[Football] Anyone else really looking forward to next season?

[Audax]

The red in the Sheff Utd game was theirs, not ours. Lundstram on c38 minutes for going through on Veltman. Nasty tackle; deserved red.

Good catch - too much skimming through a long list of games to get it done quickly while multi tasking. So just the 1 red in Sanchez's tenure.

 

[blue-shifted]

OK, very rough comparison of Ryan and Sanchez this season (very rough because I'm only looking at how many shots on target, I've not got how many of those were blocked rather than saved by the keeper, and I've left a couple of own goals in which is probably unfair on the keepers):

Ryan
Faced 3.1 shots on target per match
Conceded 1.7 goals per match
Equates to 55.9% of shots on target resulting in a goal

Sanchez
Faced 3.3 shots on target per match
Conceded 0.9 goals per match
Equates to 27.1% of shots on target resulting in a goal

Few observations:

If Ryan faced a lot of shots on target, we also conceded heavily (eg Everton - 6 shots and 4 goals; Chelsea - 5 shots, 3 goals; Leicester - 6 and 3). Sanchez has been a lot more resilient in the face of a barrage (Man C - 6 shots, 1 goal; Spurs - 4 and 0; Burnley - 7 and 1; Man U - 7 and 2).

If we wanted to dig further, another comparison to look for would be how good they both have been this season when it comes to claiming crosses / corners.

But i'm sure I read that there was some incredibly improbable phenomenon which has happened to us whereby Ryan only had unsaveable shots and all of a sudden it's somehow got loads easier for Sanchez?

 

[blue-shifted]

Does anyone NOT look forward to the next season?

I reckon Palace approach most of them with (justifiable at the time) trepidation

 

[Weststander]

I don't think you can say that 'no progress has been made', when you look at the bigger picture. Yes, maybe if you look at the cold hard facts of points totals and finishing positions (even though last season was a record points haul, so, y'know, progress), but that doesn't tell the whole story. There's the academy beginning to bear some serious fruit; a manager finding his feet, stamping his style of play on the squad, as well as bringing new players in, as well as the likes of Welbeck and Lallana joining the club – seasoned pros who have played at the highest level and now proving their worth. Then there's the fact that the pandemic has skewed things such as home form because there are no fans and the whole environment being different to a 'normal' matchday. There's also the consideration that every other club is going to improve, which means whatever improvements we make, we stay on par with everyone else in the league.

Plus, compare at the amount of chances being created, the number of goals conceded and the quality of football (something that's the most important factor to a lot of fans – certainly those vocal in their desire to get rid of Hughton) with the club's first PL season. All those things are moving in the right direction. Yes, there's clearly an issue with CONVERTING those chances and yes, there is clearly room for improvement to the squad, but to say no progress AT ALL? That just doesn't stack up, all things considered.

I certainly didn't expect the club to be much higher than we are now – if anything the performances have surprised me in terms of how well they've done (despite the lack of chance conversion). No big drubbings, away wins at grounds we've never or rarely won at, loads of clean sheets and praise from managers of the 'big six'.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I don't think you can say that 'no progress has been made', when you look at the bigger picture. Yes, maybe if you look at the cold hard facts of points totals and finishing positions (even though last season was a record points haul, so, y'know, progress), but that doesn't tell the whole story. There's the academy beginning to bear some serious fruit; a manager finding his feet, stamping his style of play on the squad, as well as bringing new players in, as well as the likes of Welbeck and Lallana joining the club – seasoned pros who have played at the highest level and now proving their worth. Then there's the fact that the pandemic has skewed things such as home form because there are no fans and the whole environment being different to a 'normal' matchday. There's also the consideration that every other club is going to improve, which means whatever improvements we make, we stay on par with everyone else in the league.

Plus, compare at the amount of chances being created, the number of goals conceded and the quality of football (something that's the most important factor to a lot of fans – certainly those vocal in their desire to get rid of Hughton) with the club's first PL season. All those things are moving in the right direction. Yes, there's clearly an issue with CONVERTING those chances and yes, there is clearly room for improvement to the squad, but to say no progress AT ALL? That just doesn't stack up, all things considered.

I certainly didn't expect the club to be much higher than we are now – if anything the performances have surprised me in terms of how well they've done (despite the lack of chance conversion). No big drubbings, away wins at grounds we've never or rarely won at, loads of clean sheets and praise from managers of the 'big six'.

Totally agree but I’ll add that we no longer write off games against the big 6; we take the game to opponents, rarely seem overawed, are generally always in the game and have a genuine chance of getting a point of three.

 

[vagabond]

But i'm sure I read that there was some incredibly improbable phenomenon which has happened to us whereby Ryan only had unsaveable shots and all of a sudden it's somehow got loads easier for Sanchez?

I think Maty was a big big favourite among the fans, and there was a lot of resistance to the fact he wasn’t really good enough for a while (see the thousand page Ryan thread where a few of us raised concerns on Maty over a year ago), a lot of sensitivity to criticism.

Another reason why the manager and staff deserve huge credit having the cojones to not only drop him, but replace him as number one and ship him out the club. A decision that has very clearly paid dividends and improved our whole back line.

 

[vagabond]

OK, very rough comparison of Ryan and Sanchez this season (very rough because I'm only looking at how many shots on target, I've not got how many of those were blocked rather than saved by the keeper, and I've left a couple of own goals in which is probably unfair on the keepers):

Ryan
Faced 3.1 shots on target per match
Conceded 1.7 goals per match
Equates to 55.9% of shots on target resulting in a goal

Sanchez
Faced 3.3 shots on target per match
Conceded 0.9 goals per match
Equates to 27.1% of shots on target resulting in a goal

Few observations:

If Ryan faced a lot of shots on target, we also conceded heavily (eg Everton - 6 shots and 4 goals; Chelsea - 5 shots, 3 goals; Leicester - 6 and 3). Sanchez has been a lot more resilient in the face of a barrage (Man C - 6 shots, 1 goal; Spurs - 4 and 0; Burnley - 7 and 1; Man U - 7 and 2).

If we wanted to dig further, another comparison to look for would be how good they both have been this season when it comes to claiming crosses / corners.

Brilliant work [emoji106] I suspect Sanchez would also come out top for claiming crosses and corners as well.

 

[London Irish]

If we finish below any of Burnley, Newcastle or Palace next season we'll have underperformed.

You'd hope above all 3 promoted clubs as well.

Wolves, Southampton and Leeds might be tougher nuts to crack and I reckon those are our three benchmark clubs. We want to be up and around them

Villa are one ACL away from being a relegation threatened side again, so maybe include them

I'm not ruling out one of Everton, Spurs or West Ham finishing in the lower half

Arsenal with their young team and decent manager should improve year on year

I do find it interesting that many (not you) regard Wolves as a club no longer on our level, how did that happen? They just have signed really well and have a top class manager, things that are within the scope of our board too

 

[London Irish]

Yes, weirdly a lot of us here feel GP is a good manager and our club is on to a good thing..

Whereas you’re one of the few peculiar miserablists here who seem to enjoy us losing, slagging the manager AND Tony Bloom for not spending enough money for you.

Each to their own, but you don’t seem to enjoy supporting us very much.

Maybe it's just me, but neither of you say things that aren't an entirely legitimate point of view that exists widely among differing parts of the fan base

 

[B-right-on]

Ask me again at end August as it largely depends on our summer transfers. We don’t need major surgery, but we do need to shift on A LOT of expensive (in salary terms) deadwood (deadwood harsh on some perhaps but not others - and none of these has played a significant part this year):
- Ali J
- Propper
- Locadia
- Andone
- Bernardo
- Duffy
- Ryan
- Izquierdo

I also fully expect Bissouma to be sold as he should be at a ESL club. So then it depends what we get in. An out and out #9 striker clearly priority #1, I’d argue a LWB #2, and maybe an inverted winger with pace as #3 (we lack pace). But let’s be honest, if we replaced all of the above with Edouard or Abraham we’d have a better squad even if we got no one else.

But ain’t going to be easy to do that in this environment.

Personally i would keep Andone and sell Tau.

 

[Machiavelli]

I do find it interesting that many (not you) regard Wolves as a club no longer on our level, how did that happen? They just have signed really well and have a top class manager, things that are within the scope of our board too

Might have something to do with the special 'arrangement' they have with Jorge Mendes.

 

[B-right-on]

This. There's always huge amounts of apologists on here saying why it's impossible that we could ever do what, say, West Ham or Leeds somehow manage to do with a a seeming minimum of effort in a single season. Or do something as simple as signing the next Ollie Watkins for the going rate who will only cost 50% more the following season. These are simple, relatively straightforward issues to address. Instead we're asked to believe in a long term goal of Top Ten. That's a bit of a pitiful incremental wishlist 'if I'm being honest'. Far more likely to fall by the wayside due to lack of investment in critical areas.

Oh well. Don't really care on a personal level at which level we play 'going forward'. Sort of care about Tony Bloom blowing his massive investment through lack of investment in credible strikers tho. And no it's not my money. Not my investment at stake either

And... RELAX

Lets see how Leeds do in the second season. Look at Sheffield Utd and how much smoke was being blown up their arse last season. Huddersfield a couple of seasons ago and so on. Not saying they will get relegated but I would compare ourselves to others that have been in the PL a couple of seasons. Villa, Southampton, Wolves, Newcastle etc...

 

[blue-shifted]

I do find it interesting that many (not you) regard Wolves as a club no longer on our level, how did that happen? They just have signed really well and have a top class manager, things that are within the scope of our board too

They have a striker who is probably bordering on world class territory and if they can get him fit, he'll fire them back up to the top half. If we'd had a fit Jimenez this season we'd be in the Champions League positions.