...we've lost 2 times (Southampton at home, Newcastle at home). We've played Man Utd and Arsenal (home) and Spurs, Chelsea, Wolves and Everton (away) without defeat. We've been properly competitive (and never thoroughly outclassed) in every single game, until yesterday.
Maybe a bit of a superfluous post, but it seems quite a few of us were a bit down/frustrated after yesterday, perhaps feeling that we've peaked or have begun a bit of a downward spiral, but I don't really see it that way. We were a bit tired, lacking our usual intensity and tenacity, nowhere near the top of our game offensively, playing against the best team in the world who put in a very high quality performance even by their standards; and we still only lost by two goals, where lesser teams would've capitulated and lost by 4 or 5 (even Leicester conceded 4 against them, on their own turf as well). As Wilder suggested in his interview, to go 20 games before having a bit of a shocker is not bad going.
West Ham at the Lane in our next PL game will be the perfect opportunity to bounce back; should be a tasty atmosphere, Wilder will have the players as fired-up as ever, and if we can put in a top performance and grab 3 points, there's no reason we shouldn't be continuing to look at the teams above us in the table hoping to catch them, rather than worrying about the teams below us hoping not to be caught.
Now I'm not saying we should be expecting to finish ahead of Man Utd, Spurs, etc, or anything silly like that - just that there's no reason to think we can't finish ahead of them. Yes, they have higher-profile and probably better players for the most part, but I would argue that none of the teams below Man City have been as consistent in their performance levels as we have, our defence has been more solid than anyone's aside from Liverpool and Leicester, and there are few teams with the level of cohesion, spirit and resilience as we have shown (not to mention VAR not exactly being our best mate!) - if we can maintain our confidence levels, while avoiding complacency, a top-7 finish, while a big ask, remains a genuine possibility. Losing 2-0 at both the Etihad and Anfield doesn't change that.
Maybe a bit of a superfluous post, but it seems quite a few of us were a bit down/frustrated after yesterday, perhaps feeling that we've peaked or have begun a bit of a downward spiral, but I don't really see it that way. We were a bit tired, lacking our usual intensity and tenacity, nowhere near the top of our game offensively, playing against the best team in the world who put in a very high quality performance even by their standards; and we still only lost by two goals, where lesser teams would've capitulated and lost by 4 or 5 (even Leicester conceded 4 against them, on their own turf as well). As Wilder suggested in his interview, to go 20 games before having a bit of a shocker is not bad going.
West Ham at the Lane in our next PL game will be the perfect opportunity to bounce back; should be a tasty atmosphere, Wilder will have the players as fired-up as ever, and if we can put in a top performance and grab 3 points, there's no reason we shouldn't be continuing to look at the teams above us in the table hoping to catch them, rather than worrying about the teams below us hoping not to be caught.
Now I'm not saying we should be expecting to finish ahead of Man Utd, Spurs, etc, or anything silly like that - just that there's no reason to think we can't finish ahead of them. Yes, they have higher-profile and probably better players for the most part, but I would argue that none of the teams below Man City have been as consistent in their performance levels as we have, our defence has been more solid than anyone's aside from Liverpool and Leicester, and there are few teams with the level of cohesion, spirit and resilience as we have shown (not to mention VAR not exactly being our best mate!) - if we can maintain our confidence levels, while avoiding complacency, a top-7 finish, while a big ask, remains a genuine possibility. Losing 2-0 at both the Etihad and Anfield doesn't change that.
