supercity88
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 9 Aug 2009
- Messages
- 12,477
Remember that for both teams it was the conversion of draws to wins that let us down. We started well and then following the draw at Celtic teams worked out sitting and defending and counter attacking at pace was how to best play against us. It led to 9 draws and 6 defeats and was largely thanks to defensive errors and poor goalkeeping as well as a failure to convert our own chances.
This season we beat WBA despite a defensive error whereas last season we lose that game. Overall the errors are fewer, the chance conversion higher and the dominance of possession more significant. That inevitably will lead to fewer games lost or drawn. Last season we got 78pts and 87pts was needed to win the league. 9 additional points... easy to identify the games where we could have got them.
The Rags meanwhile ended on 69pts with 15 draws and 5 losses. They conceded 10 fewer than us but scored 26 fewer goals. Nothing I have seen this season suggests those columns will significantly change. Yes they will keep a clean sheet regularly but they will also fail to score many more and are already reliant on counter attacking with quick ball to Lukaku and runners. Teams can sit back and deal with that. Do they have options to score the goals and convert draws to wins? Unlikely. Not to the extent where I can see them gaining 18 more points which might be what is needed if you go off previous seasons. Plus sustaining a CL run is a strain and their group is piss poor at CL level so they will get found out.
Could we cope with Silva and De Bruyne... yet to be seen. Gundogan and Bernardo are good options though. I expect us to lose games and suffer a dip in form at some stage but we had a 9pt gap to them last season and are now better. And we will reinforce in Jan to ensure we retain current level.
This season we beat WBA despite a defensive error whereas last season we lose that game. Overall the errors are fewer, the chance conversion higher and the dominance of possession more significant. That inevitably will lead to fewer games lost or drawn. Last season we got 78pts and 87pts was needed to win the league. 9 additional points... easy to identify the games where we could have got them.
The Rags meanwhile ended on 69pts with 15 draws and 5 losses. They conceded 10 fewer than us but scored 26 fewer goals. Nothing I have seen this season suggests those columns will significantly change. Yes they will keep a clean sheet regularly but they will also fail to score many more and are already reliant on counter attacking with quick ball to Lukaku and runners. Teams can sit back and deal with that. Do they have options to score the goals and convert draws to wins? Unlikely. Not to the extent where I can see them gaining 18 more points which might be what is needed if you go off previous seasons. Plus sustaining a CL run is a strain and their group is piss poor at CL level so they will get found out.
Could we cope with Silva and De Bruyne... yet to be seen. Gundogan and Bernardo are good options though. I expect us to lose games and suffer a dip in form at some stage but we had a 9pt gap to them last season and are now better. And we will reinforce in Jan to ensure we retain current level.