn - 2

Lost - 1

 

 

Scored - 5

Conceded - 2

 

 

Clean Sheets - 4

 

 

Points - 11 out of 18

 

Position - 4th Place

 

 

 

...and the best thing? I don't even think we're playing as well as we can...

[Webby]

...and the best thing? I don't even think we're playing as well as we can...

 

 

Indeed. More to come.

[gr00031]

We aren't playing well and still getting results. Not a bad position to be in. Also a positive to be able to break down a team which we would have probably struggled to beat at the end of last season. Just have to keep it going!

[farawaysaint]

It is worth bearing in mind that statistically we had the easiest opening 6 of any premier league team.

[Turkish]

Couldn't have asked for any more. I'd been a bit critical of MP and whilst one swallow doesn't make a summer we are 4th and still haven't really clicked into gear yet. We've not had the toughest of starts but there are no easy games at this level and you can only beat what's in front of you.

[View From The Top]

We are certainly moving in the right direction!

[itchen_dan]

It is worth bearing in mind that statistically we had the easiest opening 6 of any premier league team.

 

On paper yes, but out of those teams, we failed to beat 4 of the 6 last season so potentially one of the hardest starts if you put it that way.

[Stepgar]

Errrr, west brom have just beaten man Utd and villa city. One we did and the other should have both home and away. Those sort of results show the rest of the prem teams that they are not invincible and they are beatable.

 

Would love it if we could do Man Utd on their own turf.

[70's Mike]

Interesting people say we have not played as well as we can, i believe we have changed the way we play to be solid at the back and that we may not see flowing football as much this season unless we score early and draw the other team out at Home

[Picard]

It is worth bearing in mind that statistically we had the easiest opening 6 of any premier league team.

 

West Ham Sunderland Norwich and Crystal Palace are all in the bottom 5 tonight.

[Olallana]

6 games played and only 4(!!!) yellow cards so far in total for the team and thats one each on four players.....

 

Keep that up and we wont have to worry about suspensions...

[SaintBobby]

I'm starting to think we might finish top six.

 

Mental.

[Dazza82]

Unbeaten at home as well, i wonder if that can run all season

[S-Clarke]

This time last year we had 3 points with a GD of -8

 

pretty conclusive in terms of progress.

[SO16_Saint]

We shouldn't have lost to Norwich, and should've beat Sunderland and West Ham - 7 more points IMO

[Batman]

We shouldn't have lost to Norwich, and should've beat Sunderland and West Ham - 7 more points IMO

 

No one wins every game

We probably should have lost at anfield though

[SO16_Saint]

We shouldn't have lost to Norwich, and should've beat Sunderland and West Ham - 7 more points IMO

 

5 more points - help I I could count

[Dark Munster]

West Ham Sunderland Norwich and Crystal Palace are all in the bottom 5 tonight.

I'm not sure what your point is. We only have beaten Crystal Palace from those 4.

[Turkish]

No one wins every game

We probably should have lost at anfield though

 

No we shouldn't! We were good value for the win and deserved at least a point.

[SNSUN]

Annoyingly I think we could have done better against West Ham and Sunderland, but what we've achieved is still excellent. We're one, in-form, creative midfielder away from being a near-perfect team, be that someone we already have a la Ramirez or a new signing.

 

Tough games to come though, we need Liverpool-esque performances to get points from the Manchesters, Arsenal and Chelsea.

[Toadhall Saint]

Interesting people say we have not played as well as we can' date=' i believe we have changed the way we play to be solid at the back and that we may not see flowing football as much this season unless we score early and draw the other team out at Home[/quote']

 

The way we play has changed no end. Yes we have dejan but I truly believe that our defense is the best in the prem and hat has nothing to do with individuals

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

S'alright, I suppose.

[Turkish]

The way we play has changed no end. Yes we have dejan but I truly believe that our defense is the best in the prem and hat has nothing to do with individuals

 

We've got two excellent full backs, the top notch centre half we've been crying out for but above all else an excellent experienced goalkeeper that the defence trust and commands his area. Being a good goalkeeper is not about doing spectacular saves for the cameras. It's about communication, commanding the area, coming and claiming crosses AND being able to make important saves. When people said last summer Davis wasn't up to it the Leeds game and a few of his saves were pointed at to defend him. Those that understand the game knew he couldn't command his box, flapped at crosses and despite making the odd spectacular save, he was a mile from being the answer for us as a primeur league keeper. Our improvement defensively last season coincided with his improved fitness and run in side and now we have a centre half of real quality in front of him it's gone from strength to strength.

[Toadhall Saint]

We've got two excellent full backs, the top notch centre half we've been crying out for but above all else an excellent experienced goalkeeper that the defence trust and commands his area. Being a good goalkeeper is not about doing spectacular saves for the cameras. It's about communication, commanding the area, coming and claiming crosses AND being able to make important saves. When people said last summer Davis wasn't up to it the Leeds game and a few of his saves were pointed at to defend him. Those that understand the game knew he couldn't command his box, flapped at crosses and despite making the odd spectacular save, he was a mile from being the answer for us as a primeur league keeper. Our improvement defensively last season coincided with his improved fitness and run in side and now we have a centre half of real quality in front of him it's gone from strength to strength.

 

It's all about communication across the pitch - saints are doing it well at the mo - not going to critise KD as you do the best you work with - one change can make a big difference to all those around you its never so black and white

[Dazza82]

We're one, in-form, creative midfielder away from being a near-perfect team, be that someone we already have a la Ramirez or a new signing.

 

 

I think Ramirez will be off either Jan or end of season. So is like to go in for Siem De Jong from Ajax.

Show spurs the one they should of signed

[saint_jas]

It sounds ridiculous, didn't think I'd be saying it, but I'm sure many agree - we really should be top.

 

This imo, we should have beat sunderland, not lost to Norwich and beat West Ham as well. Hey ho that is football. But I am delighted on our start

[Professor]

This imo, we should have beat sunderland, not lost to Norwich and beat West Ham as well. Hey ho that is football. But I am delighted on our start

[The9]

It is worth bearing in mind that statistically we had the easiest opening 6 of any premier league team.

 

Quite. It's basically the opposite of last season, except we're not as good this season as we were crap last.

[The9]

We've got two excellent full backs, the top notch centre half we've been crying out for but above all else an excellent experienced goalkeeper that the defence trust and commands his area. Being a good goalkeeper is not about doing spectacular saves for the cameras. It's about communication, commanding the area, coming and claiming crosses AND being able to make important saves. When people said last summer Davis wasn't up to it the Leeds game and a few of his saves were pointed at to defend him. Those that understand the game knew he couldn't command his box, flapped at crosses and despite making the odd spectacular save, he was a mile from being the answer for us as a primeur league keeper. Our improvement defensively last season coincided with his improved fitness and run in side and now we have a centre half of real quality in front of him it's gone from strength to strength.

 

We are pretty focking boring to watch now though.

[SO16_Saint]

It is worth bearing in mind that statistically we had the easiest opening 6 of any premier league team.

 

But because of the start we've made, the next 6 are looking pretty easy too.

[whelk]

We have the highest amount of possession at home of all teams in PL. Not always a relevant stat but we are totally controlling games at home albeit against weak opposition so far. Yesterday 8 of our 10 outfield players made more passes than Palace's top passer.

[Turkish]

It's all about communication across the pitch - saints are doing it well at the mo - not going to critise KD as you do the best you work with - one change can make a big difference to all those around you its never so black and white

 

I'm not criticising KD, simply pointing out he isn't a premier league keeper despite claims on here he was and should be England's keeper! The keeper and 2 centre backs are the foundations which your team is built on.

[qwertySFC]

Watching a marathon run is boring for at least 23 miles - we are a steady ship at the moment and will have that burst of energy to the finish line . Rather be where we are now than last season at this time. Grinding out results in the first 10 games is a very good indicator of how your season is going to pan out , confidence is high , team spirit is amazing just seeing the players reaction to Osvaldos goal yesterday shows what a close team we are and that can only bode well for this season.

 

The other factor I believe is that just a few additions to a squad makes all the difference - the nucleus of this squad has been together for some time now and why rock the boat and do a Super Star team on the cash we have.

[orchardsaint]

It is worth bearing in mind that statistically we had the easiest opening 6 of any premier league team.

 

we have only, in your opinion, had the easiest start, by looking back. if whu and sunderland had won two other games, then they wouldn't be there. nor would norwich if they had won more, and your bottom six may have had utd, city and liverpool in them. then we would have played top half teams! at the start of the season, no one said we have the easiest start of anyone, and no one here thought we would be in the top 5 after 6 games.

[The Kraken]

We are pretty focking boring to watch now though.

This is the only downside at the moment, but yes; we are a world away from the swashbucking side that came up two divisions. Much better set up to take on the top sides but we're now really quite a functional side.

[Ziggy]

Excellent start that I am, very happy with. Been to four of the six games and we have been the much better team in all of those games. I don't think we're that boring actually, perhaps a bit more frustrating to watch. Apart from that let's keep this going! COYR!

[SNSUN]

we have only, in your opinion, had the easiest start, by looking back. if whu and sunderland had won two other games, then they wouldn't be there. nor would norwich if they had won more, and your bottom six may have had utd, city and liverpool in them. then we would have played top half teams! at the start of the season, no one said we have the easiest start of anyone, and no one here thought we would be in the top 5 after 6 games.

 

Not true. I forgot which poster it was, but reckoned we'd be topping the league by the end of September.

 

I still think we could've done better with a bit of creativity and a bit more luck. We were one goal short against West Ham (which we nearly got) and how we're the only team Sunderland have won a point against I'll never know. I will agree that better teams will go to Carrow Road and lose, but they're still not showing as much potential as their signings in the summer suggested. On the other hand, the WBA and Liverpool wins were unexpected, so we've perhaps picked up wins where we thought we wouldn't. It's balanced itself out really, and that's why our start has been good. It could've been better but I'm still happy. I'm hoping the goals become a bit easier to come by though, but Osvaldo scoring on Saturday should give him some confidence.