idleurchin
International Arm Stealer
Just been looking back at the season so far. I'm feeling very low on belief so far, but wanted to review things in the cold light of day, game by game. Hoping to draw some positives and restore that belief a little.
Palace (0-1): Based on the team that was available, I can't be react too harshly to the result. The defensive performance was worrying and we really ought to have lost by more. I wrote this one off at the time and it's not really had any bearing on my thoughts about the rest of the season.
Forest (1-2): Concerning first half in my opinion. Lacking conviction and cohesiveness. Some very positive signs second half and at one point I genuinely thought we'd go on to win it. But for a defensive mistake it would have been a very decent point. In spite of the result, I was pretty optimistic that we were starting to build confidence in how we wanted to play.
City (1-2): We were obviously outplayed for the vast majority of the game. However, our commitment and desire to stay in the match was there for all to see. The players looked like they believed they could a result and that transferred to the stands. When we equalized I again had visions of us winning. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. I went to this match with a non Blade friend (Man Utd supporter) and he was very impressed with us. We both thought that the belief this game created would see us kick on and we'd start to get some positive results.
Lincoln (0-0 lost on pens): Was unable to go, so reluctant to comment in any great detail. From what I've seen/read, we were pretty dreadful and lack any real quality or fight. This was very disappointing as it should have been used a springboard in terms of goals/confidence.
Everton (2-2): Thought we were decent, although our defensive frailties meant I never felt confident of winning, as we kept conceding chances to a very average Everton team. In the end a draw was probably just about fair. I was impressed with Archer and McBurnie as a partnership and we'd appeared to have found a bit of rhythm to our attacking play. Left the ground feeling like a win wasn't too far away.
Spurs (1-2): Didn't get lucky with tickets, so watched from home. Spurs outplayed us generally without creating much. We managed the vast majority of the game really effectively and it was an away performance to be proud of, especially with them being in such good form. Obviously totally gutted to lose it. However it was a performance full of heart and promise. My optimism was still high at that point.
Newcastle (0-8): I was very impressed with the first 20 mins or so. Went toe-to-toe with an excellent team and caused them more than a few headaches. Obviously the (controversial) goals knocked the stuffing out of us. That being said, our second half performance/attitude was woeful. Players and the manager have to hold their hands up. The half time change was disastrous from PH but the players simply didn't compete. Can't recall seeing our first XI down tools in that manner before. Found this one hard to understand and feared that the effect on the players would be hard to recover from.
West Ham (0-2): My first away game this season. Aside from the match itself, I had a brilliant weekend in London. I note most peoples reaction to the performance was that we showed "heart" etc etc. I genuinely expected the players to be angry and put in a blood and thunder performance. Other than a few decent spells I thought we were ponderous and lacked any sort of belief when it came to our play in the final third. It was not the performance I expected, even though it was it better than the previous one. Had West Ham been any good, I think we've had lost heavily again. Also; the London Stadium is a soulless, joy sucking place to watch football in. I pray we never move to such a venue.
Overall: The feeling I have at the moment is very similar to the relegation season under Wilder. Based on what I've seen so far we appear to be out of our depth. There's been brief spells of play where we seem to click, but the lack of consistency in this regard is stark and, unless this is addressed, we face a depressing season with early relegation likely. Being a natural optimist, I still feel like we can turn it around and there is certainly plenty of time to do so. A win within the next 2/3 games is vital though. I have doubts we can go on a long enough run to overhaul a large points/GD deficit.
UTB
Palace (0-1): Based on the team that was available, I can't be react too harshly to the result. The defensive performance was worrying and we really ought to have lost by more. I wrote this one off at the time and it's not really had any bearing on my thoughts about the rest of the season.
Forest (1-2): Concerning first half in my opinion. Lacking conviction and cohesiveness. Some very positive signs second half and at one point I genuinely thought we'd go on to win it. But for a defensive mistake it would have been a very decent point. In spite of the result, I was pretty optimistic that we were starting to build confidence in how we wanted to play.
City (1-2): We were obviously outplayed for the vast majority of the game. However, our commitment and desire to stay in the match was there for all to see. The players looked like they believed they could a result and that transferred to the stands. When we equalized I again had visions of us winning. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. I went to this match with a non Blade friend (Man Utd supporter) and he was very impressed with us. We both thought that the belief this game created would see us kick on and we'd start to get some positive results.
Lincoln (0-0 lost on pens): Was unable to go, so reluctant to comment in any great detail. From what I've seen/read, we were pretty dreadful and lack any real quality or fight. This was very disappointing as it should have been used a springboard in terms of goals/confidence.
Everton (2-2): Thought we were decent, although our defensive frailties meant I never felt confident of winning, as we kept conceding chances to a very average Everton team. In the end a draw was probably just about fair. I was impressed with Archer and McBurnie as a partnership and we'd appeared to have found a bit of rhythm to our attacking play. Left the ground feeling like a win wasn't too far away.
Spurs (1-2): Didn't get lucky with tickets, so watched from home. Spurs outplayed us generally without creating much. We managed the vast majority of the game really effectively and it was an away performance to be proud of, especially with them being in such good form. Obviously totally gutted to lose it. However it was a performance full of heart and promise. My optimism was still high at that point.
Newcastle (0-8): I was very impressed with the first 20 mins or so. Went toe-to-toe with an excellent team and caused them more than a few headaches. Obviously the (controversial) goals knocked the stuffing out of us. That being said, our second half performance/attitude was woeful. Players and the manager have to hold their hands up. The half time change was disastrous from PH but the players simply didn't compete. Can't recall seeing our first XI down tools in that manner before. Found this one hard to understand and feared that the effect on the players would be hard to recover from.
West Ham (0-2): My first away game this season. Aside from the match itself, I had a brilliant weekend in London. I note most peoples reaction to the performance was that we showed "heart" etc etc. I genuinely expected the players to be angry and put in a blood and thunder performance. Other than a few decent spells I thought we were ponderous and lacked any sort of belief when it came to our play in the final third. It was not the performance I expected, even though it was it better than the previous one. Had West Ham been any good, I think we've had lost heavily again. Also; the London Stadium is a soulless, joy sucking place to watch football in. I pray we never move to such a venue.
Overall: The feeling I have at the moment is very similar to the relegation season under Wilder. Based on what I've seen so far we appear to be out of our depth. There's been brief spells of play where we seem to click, but the lack of consistency in this regard is stark and, unless this is addressed, we face a depressing season with early relegation likely. Being a natural optimist, I still feel like we can turn it around and there is certainly plenty of time to do so. A win within the next 2/3 games is vital though. I have doubts we can go on a long enough run to overhaul a large points/GD deficit.
UTB
