Half-season verdict?

horsechoker

The Caf's Ezza.
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Half the season played, what do you make of it?

Despite yesterday, I think we're in a good place and I feel increasingly confident we'll secure top 4.

If I were to grade the season so far, I'd give us a B/B+
 
Goal for the season was top four and we look extremely likely to get top four (quick look tells me the bookies now have us 1/4 to do so).

On top of that we're still in every cup competition, have beaten some of the big teams and have clearly improved in terms of our style of play.

High B low A territory. And easily the most promising signs there's been since SAF left.
 
I've been loving it. We're back in a big way and Ten Hag has done an amazing job. The fact that we can rightfully grumble about a draw at Palace and legitimately feel like we're a handful of players away from a title charge is incredible.
 
I wanted 1000 pounds for 30% ownership but you didn't give me, so for that reason I'm out.
 
Been excellent journey with this bald bastard. We are going to see some hiccups along the way for sure but i'm damn sure we will win titles under ETH
 
Despite last night I think top 4 will be reached comfortably, I'd give us a B.
 
I’d give us an A so far, never expected this so quickly. Ten Hag has hardly put a foot wrong, everybody has improved some players massively, we’re the only team competing on four fronts, playing some nice football at times… how could it realistically be better right now?
 
Lots of positives now after a terrible start. Can we match the 39 points in the second half of the season? I think it will be around the same, so we end up at about 75-80 points. Of course, we are a much better side now, but we also have a bunch of tough away games coming up (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Newcastle). Another big concern is squad depth, especially if we progress in Europe.

After a brief flirtation with a title bid, I think we will end up relatively comfortable in top four, and secure the League Cup. FA Cup and Europa League are jokers.
 
Well above expectations! I did not expect top 4 before the season kicked off but now I will be seriously disappointed if we don't.
 
Above expectations, but most important is that we’re good to watch again like in the days gone by. Looking forward to the 2nd half of the season.
 
If I offered you top four, a cup, and new ownership at the start of the season you would have snapped my hand off. This is all looking likely at the halfway point so have to be happy.
 
Exceeding expectations despite some curveballs happening that are out of our control. Ronaldo getting himself sacked is good for us but it leaves us down a striker. The guy who could and maybe should have been his replacement is allegedly a horrible human being and therefore we can’t use him. Sancho has unknown issues that has caused him to not be available. The £80m captain has been found to be completely unsuited to the team. Not to mention the club is looking to have new owners, which I’m sure has had an impact on January spending.

I like that we’re having a packed fixture list in the first season under him, as it will help us get used to what it will be like if we really want to be good (playing two weeks a game regularly) and we can get a look into how ETH rotates the squad and mixes it up with variation.

We’ve seen teams over the years who perform to a high standard one season, but then you realise they didn’t have Europe to deal with, and then when they have Europe that following season, they fall apart and you realise they aren’t really that good. They realise you can’t just play the same XI twice a week every week, because either the team get fatigued super quick or everyone figures you out quick, whichever comes first.
 
I think me being so annoyed, deflated, frustrated about the result last night says it all.

We've done brilliantly imo. Couldn't really have asked for much more.

Semis of league cup, still in fa cup, top 4 looking good, and a real optimism that we will give Barca a game!
 
After the disastrous start, we would have taken this. We've achieved where we are without a top quality striker which begs the question how good would we be with one. Bad results happen and yesterday was frustrating but big game Sunday and we need to show what we are made of.
 
A-

Im not sure you could really have asked for him to have done a better job so far. Most of our issues came earlier in the season and while we are paying for them still, he’s also sorted them out for the most part.
 
Above expectations currently, things can change but the positive trends are in our favour. We're very, very good defensively but there's work to do going forward. Garnacho's journey has been fantastic to watch so far.
 
we didn’t buy mbappe and haaland in the summer, even though i emailed the club twice to tell them to. instead they bought an old 30 year old dm, which is the most unglamorous position on the pitch. yuck. we got a 25 year old centred back for big money but due to the size of his legs, he’s actually had to run twice as far as all his peers, so he’s basically 50. we bought a one footed winger who’s main contribution to the team is to call anyone in a 20 meter radius of him a “huge bitch.” we bought the tin man on a free who has been ok but only whilst his heart hasn’t given way. hardly mbappe and haaland, but it’s ok, we topped it off by buying a woman called melissa to play left back.

despite all of this, i expect us to be top of the league at this stage of the season and demand erik’s head.
 
horsechoker said:
Half the season played, what do you make of it?

Despite yesterday, I think we're in a good place and I feel increasingly confident we'll secure top 4.

If I were to grade the season so far, I'd give us a B/B+
Click to expand...

Yes, B+ from me. Relying too much on a few key players, not enough rotation option, but generally speaking (apart from those loss) getting right into game from the beginning.
 
I enjoy games again and the team is likeable. Glazers may soon be gone although hopefully it's not out of the flying pan into the fire.
Upwards and onwards....
 
I don't think we could have done any better up to this point. The squad still has weaknesses, especially in attack. We are short on depth and the quality drops away quickly from the first team.

With fixing the trash of last season, I would say we have exceeded my expectations.
 
9/10

Given the turmoil last season we've got superbly to bounce back
 
Above expectations so far - ETH is doing a bloody great job.

The main concern is obviously longevity and squad depth. Will we just run out of steam towards the end like the Ole season with all the semi finals? Would be disappointing to come out of this year with no silverware, even if we managed top 4.
 
Better than expected so far but with a nagging doubt that lack of goals could see it all go to waste in the second half of the season.
 
Agree with all the positive sentiments in here. We are progressing very well and as said above, top 4, better ownership and a trophy are all now very likely which is wonderful.

The main concern I have is that we are still very sloppy for long periods of games, Bournemouth, Charlton and last night being three recent examples where it looks like we couldn't care less for long periods of the game. I'd like to see this eradicated asap. We're not "on it" often enough. I've no doubt ETH will sort it out.
 
ETH's progress looks ahead of schedule. I'm reasonably satisfied with the progress. Look at how people were bitching and moaning about a draw yesterday after an 8 game win streak.

How long did it take Arteta, Pep and Klopp to get to grips with their teams and the league.
 
8/10

Way ahead of expectations - title talk was premature but Top 4 and a cup is achievable
 
I had us down to finish 5th at the start of the season and probably go deep in a cup competition (expected that to be Europa League).

So, I'd say so far we are above my expectations. I would be content with 4th and the League Cup really as with potential new owners I'd believe we could finally kick on for once and progress further next season.

Hopefully we can finish at least third though.
 
  • Manager, and his coaching staff: Solid A. So, so happy; couldn't have asked for more, given the tumultuous circumstances. Culture of accountability, better organization, tangible improvement in most aspects. Near-complete defiance of the odds.
  • Player performance: B-. Lots of room for growth, but largely trending in the right direction — the current set are close to giving everything they've got, and the likes of Casemiro, Lisandro, Rashford, Shaw, Eriksen, Varane, Garnacho have done particularly well.
  • Ownership, and executives: D. This ownership ain't it, but we knew that along along. Their underlings can go, too. The only thing they've done right is appointing ten Hag (and stretching the summer budget); otherwise they'd get a disgraceful F grade.
All things considered we're much improved vis-à-vis last season; and on the most encouraging trajectory since Fergie? There's a need to temper the expectations, but we could consistently challenge for major honors in the coming years with better owners (who make the right decisions at the right time, and appoint the right people in the upper echelons), a more robust and proactive sporting structure around the coaching staff (like Overmars (who spearheaded a formidable recruitment team) and van der Sar at Ajax), and a more impressive squad of players (from the Starting XI to depth options, we need serious reinforcement to reestablish ourselves as an elite team in club football).
 
I'm a demanding and hard-to-satisfy bitch, so it surely won't be an A, but B or B+ looks fair.

+ New ownership looks more likely than ever, Glazers haven't been this close to being out since they bought the club
+ Top4 should be achievable and even better if it happens with LFC missing out on CL
+ Much better atmosphere in the squad with Ronaldo gone, we've finally given up on a model of overpaying for English players and our most important signings in Licha and Casemiro have seamlessly adapted to the game, are universally loved by the fanbase and offer stability, ooze confidence and we needed their mental strength and leadership like oxygen
+ Still in the cups and we might finally win a trophy this season - still a long way to go though and I'd be sceptical of treating us as big favourites for any of them. Even if we only win EFL it will be a decent thing.
+ I enjoy the game we play, it's not the sexiest I have seen but defensively we look good, you can see some well-drilled routines as well as some amusing moments of brilliance, ETH is doing a respectable job in terms of tactics and I hope he can only improve in this regard.
+ Rise of Garnacho

- The absurdly bad start of the season, losing the first two games was truly awful and surely has had a strong psychological impact. We know now Brighton and Brentford are no pushovers this year and it's not as if we lost to relegation fodders, but there's no A/A- season that starts like this, we were immediately very much behind in the race.
- City is there for the taking for the first team in years (already lost as many league games as the whole last season) and Liverpool faces a big crisis. Over last 5-6 years I would dream that when this inevitably happens it will be United to challenge for the league and try to take advantage of that.
- Squad depth pretty much non-existent. We are always an injury or two away from a big drop in quality, Casemiro's yellow card yesterday was so brutal and so painful not only because he's excellent, but also because the second string is just levels below. We didn't do much to improve the depth, too, still keeping players like Jones on our books (this salary could and should go to a player fighting for minutes), doesn't look like it will improve in the upcoming years and it will cost us again.
- Sancho MIA. We paid top dollar for him and can't afford to spend close to a hundred million euros and cover his enormous salary when he doesn't play. He can still come good, but if we judge this season only, it's money down the drain with teams like Newcastle and Arsenal, competing for the same places as us, spending their pounds in a much more sensible manner and it has a tangible effect.

I also wish we played our youth a little bit more, especially Pellestri, but I can't criticize ETH for this just yet.

Overall: B, I guess, above expectations. Probably our best and most exciting half of the season since SAF left. Very glad ten Hag is here and I expect a lot from him in the upcoming months and years.
 
I’m still fuming about last night.

At half time I’d have said B for the season. Right now it’s an F.

I may be a tad reactionary.
 
B+ for the results (especially against the good teams) and place in the table, but A- because he got AWB playing like Cafu and makes Fred look like a solid football player.
 
horsechoker said:
Half the season played, what do you make of it?

Despite yesterday, I think we're in a good place and I feel increasingly confident we'll secure top 4.

If I were to grade the season so far, I'd give us a B/B+
Click to expand...
I’d give the team a B+, the Board an F, The owners a U(ungraded) and the Manager an A-
 
A. We are the best we have been since Ferguson retired. ETH looks like the real deal and it is only the second time since then we have had a real plan in how we play, and this time it's not LVGs boring passing carousel. The main question mark left is player recruitment. No disrespect to Weghorst, but we had better not be shopping in the also-rans section again in the summer.
 
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