Slump or bump?

[Dorset]

I know some blokes object to me calling slump, but I think we have well slumped. Looking back over our Premier League results the Bump-slump (depending on what you see it as) started when we lost to Burnley on the 23rd of February 2019. Before that game we had played 26 PL games, won 20 of them (77%). In the 2017-18 season we won 23 from 38 ( 61%),2016-17 , in the 2017-17 season we won 26 from 38 (68%).

Since (and including) the Burnley disaster we have played 18 PL games and only won 5 ( 28%). You might see that as a bump I see a slump. I don't know why and I don't now what the remedy is, but it is a slump, in my opinion. Of course we're only 6 games into the season and everything can change, but that change needs to happen quickly or we are in danger of slipping out of the top 4.

Will NDobby prove to be a good buy? I hope so, he's a bit pony at the moment but it's way too soon to call him a flop - look how long it took Sissoko to show how good he could be. Sessegnon will be a star of the future, Lamella is looking the best we've seen him for yonks so that's nice, Harry Winks is getting back to match fitness, hopefully big Victor is as well. Juan Foyth is another future star, nailed on, Gazazniga will be a top class keeper, Eric Dier, Lo Celso - dunno innit? Surely Big Eric will show some of the great earlier form and of course Dele coming back to his best will be a big deal We have the firepower, do we have the will? Yeah of course we do!

 

[skiathospurs]

Top 4 is nice but a league cup and 6th I would be happier personally.We have enough in the tank to have a good run sometime in the season,the only worry I have is it stays sticky a bit longer,too many give Poch stick and the RM job comes up and he walks away.I dread moureenio for even a short period with his turgid brand of football.

 

[Yid]

Those figures dont lie.

Half as good as we were consistently over prolonged periods in the league.

That's my point and the reason for my personal exacerbation. We are way more capable than we are curently showing and this shit doesn't just happen, there will be a reason behind us playing the way we are.

Dunno what it is, dunno how to fix it, dunno when it will end.

I want to see performances worthy of what I know were capable of... currently it's way below that level.

I dont think the Poch will walk, I dont think Levy will boot him just yet.

Something must change though as we're 100% on a slippery slope.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

We lack daring when we have the ball. There is a lot of lateral stuff going on and it is giving our opposition plenty of time to get men back in covering positions.

Also, and this is the most noticeable thing for me...the famed "Pochettino Press" is long gone. A couple of seasons ago we were absolutely fanatical about pressing the ball carrier and winning back possession. These days it seems that the desperation to win the ball is gone. We seem quite happy to sit behind the play and hope for a mistake.

That raw hunger is not there and I don't really know how Pochettino goes about rectifying this.

 

[Chavhater01]

Smashing the shit out of Colchester would be a good start! Then the next 3 league games will tell us a lot. I’m hopeful of getting a minimum of 7 points from Southampton, Brighton and Watford, which should help us go into the Liverpool game with some confidence. Like to see them getting back to enjoying their football again.

 

[Don Diaz]

It will surprise very few that I'm going 'bump' although appreciate the stats say 'slump'. A bump is a small slump of course and can turn into a slump very easily with a loss against Saints or Brighton. I don't know what goes on in the modern day world of top Premier League clubs or the minds of excessively overpaid 25 year olds often behaviourally controlled by managers and agents, but I still view these people (including managers) as human beings that can have 'down' periods in their lives. What I do know is that the transfer window is closed, we had a good pre season, we have 3 new quality signings, and a shiny 62,000 seater stadium, so the tools are there for success. Maybe it's a stagnation period, maybe it's a CL final hangover, maybe it's a bit of sour grapes from the likes of Eriksen that he's not at Real Madrid (who are also a bit pants btw),Whatever it is, someone needs to say 'play you did against Palace in the first half' it's clearly possible, so stop fucking around and do it, or we'll find someone else (because the squad is big enough) who will put the required effort in. Lamela and Winks seems to be in about a minority of 2 who are switched on and giving it their all at present - I'm exaggerating for effect, but you get the point.

Let's start on Saturday against Saints like we mean to go on and get another Palace type performance and result. That's the least that's required and we need to see it.

 

[BrooklynYid]

It is a full on slump. Counting points from Jan 2019 until now we sit 9th in the table. Over 30 points off the leaders. That is a massive gap. I hate to say it, but I think the players have tuned Poch out. I think they are insane for doings so, but it is hard to deny at this point. So what do we do? Get rid of Poch? Great, but whom do we get to replace him? Not a lot of great options. Do we sell off the players? Not so easy. We couldn't even move Toby, Aurier and Wanyama, not to mention Eriksen. A clear out would be difficult. I don't know the answer, but we need to change something fast. Sounds nuts, but I'd sit Kane for Parrot. Maybe play Skipp and Winks together? Yeah, doesn't make sense, but neither does skydiving and people seem to like that.

 

[skiathospurs]

Could be worse eh!!

 

[Yid]

Could be worse eh!!

Wow.....

 

[Motspur Hotspur]

Could be worse eh!!

Oh my, what a mistaka to maker.

 

[skiathospurs]

Oh my, what a mistaka to maker.

he`s dropped an E hasnt he?gurning like Mr Magoo

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Anyone still think this is just a bump?

We are a fucking shambles.

 

[Finchbee]

Manager needs to sort it....quickly

 

[Yid]

We are so fortunate that Man Utd, OGS, and Phil "the Neanderthal" Jones exist

Without them the spot light would be 100% on us and the apparent state of our side.

Not good enough.

 

[Liam]

It's a big ol slump for me, bit of a strange one though. If we'd have won one of Leicester, or Newcastle this wouldn't look so bad as far as the season goes, but we didn't win and it's not looking good.

I actually think it's a transition period for us tbh, a few players need to move on and a few need to settle in and we need to buy a few good players in January or the summer. We've been on a slow decline since the last season at the Lane IMO and the squad needs an overhaul.

There's a lot of Poch out going round but honestly don't think any of the other manager's being mentioned are likely to do better with what we've got. If we did get rid of poch only to give someone else a mega war chest in the summer then I think I'd rather give the war chest to Poch. We look really bad atm but the team is unbalanced big time. He needs to play better in attack for sure but Eriksen being a prick and Alli never fit isn't helping either.

I've faith that poch can get is through this though.

 

[Yid]

There's a lot of Poch out going round.

Is there.... genuinely ain't seen it and if I had I'd have cried "fuck off you soppy cunt"

 

[skiathospurs]

Is there.... genuinely ain't seen it and if I had I'd have cried "fuck off you soppy cunt"

quite a lot actually.

 

[Liam]

Is there.... genuinely ain't seen it and if I had I'd have cried "fuck off you soppy cunt"

Yeah FB is full of it. Makes me sad tbh, fickle as fuck. He's made mistakes for sure but injuries, lack of funds, and stadium moves have paid their part too. I'd rather bung poch a war chest than Jose. The team needs freshness that ain't gonna change with a coach, we need transfer windows for that.

 

[skiathospurs]

Yeah FB is full of it. Makes me sad tbh, fickle as fuck. He's made mistakes for sure but injuries, lack of funds, and stadium moves have paid their part too. I'd rather bung poch a war chest than Jose. The team needs freshness that ain't gonna change with a coach, we need transfer windows for that.

yeah Jose in is more insane than poch out,absolute melts.

 

[Liam]

yeah Jose in is more insane than poch out,absolute melts.

I'm not that keen any of Howe, Allegri, or Jose which are the names I see coming up. This squad clearly needs fixing whoever the manager and I just think has earned himself the a bit of time to rebuild again. In a years time Lo Celso, Sessegnon, and N'Dombele will be settled in and there will have been other arrivals will be here. Poch said there will be a painful rebuild and we are in the process of it.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

It's a big ol slump for me, bit of a strange one though. If we'd have won one of Leicester, or Newcastle this wouldn't look so bad as far as the season goes, but we didn't win and it's not looking good.

I actually think it's a transition period for us tbh, a few players need to move on and a few need to settle in and we need to buy a few good players in January or the summer. We've been on a slow decline since the last season at the Lane IMO and the squad needs an overhaul.

There's a lot of Poch out going round but honestly don't think any of the other manager's being mentioned are likely to do better with what we've got. If we did get rid of poch only to give someone else a mega war chest in the summer then I think I'd rather give the war chest to Poch. We look really bad atm but the team is unbalanced big time. He needs to play better in attack for sure but Eriksen being a prick and Alli never fit isn't helping either.

I've faith that poch can get is through this though.

None of us is happy with how the team is performing at the moment but wanting the gaffer sacked is laughable.

He has plenty of credit in the bank and should be given the season to sort this mess out. It's a long way from being time to wield the axe, surely?

 

[Style And Glory]

Just baffled by the state we are in.
I knew things were not so good but didn't realize how poor our results were until @Dorset posted the stats.

Crypty rightly pointed out that when we pressed, when we hunting the ball like a pack of wolves.
We'd win the ball back early & up high.up the field.
We would scare the daylights out of other teams as we were lethal
In some cases, teams were beaten before they stepped on the pitch.

Poch was always talking about the evolution of our play.
But can anyone say what we are evolving into now?

He wanted significant changes during the summer.
He got targets that he seemingly wanted. But did he get them all?
And more importantly, were all the players he didn't want shipped out?

I believe this may be the root of the problem. It lies in some of the players that are still here that shouldn't be.

 

[Dorset]

Luckily I don't use Facebook or Twitter so I haven't seen any 'Poch Out' bollocks. Who the fuck do they think could do a better job?

It is futile lobbing blame at Levy for his failure to strengthen the team last summer, but I will do it anyway. The majority of new players take time to be great assets to the team and we may see Sessengon and Ndombele do a Sissoko and be superstars next season or hopefully sooner. If we have to await for Lo Celso then will he be on his way back to Real Betis by then? Jack Clarke will obviously not be doing much for us this season and may take a few years before he is a first team starter. We have some great young talent coming, but not this season.

I don't want us to become Goons 2.0, just qualifying for the Champions Leagues every season, but, top players will not come to us and they won't stay without that qualification. So it is really important and the way things are going so far, top four may be beyond us. Based on current form my prediction program says he will finish 11th, of course predictions can't be made just 6 games into the season, but with every game played those predictions become more terrifyingly accurate.

I am always confident that we will win our next game, against any team in any tournament and past results mean feck all in football, but the points from past results decide where we end up at the end of the season, so let's hope the slump ends soon.

 

[Liam]

None of us is happy with how the team is performing at the moment but wanting the gaffer sacked is laughable.

He has plenty of credit in the bank and should be given the season to sort this mess out. It's a long way from being time to wield the axe, surely?

I certainly think he's the man to take us forward, I just don't think it'll be with this group of players. Gotta be some big changes.

 

[Motspur Hotspur]

From the Poch presser...

Nail on head Poch.

What is the biggest problem that you face?
Different circumstances that happen in the team. We need to work. I think when you assess, because that is our responsibility, in offensive situations, in possession percentages, I think we are better than last season. But after it's about when you don't have the ball, I think we need to be more consistent [here]. Because that is the problem – collectively we need to press better. We need to more tough out of possession. It's true that we improve our percentage in possession, that we dominate more than last season.
I was talking with some players … it's like when you go with your friends to play 4v4 or 5v5. No-one wants to go in goal. So you say, come on, every five minutes we are going to rotate. You want to play with the ball. You don't want to be chasing people, and running in behind. And maybe we lose this balance. We want the ball, more than before; we dominate the games more; we create maybe more chances; we shoot more but there is another part of the game – when you don't have the ball, to be all together, to be on the same page, the will to recover the ball. I think we drop a little bit in this collectively.
It affects the [whole] picture. Because when the opponents scores the goal, always it's going to appear the keeper and then the centre-backs and the full-backs, and the holding midfield but I think we drop a little bit in this. And that is not talking about talent or positional game. That is about the will to recover this aggressivity, all together to be in the same page and enjoy the same when you have the ball and when you don't have the ball. That is, for me, the key point that we need to fix. That is the problem on the team. Because leading the games how we have been leading and then you lose the game, it's because we need to be more ruthless, more strong, more tough, more aggressive. Because if you are losing the game, you are going to go forward and you need to keep your composure

 

[Chavhater01]

It’s very simple for me, football’s about passing and moving, both of which we have been shit at for a while, for me those are the biggest reasons we’re in this slump. We’re slow and laboured on the ball and our passing is utter gash.

We all know we have the players who are capable of performing at a much higher level, the question is why?? Bottom line is that we’re a couple of decent results away from being absolutely fine. The next 3 games will define where we are as a team.

 

[Yid]

Yeah FB is full of it. Makes me sad tbh, fickle as fuck. He's made mistakes for sure but injuries, lack of funds, and stadium moves have paid their part too. I'd rather bung poch a war chest than Jose. The team needs freshness that ain't gonna change with a coach, we need transfer windows for that.

That's why I've binned the fucking lot. People are cunts..... not you people..... well some of you people..... well Dorset.

I only do here.

Anyways, if those cunts suggested outside of the cyber world that The Poch was to be "outed" and I was to over hear..... they would 100% be being cunted off and told to wind their ignorant necks in.

He has took us to a diferent level and if the likes of Madrid want him it's because he is fucking quality.

We will never know if Poch has got what he has asked for and has managed to fuck it up on his own or if Levy has been true to form and given him a mixture of what Poch wants and what Levy is prepared to pay for.

I know that I want to stay on the rollercoaster a bit longer... no fucking way do I want to get off now.

COYS.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Luckily I don't use Facebook or Twitter so I haven't seen any 'Poch Out' bollocks. Who the fuck do they think could do a better job?

It is futile lobbing blame at Levy for his failure to strengthen the team last summer, but I will do it anyway. The majority of new players take time to be great assets to the team and we may see Sessengon and Ndombele do a Sissoko and be superstars next season or hopefully sooner. If we have to await for Lo Celso then will he be on his way back to Real Betis by then? Jack Clarke will obviously not be doing much for us this season and may take a few years before he is a first team starter. We have some great young talent coming, but not this season.

I don't want us to become Goons 2.0, just qualifying for the Champions Leagues every season, but, top players will not come to us and they won't stay without that qualification. So it is really important and the way things are going so far, top four may be beyond us. Based on current form my prediction program says he will finish 11th, of course predictions can't be made just 6 games into the season, but with every game played those predictions become more terrifyingly accurate.

I am always confident that we will win our next game, against any team in any tournament and past results mean feck all in football, but the points from past results decide where we end up at the end of the season, so let's hope the slump ends soon.

Mate, I am pretty sure the “loan” of Lo Celso is for creative accounting purposes only. I understand the we have an obligation to make the “loan” permanent at the end of the season. He won’t be going back to Betis.

 

[Glenjamin]

I think 2 big factors in all of this are

1. Demeble heading off. This effected the tail end of last season. We all know how good he was. The main thing though for me was the space he created. He drew 2,3 sometimes 4 players towards him. That's 4 players more space in behind for our attackers to operate in. I still don't feel we have worked out how to play without the extra space.

2. NDombele. He is disrupting this season. Poch loves Winks and Sissoko was a force last season. This then leads to NDombele being shoe horned in at the expense of an attacker. You can't play this way. It simply doesn't work. Regardless of formation 4231 or 433 whatever, you need 1 all out ball winner and someone tenacious that can pass. Then a number 10 type quality passer that'll still put in a real shift. Finally 3 attackers. We are reducing our effectiveness upfront while really not achieving anything in the middle. This showed massively against leicester. Kante, fabinho, rodri etc have to play like 2 players. We need to drop any of our 3 and add to this upfront.

Everyone is right though we have lost the underdog fight we used to have in us. We seem to have decided we are quality and that simply putting in a real shift isn't as important. We went back to this against arsenal 1st half and it was great to watch again. We swarmed them when they were on the ball.

 

[Chavhater01]

I think 2 big factors in all of this are

1. Demeble heading off. This effected the tail end of last season. We all know how good he was. The main thing though for me was the space he created. He drew 2,3 sometimes 4 players towards him. That's 4 players more space in behind for our attackers to operate in. I still don't feel we have worked out how to play without the extra space.

2. NDombele. He is disrupting this season. Poch loves Winks and Sissoko was a force last season. This then leads to NDombele being shoe horned in at the expense of an attacker. You can't play this way. It simply doesn't work. Regardless of formation 4231 or 433 whatever, you need 1 all out ball winner and someone tenacious that can pass. Then a number 10 type quality passer that'll still put in a real shift. Finally 3 attackers. We are reducing our effectiveness upfront while really not achieving anything in the middle. This showed massively against leicester. Kante, fabinho, rodri etc have to play like 2 players. We need to drop any of our 3 and add to this upfront.

Everyone is right though we have lost the underdog fight we used to have in us. We seem to have decided we are quality and that simply putting in a real shift isn't as important. We went back to this against arsenal 1st half and it was great to watch again. We swarmed them when they were on the ball.

Not sure about Ndombele mate, the only loss he’s played in was Leicester, and from what I hear it was one of our better away performances over the last 7/8 months. He wasn’t great against Olympiakos but sounds like he was really good today. Reckon he’s gonna be an absolute star for us, and in time he’ll be one of the first names on the team sheet, whether in a 3 behind Harry, or with Sissoko or Winksy in the middle.