Just for comparative purposes, the team that lost 5-0 to Bournemouth (I really thought we were going down at that point) was:
Ryan
Montoya
Duffy
Dunk
Bernardo
Bissouma
Stephens
Propper
Knocky (red card)
Andone
Locadia
I'm not sure why you're getting your knickers in a twist with me on this. I clearly said "one of the reasons". And I don;t think anyone is disputing that Sanchez has made a difference. I am not putting the boot in - I saw an opportunity to discuss Sanchez' astonishing save yesterday that seemed...
I take your point, but this was from further out, Ryan had time to move his feet and had far less distance to cover in the air. So no, based on the many examples I could find, I don't think he'd have reached it.
No more "sloppy" than England international Adam Lallana. Along with the rest of our midfield now, he's looking to make fast, one touch passes that progress the ball at speed and move oppo players out of position. Sometimes these passes will go astray, but that doesn't make them sloppy...
I don't feel I was putting the boot in. I was pointing out one of the reasons we have got to 8th is Sanchez ability to pull off saves like the one he made yesterday.
Nothing against Ryan but his form dipped and replacing him was the right call buy GP.
But I am convinced that Ryan would have got nowhere near the ball that Sanchez saved in the second half v Everton. There can't be much debate now that Sanchez is a big (literally) step up.
Superb team performance, esp first half. Scores above reflect roughly how I felt about the game.
Whole lot, understandbly, faded towards the end but held on with real determination.
Not his flashiest game, but my goodness, what a superb buy Cucurella has been. And what a bloody engine.
There must be lots of reasons for the change, but one huge change is that this year we aren't tending to lose points when leading and we're picking up points when trailing. In a word - resilient.