So, Eight Games In - Satisfied, Disappointed, or Somewhere In-Between?

Toronto John

Toronto John

Fans' Favourite
Eight PL games played and a break in the works, seems like a good time to reflect on what we have seen so far this season.

Points: Looking at those eight games, I would have been satisfied with 11 points, delighted with 14. We have faced ManCity, Arsenal, perennial top ten Everton, resurgent Leicester, newcomers Villa and SUFC, rivals Southampton at St. Mary’s, and “always a good match” West Ham. So, 11 seems fine, 1.375 points per game, on a pace for 52 points.

Goal Differential: We are even, scoring and giving up goals at just over 1.5 per game. With one ManCity match in the rear-view mirror …. that’s OK.

Table: It’s a different world this year. We are in 10th, in a cluster which features seven points between third and the drop. Could have been better, but not bad.

Entertainment Value: Slow start in first few games, which was worrying as it was reminiscent of the latter stages of last season. But then a run of three games that saw five good halves out of six. Then, a very lethargic first half against Arsenal, followed by a good second half.

Consistent inconsistency is certainly a hallmark of the season so far. Not just AFCB, but pretty much all except Liverpool. Just a little bit of improvement on this and we could be in a very good place. It felt so good to see us rediscover our energy and style of play against Everton and West Ham.

Highlights:
1) I won’t presume to allocate points to players, many of you do that very well. But, for my money, Ramsdale and Billing have been the big stories, great finds with yet more upside to come. Also, with the exception of Charlie, whom we all feel for, we have avoided any really bad injuries while some of the earlier ones, or from last season, are on the mend.

2) Training Ground: It’s a story that I cannot really identify with, but I’m happy if you guys are, and if it makes us better and keeps Eddie at AFCB, thumbs up.

3) Ake: Game in, game out, the one player that we can least afford to lose. Partnership with S. Cook is remarkable.

Low point: The League Cup. An opportunity missed, in my view.

Lower low point: VAR. What a crapfest.

No way to know how this will play out, and touch wood that we can avoid that injury bug. But with some of the Top Six below par, it feels like it could be a very interesting run to Christmas.
 
...I am happy and optimistic, we have some good young players and the future looks bright especially when we get Brooks back. The one thing that I hope is we can stand strong against the so called big six and continue to improve our reputation
 
SU should have won, but draw was fair
AV could have drawn, but win was deserved
MC played ok, right result
LC disappointing, poor decision in team set up caused our own downfall, and key decisions by officials may have cost us a point

Everton, Southampton and WHU all fairly similar - 7 points seemed right

Think we deserved a point today

We are probably a point down, but really should have seen Sheff Utd out as well, so easy to argue we should be on 14

Equally, Villa, Everton and Southampton fans will all feel they should have taken something out of those games.

I am satisfied if we win the next 2 games, after that will be the time to judge the start

Right now we have lost to 2nd/3rd/4th - doesn't seem very equitable split of fixtures yet
 
Happy with the position, but we have passed up a lot of points, and had a decent fixture list to start with.

League is tight and those points could cost us. Don't feel we're anywhere up to speed either.
 
I think the start has been more difficult than first expected. Sheff Utd and Villa have both had good starts. Leicester look genuine top 6 contenders, West Ham are playing pretty well this season. Everton have started badly but you'd expect them to be better, and Saints away, for us, will always be a little different than a 'standard' away game. Arsenal and City, even when badly have so much quality.
Points, I don't think i'd have wanted any less, improvement of performances have left me very optimistic, with the players coming back and the youthfulness of the team.
 
Think I am happy given that

1. we still have a hangover with injuries from last season so playing with a quarter of the team players not quite ready yet but really improving eg Stacey, Rico, Solanke,ramsdale and h Wilson

2. Tough fixture list - only lost to 2nd, 3rd and 4th places teams with opening two games a real banana skin but with scope to pick up points over next few games

3. Shape of the team settled down after a few different formations and starting to cope with absence of Fraser and brooks

4. We know we can get better and with more players returning to match fitness this month

5. We finally won at saints!
 
Forget August except the win at Villa.

September was a good month for our team.

Putting to bed the Southampton ‘curse’ once and for all, plus picking up 7 out of a possible 9 points.
 
The points tally is respectable but it’s frustrating as we’ve dropped points we shouldn’t have and don’t look like we’re in second gear yet. In fact I’d say we haven’t been for 6-7 months.

Perhaps we were just spoiled last season with unbelievable play and it’s distorted my view, but I don’t see why the effort levels shouldn’t be where they were every game.
 
AFCBade said:
Think I am happy given that

1. we still have a hangover with injuries from last season so playing with a quarter of the team players not quite ready yet but really improving eg Stacey, Rico, Solanke,ramsdale and h Wilson

2. Tough fixture list - only lost to 2nd, 3rd and 4th places teams with opening two games a real banana skin but with scope to pick up points over next few games

3. Shape of the team settled down after a few different formations and starting to cope with absence of Fraser and brooks

4. We know we can get better and with more players returning to match fitness this month

5. We finally won at saints!
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this post. Only thing that infuriates me is I think we are six points better if we played with more of a mixture in the midfield with attacking and defensive players.
 
Needless points thrown away against Sheff Utd, Arsenal, West Ham, same old, same old...... Do we ever learn?

Solanki for Fraser is very annoying. The return of Francis is very worrying. Eddie as clueless as ever when it comes to team selection.
 
Overall I am satisfied with what I have seen. This team is in a transitional phase right now, we are integrating new players into the team and adopting a slightly different way of playing. We have also shown that we can cope fine without wee man which going forward unfortunately is going to be important for us. The midfield looks as strong as it’s ever been which is a huge plus. I feel as though we need maybe one more summer window to really complete the squad revamp, say good bye to some familiar faces (Surman, Daniels, Ibe, Stanislas, Fraser all out of contract I believe) and bring in a couple of quality additions and I think that then the transition will be complete! Unfortunately I think it’s inevitable that we will also lose Ake to the Chelsea buy back clause next summer which is the big worry but have faith in EH to sign an adequate replacement and hopefully maybe even a natural leader to sort out the defensive issues. So reading between the ramblings.... yes I think we should be satisfied as the team is In transition!
 
Could and probably should have a few more points on the board. Some poor finishing has cost us. Weird that perhaps our strongest area has been S.Cook and Ake, plus the emerging Rico/Stacey at the back,

There's definitely some positive signs and bags of potential in this squad. Considering that we've been without two of our big summer signings (Kelly, Danjuma) and two of our established best technicians (L.Cook, Brooks) - there's certainly more to come. It just needs Eddie to find the right balance and shape in the side, which I'm not convinced he/we really know yet. How good this squad can be when he/we do find the right team - it's exciting to think.

On a personal level it's been a bit frustrating, as the games I've been to have tended to be the poorer results, and I've had to miss games that turned out to be the good ones! Maybe it's just me...

This upcoming run of games (as Waz says) could be fruitful if we get it right. After that run it gets into the usually difficult winter period, so we could do with a good haul of points to set us up.
 
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