Season so far

[washsaint]

For me, a pretty strange season so far.

 

If we are able to get 2 more results in the next week then we will be knock out stages of Europa, semis of League Cup and pushing for a top 8 finish again. If anyone had offered this in the summer I think everyone would have been over the moon.

 

Puel is impressing but it has been strange. At times our football has been sublime - and at other times atrocious (Hull and Sparta spring to mind!).

 

I think everyone would agree we are lightweight up front with Long and Rodriguez absolutely useless so far.

 

For me the highlight is Puel having faith in playing the younger players and giving them a chance. I think it is no coincidence that their enthusiasm rubs off on the rest of the team.

 

Still plenty of twists and turns to come I'm sure but so far Puel has impressed and the way he has the whole squad involved is pretty miraculous and seems to have everyone working together.

 

Would be really interested to hear of Guan or any of the ITKs have any updates on what the mood in the camp is, what they really think of Puel, etc.

[Saint_clark]

We gambled on Rodriguez and that hasn't worked, Long has lost his scoring form and Redmond will take probably the entire season to adapt to the striker role (which I still think he can).

Puel has got things spot on so far - evidenced by the fact we're still challenging on all fronts - with the only exception being Hull away. Why oh why we tried to coast on a 1-0 lead I do not know, and can only assume that was him using his experience against poorer teams in the French league who really would be out of it at 1-0. Lesson learnt, hopefully.

For me, we really need to be a bit ruthless and call it a day for Jrod. Try and sell him on and get someone else in, recall Gallagher or just give Sims his spot in the squad.

[nta786]

that hull game will haunt us for a while- prague whilst shocking, we still had an insurance in the beer sheva game.

had we won that, ohhh fgs lol.

 

also weve put in some great performances where we didn't win, i.e. leicester springs to mind as well as arsenal game where they didn't deserve their penalty + watford and sunderland at home players were clearly adjusting but in hindsight those latter 2 games we should be winning if we aim for top 6/7 again

[SuperSAINT]

So far, it's been about goals so far hasn't it? Not scored enough & some of the worst moments from this season: Inter Away / Prague Away / Hull Away have been about not taking chances.

 

There is light at the end of tunnel though. Boufal getting fitter. Tadic still to return. Sims a live-wire from the bench.

 

Will be interesting to see what January brings in terms of the window & our striker line-up.

[mrfahaji]

We shouldn't factor in points we "should" have got (e.g. a point at Arsenal) without considering ones we were a bit lucky to get (draw with Liverpool?)

 

After the game last night I still think Long can improve and work in this team. His pace really puts defenders under pressure, he can stretch the game and he gets chances that other players wouldn't. His confidence is low, so naturally he doesn't convert, and this may also be behind the silly fouls and constant running offside. While I agree he hasn't been playing that well, he at least still shows signs of being a good player.

Edited 1 December, 2016 by mrfahaji

[hutch]

Long and Jrod will come good. Most strikers go through lean patches, including any that we might buy in January.

[Matthew Le God]

Redmond will take probably the entire season to adapt to the striker role (which I still think he can).

 

Redmond isn't really playing as a striker, for many weeks now he has been playing mainly on the wings of a 433. Austin sometimes switches with him during games and Redmond is central, but largely he is playing as a winger with a lot of freedom to rotate with the other 2 attacking players.

[Bobbyboy]

Long and Jrod will come good. Most strikers go through lean patches, including any that we might buy in January.

I think Long will. For the longest time I thought JRod would too but I'm close to giving up now, and I'm really sorry to say that. Been so long since he looked even close to sharp. (Not Billy Sharp).

[edprice1984]

Long's all round play is still good. He links well, chases lost causes and is a general pain in the a*se. The goals will come, as he keeps getting in the positions to score. JRod, unfortunately I am not too sure about. He does look short a yard and I do wonder whether the injury is in the back of his mind. However I also think that the way the team is set up doesn't necessarily play to his strengths. Against Inter he was making intelligent runs behind but we weren't picking him out. Maybe a loan where he is playing week in, week out would be beneficial. Gallagher should stay where he is for the rest of the season and try and bring him into the fold next year.

 

In terms of the season, if you had offered me Semi final of the League Cup with the chance to qualify into the last 32 of the Europa at the start of the season I would have been very happy. Factor in that we are sitting mid-table with a number of winnable games to come, we should be confident going into the next stage of the season. The Hull City game was, in my opinion, one of those games. I think Puel is learning and probably would like to bring in another striker in the transfer window but normally there isn't a great deal of value.

[Heisenberg]

I'll be doing my mid season summary at mid season - delicately poised right now

[benjii]

For me, a pretty strange season so far.

 

If we are able to get 2 more results in the next week then we will be knock out stages of Europa, semis of League Cup and pushing for a top 8 finish again. If anyone had offered this in the summer I think everyone would have been over the moon.

 

Puel is impressing but it has been strange. At times our football has been sublime - and at other times atrocious (Hull and Sparta spring to mind!).

 

I think everyone would agree we are lightweight up front with Long and Rodriguez absolutely useless so far.

 

For me the highlight is Puel having faith in playing the younger players and giving them a chance. I think it is no coincidence that their enthusiasm rubs off on the rest of the team.

 

Still plenty of twists and turns to come I'm sure but so far Puel has impressed and the way he has the whole squad involved is pretty miraculous and seems to have everyone working together.

 

Would be really interested to hear of Guan or any of the ITKs have any updates on what the mood in the camp is, what they really think of Puel, etc.

 

I don't think we've played "atrociously" often at all. We were not atrocious against Hull; we played them off the pitch for 80 minutes. "Atrocious" is the sort of crap we dished up regularly back in the day, or last season at Bournemouth, for example. Sparta away was bad - probably the worst performance this season.

 

On the whole I would say we are showing good progress. Our league position is likely to be lower this season simply because the league is generally of a much higher standard.

 

If we can get the right result against HBS then it's a great season so far:

 

mid-table

league cup semi final

through the Europa Group stages.

 

Only a right weirdo would say that isn't good! If that comes to pass it will be better than I expected.