windy city red

wait - did you not lose to chelsea away a couple of days ago without creating much?

nonsense, we should be destroying teams away in europe regardless of our current form. anything less than dominating teams is shocking.

guess our defending from set pieces is still crap

how are we playing?

Talk about extremes. I am not saying no to new players, I am just saying they need time because of the above mentioned reasons. Apparently, they are expected to deliver instant results regardless of the circumstances. Of course you would buy plauers you think would improve the team. But changing one or two faces in the team is different from four to five changes. It would obviously help if the senior players are playing well, but they arent at the moment, so theres even more pressure for the newbies to perform. I am not denying the team is playing badly, I guess I am just more willing to be patient and see what eventually happens at the end of the season.

Because its a fact we have many new players? And they will/should improve the 1st team, its people are already passing judgement when its not even halfway through the season. They expect players like bellamy and pennant replicate their form at their previous clubs. Thats completely fair and understandable but they are now working under a new manager, with new team members, and they might even be given completely different instructions to what they are used to. Such things take time and they need to find a comfort zone where they are able to effectively merge what they can do best, understand their team-mates and do what the manager asks of them. Yes, they are professionals and yes, thats what they are paid to do but unfortunately, they are also human.

Just came back from orlando only to check and see we drew with blackburn. The 40 min highlights package the offal has doesnt really paint a complete picture but it looks like we were abysmal for the first 60 mins, judging from the reactions on the forum. I dont think we are ready to challenge the title yet. Too many new faces and to expect the team to gel so quickly might be a little premature. To make things more difficult, our senior players are not performing to their usual standards consistently enough. However, I fully expect a 3rd or 4th place finish with a cup trophy this season and of course a genuine challenge next season and beyond. As a side note, I didnt know disneyworld was such a popular destination for people from the UK! Way too many man utd jerseys worn though, I saw at least 10 before seeing someone with a liverpool shirt.

Yeah, but the match reports here are usually 5000 times better than the ones in the offal.

So I guess no one watched the reserves tonight?

I thought Agger did pretty well against Sheva during the Community Shield too and Sheva is obviously no slouch in the air...

I think that could mean an improvement in many aspects of our team, not just buying "extra class attacking players" - which is obviously what you are suggesting.

And thats a reason why the squad didnt need an overhaul? That team was probably never going win the league.

I actually thought its more like our 03/04 season. Our away form was just terrible. Of course its just only 4 games...

I am too tired to write a whole lot so I will just pick on one point. The overhaul was because our previous crop of players werent very good to being with, maybe? just a guess of course.

I dont think the problem was where gerrard was playing, but rather the level he was playing at. everyone expects gerrard to part the red sea when hes moved to the middle, but his performances so far this season suggest that he just isnt playing to his usual high level consistently. I prefer to see it from the standpoint that we got 3 tough away fixtures out of our system, instead of 1 point from 4 away matches. But thats just me with my rose-tinted glasses.

you are asking for patience, esp on this forum? are you crazy? not a single thought of winning the league this season crossed my mind, there have been too many changes to the squad.

damn right. case in point - PSV, people changed their expectations halfway into the game.

except when they (the US) win it of course.

Logging onto a Spurs forum made me see where JV's comments came from. They seriously seriously thought they should have won the game, its so ludicrous its not even funny....

If we didnt hit the post in the first half, it would've also been different. They might have deserved a draw at most but the quality of our finishing for two out of the three goals deserves a win.

fantastic assists. looks like my wish came true with him and kuyt playing up front!

Thought he was excellent, devastating player to have around the box, his nice cut back for kuyt amidst pressure from three players was of great vision and if kuyt had put that away, I am sure garcia would have drawn more praise. I would love to see him play as a second striker with kuyt, hopefully at least once.

Reina Carra Sami Agger Finnan Gerrard Sissoko Zenden Warnock Kuyt Bellamy

if we get 2 points, I will be ambivalent - I still dont think we are ready for the title yet so 2 draws is no disaster. if we get 4 points, thats a fantastic return. Dont really care where the win and draw come from. if we get 6 points, I think its time for me to revise my expectation for the season.

what is 5m aussie in pounds? those articles might have been written on the assumption that blackburn will accept our bid...