The Howe and Mitchell spat is pathetic and it is harming the club. I am amazed PIF are letting it rumble on, I don’t want to use the term heads should roll for obvious reasons, but why the PIF haven’t stamped down on the public spat is beyond me.
We deserved nothing today, should have been 2-2 with the horrific miss from Schar but had we scored that we would have been lucky to be 2-2. A better 2nd half performance but still poor. That’s yet another 10th to 14th placed team we have played who have been better than us. Yet another team that look fitter, more organised, technically better and with patterns of play that suit their players.
All of our top players are so badly out of form, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon, Isak, they are all playing absolutely rubbish and have done most of the season. We are sat with a hungry, refreshed Italian international on the bench, in a position we are struggling, and we give him 17 minutes to shine. I don’t get it, it’s stupid, and what’s going to anger me even more about Tonali, is that he will then start in a struggling team, against the top sides in the league, where he is going to be unfairly judged. This situation is a classic Howe situation that we have seen with other players at times, but no where near as glaring as leaving a top class Champions League player out of a team where the midfield are playing like Championship players.
Last season it was Europe and injuries to blame, and this season, aside from the perma crock, we have pretty much a full squad to pick from, the players have a full week at the training ground between games, and we continue to regress. The attitude today from some of our keys players was abysmal at times, and that is far more worrying than someone missing a good chance or making a mistake. Our results have masked everything so far, but today we ran out of luck.
Taking the cup out of the equation:
Man City (H)
Everton (A)
Brighton (H)
Chelsea (A)
Arsenal (H)
I don’t see a whole lot more than 4 points from our next 5 games, which will plant us firmly mid table, probably above where we will deserve to be.
It’s frightening how we have gone from the end of last season, where we finished in a decent position all things considered, a couple of signings and a better injury record away from having a good season next time around, to absolutely bollocking up the summer transfer window, losing our co-owners who helped bring the club back to the community in more ways than just cold, hard cash, and creating instability between the head coach and the new sporting director, all within the space of a few months. We have self imploded off the pitch and you can’t fail to see these performances and argue it hasn’t then impacted what has happened on it.
Longer term, dating back way beyond what is documented above, our away form has been really poor and there are no signs of that changing, I do wonder at what point questions will be asked, and by questions, I mean really big questions from the club to Howe and the coaching staff about why we consistently fail to turn up away from home, because we don’t stand a chance of getting where PIF want the club to be if that isn’t sorted out.
