[Football] Teams that have surprised you this year so far...

[Bry Nylon]

For me:

West Ham and Villa
Never saw them doing as well as they have, especially West Ham.

Liverpool
The wheels really seem to have come off; admittedly they have a make-shift side but the swagger up front and PL goals and seem to have dried up.

Sheffield Utd
I never expected them to repeat last seasons consistency but then again I didn't expect them to completely implode either.

Brighton
I really expected a comfortable mid-table berth this season, not to be battling it out down the bottom again. There's always next season I guess.

 

[brighton_tom]

Expected an improvement from Villa, they spent loads.

Sheff were always going to finish lower than previous season. Second season syndrome, and without Henderson & Berge. But to be as poor as they have been is a pretty dramatic fall.

 

[Guinness Boy]

For me:

West Ham and Villa
Never saw them doing as well as they have, especially West Ham.

Liverpool
The wheels really seem to have come off; admittedly they have a make-shift side but the swagger up front and PL goals and seem to have dried up.

Sheffield Utd
I never expected them to repeat last seasons consistency but then again I didn't expect them to completely implode either.

Brighton
I really expected a comfortable mid-table berth this season, not to be battling it out down the bottom again. There's always next season I guess.

West Ham have done better than most expected (my son tipped them to go down) and certainly Villa are either punching above their weight this season or massively underachieved last season.

Yes, I expected us to do much better than we have. It's probably part of why this season has been so frustrating. In terms of performance and stats we have but in terms of results, we really haven't.

No surprise for me that Sheffield United are where they are. I tipped them to go down on here and have a few quid on them going down too. Their squad, Berge aside, are bang average (I quite like McBurnie but many don't based on replies the last time I said that). I thought people would probably suss their style of play this season. That has happened to an extent but it's clear that injuries and internal strife between Wilder and the board are just as much to blame.

Leeds have done annoyingly more that I thought they would. I expected plenty of games where there were a lot of goals but they lost. Not quite happened.

 

[zefarelly]

Naaarch are doing well

lots here expected Bmuff to dissapear into the abyss

PL is an extremely random lottery at the moment, with VAR like a chilli sauce shot up the arse at any given moment.

 

[blue-shifted]

Naaarch are doing well

lots here expected Bmuff to dissapear into the abyss

PL is an extremely random lottery at the moment, with VAR like a chilli sauce shot up the arse at any given moment.

Delivered on the end of a violently plunged, 14 inch dildo, is how it has seemed at times this season

 

[Icy Gull]

Burnley, after all the early season rumblings of Dyches possible departure. The ******** seem to pull out a result when needed, much like that crew up the road.

Leeds, I genuinely expected them to be strugglers

I expected us to be in the situation we are in given the refusal to pay the going rate for a PL striker but hoped we’d be a little more comfortable than we have been. Goal difference off the relegation zone was not expected at any stage other than very early season

 

[Bry Nylon]

...a violently plunged, 14 inch dildo

I'll admit, this thread is evolving slightly differently to how I'd expected.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Liverpool much shitter than I expected and Villa much better.

Nothing else really surprises me. Palace doing a bit better than I hoped. Sorry, expected. Ditto Wet Sham. Spurs and Wolves a bit worse.

I thought Sheffield United were nailed on for relegation, along with Fulham.

The constant whining about VAR has diminished, which is nice. And the Sky and BT commentaries and in-game punditry are as asinine as ever, to be very honest.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Brighton[/B]
I really expected a comfortable mid-table berth this season, not to be battling it out down the bottom again. There's always next season I guess.

Really? This is Brighton & Hove Albion remember, and we never do things the easy way. I think we need to be realistic too, and accept that until we invest in a recognised goalscorer, things are never going to improve drastically

Just retaining our Premier League status has to accepted as a success for now.

 

[schmunk]

Delivered on the end of a violently plunged, 14 inch dildo, is how it has seemed at times this season

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Naaarch are doing well

lots here expected Bmuff to dissapear into the abyss

PL is an extremely random lottery at the moment, with VAR like a chilli sauce shot up the arse at any given moment.

Both Norwich and Bournemouth managed to keep almost their entire Premier League squads intact from last season though, so it shouldn't be any great surprise to see them both at the business end of the table.

I know the latter lost Callum Wilson to Newcastle, but they seem to share the goalscoring around a lot more now.

 

[SAC]

In the PL
West Ham, Everton, Villa and Leeds doing better than I expected
Liverpool, Southampton, Wolves, Arse & Spurs doing worse
Albion currently doing worse although 4 more wins and will be as predicted

In The Championship
Swansea, Reading, Luton and Barnsley doing better than I expected
Bottom looking roughly as expected

Sorry to see Wimbledon at the bottom of League One but I think they were expected to have a rough season.

 

[Whitley Bayster]

Palace! How do they pick up as many points as they do. Turgid to watch but they seem to bore their way to comfortable safety each season.
Wolves have under performed but shows how realiant they have been on Jimenez without him they've dropped back into the mid table pack
The biggest one is West Ham but they still can't beat us though!

 

[Seasidesage]

Sheff Utd - Thought they would struggle but not to this degree.

Us - Really thought we'd be comfortable mid table and the most frustrating thing is we play like we should be. We finish however like a Div 10 Sunday morning team. It'll be interesting to see which direction we take next season. If we sell a couple and recruit some strikers will we kick on or will the loss of those key players finish us off? Obviously a lot depends on who if any we lose.

Liverpool - Tail end of last season you could see them dominating for years. Now even when they get VVD back you wonder if they will get back to where they were.

 

[elwheelio]

Mate is a West Ham fan. He's convinced they are doing well because of there being no fans. He gave the example of their game against Sheff Utd at home. They sat tight, bided their time and won it late. Clearly tactical and it worked but he's sure fans would have been hugely negative if they'd been there and had perceived the team to be "not having a go" early on.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Leeds and Liverpool are the only surprises for me.
West Ham massively under performed last season and Villa have been spending top 10 sums for several seasons now,

Genuinely surprised how far Leeds have managed to get with their tactics.

 

[albionalex]

Palace. I thought they would be in the relegation fight but they've more or less been comfortable all season.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Delivered on the end of a violently plunged, 14 inch dildo, is how it has seemed at times this season

Don't mention the VAR

 

[blue-shifted]

Leeds and Liverpool are the only surprises for me.
West Ham massively under performed last season and Villa have been spending top 10 sums for several seasons now,

Genuinely surprised how far Leeds have managed to get with their tactics.

I reckon they will be a good shout for relegation next season.

Like Hudds and Sheff U in the last two seasons. The second season, where the promotion momentum has worn off and you're trying to integrate new players into your promotion winning season is tough

 

[ttgg]

I reckon they will be a good shout for relegation next season.

Like Hudds and Sheff U in the last two seasons. The second season, where the promotion momentum has worn off and you're trying to integrate new players into your promotion winning season is tough

What someone like Raphinha you mean?