[Albion] Are we in form ?

[chaileyjem]

Did that 2nd half recovery at Marseille (A) change our season

- That's just 2 defeats since then (City, Chelsea) in 14 now - since we lost that 6-1 to Villa.
- 4 wins in a row in the Europa League with no goals conceded. (Ajax, Ajax, AEK, Marseill)
- We've now lost once at home all season in the PL - in August.
- Do those draws v Fulham and Everton now look better than they did at the time...

On the other hand - in the PL
- Just 2 wins in 9.
- 5 draws in 9.
- No clean sheets since the dawn of time.
- Gave 4 points away to clubs in the bottom three.

A form team ?

Last 14: DDLWDDWDWWLWDW

 

[tedebear]

Until the goal, I wasn't sure if we were just trying to be patient, or couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...So I'm not really sure if you call that in form? We've done flipping well with the level of injuries we have, thats for sure!!

 

[chaileyjem]

Until the goal, I wasn't sure if we were just trying to be patient, or couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...So I'm not really sure if you call that in form? We've done flipping well with the level of injuries we have, thats for sure!!

Our season could have gone in a very different direction if we'd collapsed in that first Marseille (A) game - having gone in 2-0 at half time. ALmost certainly out of Europe.
Instead - a draw in the last minute and ...2 months later...8th in the league, 2 defeats in 14, and last 16 in Europe...

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Until the goal, I wasn't sure if we were just trying to be patient, or couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...So I'm not really sure if you call that in form? We've done flipping well with the level of injuries we have, thats for sure!!

As Warren rightly said, we needed a bit of luck too, with Marseille hitting the woodwork twice.
Fine margins but delighted we scored.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Impossible to be "in form" due to the multiple changes every game.

RDZ has rightly prioritised Europa League.
It is a fantastic experience and an easier route to UCL.

Will be interesting to see how many he changes he makes in the new year.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

As Warren rightly said, we needed a bit of luck too, with Marseille hitting the woodwork twice.
Fine margins but delighted we scored.

to be honest, it's about time a massive deflection, from an opponents only shot in the half, didn't end up in the net.

We seem to get all our luck in the Europa League and nothing in the Prem.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Eeeeee’s complicated, to quote somebody from our recent past.
the BBC report says we were heading for a drab draw before Pedro scored. I thought it was far from drab.
but the Guardian report said that Mitoma and Adingra “sparkled”!
I thought on occasion we scored some cracking football last night.

the only downside was the journey home. Got in at 1.20am which should have been midnight. But I was smiling most of the way. I gather it was a motorcyclist coming off? Hope they’re ok.

 

[Drebin]

Good question.

There aren’t many teams IN form at the moment. Maybe Liverpool, Villa, Everton and Bournemouth.

But it has to be said that keeping us where we are in the table and winning the EL group whilst suffering the injuries we have and trying to replace the players we lost in the summer is an incredible achievement.

It sets things up nicely for the second half of the season when we’ll have Enciso, Fati, Estupinian and Lamptey back.

 

[Weststander]

Great in Europe, improving in the PL.

 

[B-right-on]

It depends on what team we have out. Posted this on another thread, but we've been rotating the squad more than any other team and that's got to affect performance on the pitch to a degree.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Eeeeee’s complicated, to quote somebody from our recent past.
the BBC report says we were heading for a drab draw before Pedro scored. I thought it was far from drab.
but the Guardian report said that Mitoma and Adingra “sparkled”!
I thought on occasion we scored some cracking football last night.

the only downside was the journey home. Got in at 1.20am which should have been midnight. But I was smiling most of the way. I gather it was a motorcyclist coming off? Hope they’re ok.

Something has changed this season.

Mitoma's bursts and pull backs were always available for someone to have a shot last season,
Now there is rarely someone available.

This may be because Mitoma is mixing it up more and not always looking to get to the byline.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

The results have continued to be okay, but those of us watching, know what we are seeing - this is absolutely NOT prime RDZ Albion. Hopefully get Pervis and Enciso back out there soon, though...

 

[Fiskmås]

I feel like the players actually on the pitch are relatively in form, but it's like playing with a hand tied behind our backs with all the injuries.

Or maybe not "all the injuries", but rather injuries in the wrong positions. Attacking fullbacks are such an integral part of De Zerbi-ball, and I think things will get very interesting indeed once we have Estupinan and/or Lamptey back.

 

[FatSuperman]

Our season could have gone in a very different direction if we'd collapsed in that first Marseille (A) game - having gone in 2-0 at half time. ALmost certainly out of Europe.
Instead - a draw in the last minute and ...2 months later...8th in the league, 2 defeats in 14, and last 16 in Europe...

And 4 points off fifth, so staying within striking distance, not dropping back despite trying to manage all the games with a depleted team. Going great I think

 

[Greg Bobkin]

In the PL we are 10th in the form table – so BANG AVERAGE.

In the EL, we're absolutely FLYING form-wise.

 

[Seagull27]

I'm optimistic that now we don't have any Europa matches for a couple of months, the injury list will start reducing and we'll have a good run in the PL in the new year.

Try our best with the FA Cup, but happy with plenty of rotation for that.

 

[Gabbiano]

Something has changed this season.

Mitoma's bursts and pull backs were always available for someone to have a shot last season,
Now there is rarely someone available.

This may be because Mitoma is mixing it up more and not always looking to get to the byline.

Other teams have wised up to Mitoma, so now he always has two or three players on him when he approaches the byline. Defenders don't seem to be falling for his twinkle toes moves as easily anymore, and if they do, there's backup.

Still manages to get there now and again but not as frequently.

The development of Adingra and/or return of March will help stretch defences so Mitoma has more space too.

 

[Bakero]

Other teams have wised up to Mitoma, so now he always has two or three players on him when he approaches the byline. Defenders don't seem to be falling for his twinkle toes moves as easily anymore, and if they do, there's backup.

Still manages to get there now and again but not as frequently.

The development of Adingra and/or return of March will help stretch defences so Mitoma has more space too.

The return of Perv will help massively with that. Imagine being a rightback with those 2 running at you.

 

[Justice]

In the PL we are 10th in the form table – so BANG AVERAGE.

In the EL, we're absolutely FLYING form-wise.

Two points better off than this time last season in the PL.

 

[JBizzle]

I've been asking this a fair bit lately on account of the fact that the general perception is that we are not doing as well as last season. Take this from the Guardian's 10 things piece:

"De Zerbi’s tactics, once so revolutionary, have also been picked apart by the analysts"

With the implication that we've been found out somewhat. We are however, in the last 16 of the Europa League have only lost twice in 14 games (6 in 23 overall incl. the Carabao) and have been carrying injuries that would have been spoken about at length is we were one of the big clubs (that have MASSIVE squads)