Im happy with the direction we are taking and am enjoying the games again and look forward to seeing certain players....but I still see a fairly average prem league side with a little bit of quality like many of the sides have.
Id not be overly surprised at a finish anywhere between 8th and 12th. I hope that the optimism now and the patience with the team is remembered if this season does edge towards a disappointment.
In general tho with a new manager you would hope he noted the lack of urgency in the latter stages of the Man U game. They didnt exactly seem to go all out for it.
Everton 9 Brighton less than 9
I don't think it was a lack of urgency. It was a bit of a mix of a lack of conviction to our play - which is something Silva said right after the game (we weren't affirmative enough), and United killing our momentum.
FWIW, after we scored, Utd managed to wasted three minutes with someone going down. It's little things like that - snide game management - that goes unnoticed by everyone, but if you go back, it was key to them killing our momentum.
I also think that, while it's hard to criticise the intention of bringing DCL and Tosun on, in the situation of the game I think one of those two plus Davies was actually the way to go.
Before Gueye went off we had numbers in midfield, so when we did attack we were working it through the stages, and pressing as a team. When we lost that advantage in midfield to go 4-4-2, we naturally had to go more direct. And if there's one thing Mourinho knows how to deal with, it's direct football. Utd simply forced us wide, and then blocked the crosses at source or once they got into the area.
I'm really not worried about this season. The plans are clearly in place and it's a huge rebuild. One thing we do have is a deep squad littered with quality and a variety of styles. None of them are the complete package, but we aren't in a position to demand that yet. We have to grow as the players grow, and when we do make signings they have to be of the quality and style of player that are going to help us grow further and also fit into how Silva/Brands want to play.
