Half-term report

It is an 8 out of 10 for me.

I have really enjoyed some of the football this year such as the unforgettable first half against United, Second Half against Barca and the 65 minutes v Chelsea where we were also fantastic.

It does seem a bit curious that we saw a lot more of a 'Pep' City in the first ten games and since the we have struggled to adopt the methods as were illustrated at the earlier part of the season.

I think the two main stories of the first half of the season have been the fragility of the defence and the wastefullness of the forward players. It is our second season now playing only one upfront and when the chance does not fall to Aguero or Kdb, if playing centrally, there is not really a consistently good finisher amongst the other forward players or a player with the desire to find goalscoring positions. Silva, Sterling, Navas are not natural finishers so hopefully Sane/Jesus will fill that void over the coming months as too many opportunities have been wasted.

Defensively Pep has shuffled his pack once again and was able to revert to a back four, against Arsenal, and still pack the midfield by losing an out and out striker. Whether he will continue with this once Aguero is back from suspension, revert back to it for the big matches or return to a three remains to be seen. It could be these details which decide the season.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Its kind of gone as I expected other than the timing of our blip. Thought we would find it difficult for the first 10 games or so then improve steadily. Love Pep still and think he will get us to previously unimagined heights of excellence but it will take time. Think he has improved almost all of our squad which is the mark of a great coach and we look more like a team than we have in the past few seasons. In terms of player performances, Dinho has been bloody amazing as has Merlin, Kev has done some amazing stuff and Sane is improving every game. Kun worries me a bit, his on field discipline hints that all is not well with him. Maybe he is not used to a coach that actually tells him how he wants him to play. So I would say 7 out of 10. Chelsea have been better than I expected however, if they lose Hazard or Costa they will struggle. Liverpool have looked good at times but are inconsistent, ditto Spuds. Refereeing continues to be very depressing.
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Good post I agree with everything you say.
I would add that being 7 points behind the leaders is not a lost situation at this stage of the season. I seem to remember some team coming back from being 8 points behind the leaders with only 6 games to go. Now that was a real lost cause. If we continue to improve and gell with Peps systems then we could have a good go at the title.
 
"Must Try Harder" would be the teacher assessment I think.

Looking ahead, it's vital we go into the new year with some momentum. Historically, we've done well over this period. This analyses - http://www.thestatszone.com/articles/premier-league-christmas-form - shows that we have picked more points than anyone at Christmas (in the last 10 years), although we have played a game more than Arsenal, who're just a point behind. Still, reason to be optimistic, no?

That NYE tie with Liverpool is a whopper!
 
7.5
Was always gonna take time but difficult not to think what could have been if not for the shoddy defending. Players like kdb and kun need to perform every game, like costa and hazard do for chelsea. Pep is learning. Think we will scrape the league, fa cup quarters, cl semis.
 
balotelli's back pocket said:
7.5
Was always gonna take time but difficult not to think what could have been if not for the shoddy defending. Players like kdb and kun need to perform every game, like costa and hazard do for chelsea. Pep is learning. Think we will scrape the league, fa cup quarters, cl semis.
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Looked at objectively I don't think you can go above a six it was looking a lot better but what was it 3 points from 12 during the poor home run was simply not good enough. There are some encouraging signs and remember this was always likely to involve a period of transition. The league is probably beyond us as we need a wobble from Chelsea and a degree of consistency which has been lacking to date. Europe might turn out to be a success story. We certainly have shown that we can match and better the best at least during periods of games and with a bit of luck who knows.
 
7'/10 Some early highlights but we've buckled terribly within the past couple of months. Some of it was too be expected but there have been points when we've looked absolutely terrible. I think we are definitely a team in transition. A lot of the moves we made this last transfer window will look good within a couple of years. Also with a lot of contracts ending this summer, we'll look to bring some loaned players back into the fold or just cut them loose. Still sucks about Joe but no use crying over it now. Maybe some hope of some silverware but I have to think year two of Pep's reign will be stronger.
 
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