Mildly annoying that the commentary on the Matchday pass, which I guess is the premier league’s international feed, refers to Liverpool as “the reds”.
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8th is a pipedream. I'll be delighted with 12-14th and the knockout stages of the Europa.
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I think finishing around 50 points would be a good return for Dyche (44 from 29), wherever that leaves us.
If we don’t make the playoff round of the Europa league (if that’s what you mean by knockout stages) it would be an embarrassment , frankly. How far we go then depends on who we draw.
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I'm weirdly optimistic that Jesus will get double figures. Wood should get us a few as well. I'm proper surprised we're getting goals from all over.
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It does feel like talk of eighth-placed finishes is premature. Like last season, let's just get to 35 as quickly as possible as see where the wind takes us from there.
Hopefully the results he's secured so far (and obviously the Anfield win) will give Dyche some air cover with the fanbase when things inevitably take a turn for the worse at some point.
No, me neither.
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8th is highly unlikely and at the extreme end of what I think possible. 11th or 12th I think is much more likely. We're only 4 points off 12th and I think that's more than achievable. 14th would be at the very low end I feel.
As for a new manager bounce, I don't think it really applies here. We had a team that was very well drilled, solid defensively and able to counter attack effectively. In a very short time. Postecoglu destroyed all of that leaving us lacking in confidence and with no clear idea of how to play. He was the least suitable appointment we could have made after Nuno; on style alone it was ridiculous, questions over Postecoglu's ability to implement in the PL notwithstanding.
Dyche has reverted back to the Nuno standards of organisation and defensive solidity. The core of the squad know how to do this effectively and seem to be relishing it. We're going back to what worked with, IMHO, a stronger squad so I think we can sustain a period of good form. I don't think 8th is likely by any means, hence the 8-12th range; but I certainly think that finishing as low as 14th would be an extreme outlier. We're clearly better than Wolves, Leeds and Burnley (saying that we'll probably lose to Wolves next week - tempting fate). I think we are better than Fulham, Brentford, Everton and West Ham, and have the ability to beat teams higher up when it all comes together as it did on Saturday.
The performance against Liverpool was better than any I have seen in a long while. Liverpool are not a team to be underestimated despite recent travails and have top quality players. However, they never looked like scoring on Saturday because of our organisation and desire to keep a clean sheet. The joint biggest defeat for Liverpool at Anfield in the PL demonstrates that this was no mere new manager bounce or lucky smash and grab.
I always thought that a halfway decent manager could get a tune out of this squad even when we slumped to a 3-0 defeat against Chelsea. I knew Dyche was a halfway decent manager, so was confident we'd pull away from the bottom three. The big question for me was whether he was able to push a team on from grinding out results; I feared dull, attritional football. One great result doesn't mean we should get carried away. However. The squad is good enough for comfortable mid table and if Dyche displays the ability to add attacking prowess to defensive solidity then 10th is very achievable.
This is all IMHO of course, and you are free to disagree. I'm not naturally pessimistic and I've seen enough of the team this season to feel that we are good enough to win more games than we lose over the next 26 matches.
As for Europe, a question remains about breaking down teams that set out to defend. At Graz we really struggled to break them down; Liverpool and Porto were always going to come at us, Graz and Malmö not so much. One of Nuno's biggest struggles was breaking down teams that gave us possession; can Dyche figure this part out? I think that we will qualify from the group stage (play off more likely IMHO), but how far we go depends on breaking down defensive teams.
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Every game this side of Christmas is winnable. I'm making no further judgement until then.
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I think Dyche has an advantage, tools wise, in this regard.
When Wood is back we have an 18 yard box big man, as good as all but the very best (assuming the legs hold out a bit longer). Jesus has shown excellent movement, and can definitely play a part in pulling packed defences apart. Even Medium 'T' is looking fit and sharp on his last run out (within the ability band). So that's run over, and through the middle caterred for. What about from behind (deep)? Well MGW is now looking at that part of his development where he is starting to kick on with goals, well supported by Andrerson who gets close.
Wide options look good, despite the loss of Elanga....and hopefully Aina will rise like a pheonix from the....well, anyway. Also playing where we now are, with the discipline in front, the centre-halves and keeper look key and playing to their strengths again.
We shouldn't build it into something it might not be...although some patience and time given is always good. It looks good enough for mid-table to me, and I think we will score goals in Europe where mostly we will have too much for teams. I suspect that Dyche might rather relish showing that if you give him the tools, he can open the locks....it's wont be fancy dannery...there will be working the channels, balls on the diag, balls into the box. Good football values that have never stopped working...and will work.
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Agree with all that. It's new territory for Dyche; we know he can grind out results, and it will be interesting to see what he can do with the attacking options. The team spirit is definitely back having totally evaporated under Ange. It was also good to see Dyche bringing on Hutchison instead of going to a back three to see out the result, otherwise we could easily have ended up 2-2
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Liverpool's problems are almost entirely due to grief for Jota it seems.
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They need Roy Keane to go in, shake them and tell them to snap the fuck out of it.
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I’m still annoyed about the Jesus disallowed goals. Outrageous it was disallowed in the first place as the ref couldn’t see (feels like he had a word in his ear) and then outrageous it wasn’t overturned.
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I'm slightly disappointed that the referee who denied Jesus in front of the baying crowd wasn't called Peter.
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Or Thomas, for not believing him
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Apparently We need to let them grieve
What utter cuntybollocks. No one was saying that when they were winning games earlier in the season.
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So how long am I allowed to be bad at my job for after someone dies before it’s a me problem? Is grief a valid reason for being bad at my job if a family member dies, or does it have to be a colleague? So many questions.
