It’s not based on one game Fred. It’s based on what happened last season, what happened in the off season and pre season.
I’m not a big fan of Silva, I don’t think he is the right man to take us to where we should be. I do agree though, that Brands has let him down in the transfer window.
I hope I’m wrong but at the moment I’m not sure where our next goal is coming from, never mind next win.
We also need to look at the competition... other teams have strengthened whereas we have stagnated, at best.
Fair enough. There are 2 ways to look at last season. One is the period December to Feb when we were awful. The other is March to May when we were literally the third best team in the league.
Then there are 2 way to look at pre season. One is that it is a direct link to how we play in the league. The other is that it is used to get the players fit and to try and introduce new signings into the squad. I've never been bothered by pre-season form, good or bad.
There are also 2 ways to look at the transfer window. One is negatively because we lost Gana and failed to replace Zouma in the squad from last season. The other I to look at the extra quality we have brought in all over the pitch and the increased number of options available to the manager to mix things up a bit. The general consensus from people not connected to the club is that we have had a very good window and have improved. The only poor assessment is, not at all surprisingly, from Talksport and even they listed us at 10th, hardly a disaster.
I also disagree with other teams strengthening. United have improved their defence but are weaker in midfield and attack. Chelsea have lost Hazard. Spurs and Arsenal have both improved although Arsenals defence is just as poor as it was before. Wolves haven't improved their starting XI and squad improvements will be taken up by Europa. Leicester have lost their main defender. West Ham looked to have improved.
I still think you are knee jerking though. None of the new players, Gomes apart, have had time to settle into the team or the league and I think you should give it at least a month or so before writing us off completely.
As it stands, the chances are you will be correct and we won't break into the top 6. None of the bookies think we will anyway. Apart from Leicester winning the league, nobody has come close since we finished 5th in Martinez first season. It will be very hard to bridge that gap and I think we may fall a bit short unless the new signings work out well and all hit the ground running. We need to make the most of the relatively easy start to the season and I agree that yesterday wasn't the best start. But it's also no need to give up.
