Points and Goal Difference...

[GhostOfDixie]

We are 5 points behind Arsenal, and our goal difference is -1.

The -1 interests me because we are usually quite mean in defence, especially in recent seasons. If our defence could have maintained that record, we may well be looking down on Arsenal rather than be behind them by points.

 

[harry]

i thought last season was the first time we ended the season on a plus for a long time? i might be wrong.

 

[TsarDiniyar]

Was saying this to my Dad last night. We would be right up there if it hadn't been for such a poor defensive start because we've scored plenty of goals.

 

[Dom1878]

Our defence has been strange this season. Yobo our for the start of the season, Howard having a shaky start too. Lescott didnt look anything like the player last season, and Jagielka and Neville were the only ones in defence who did their job. But now were all good at the back i think...we have just got to focus on our attack now.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Not really true though lads, anyone remember our GD the season we finished 4th?

-1.

 

[Slight_Return]

losing in pissed up fashion at arsenal heaped the minus on there though.

so many 1-0 wins meant a proper loss would hurt that column.

 

[Nebbiolo]

i thought last season was the first time we ended the season on a plus for a long time? i might be wrong.

I think the previous season to that we were about +8

But I feel uncomfortable with a minus difference. We should be looking emulate last season, or at least get near to it. A minus to me says we're way too far from consolidating a position as a top 6 team.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

But yet Man City have a goal difference of +4 (i think) but are way dwon the league below us.

A nice big fat gd is nice, and can be important come the end of the year but as long as you get the points it doesn't matter.

But we had a dodgy start and are gonna pay for it all season in terms of gd but other than the Villa game i don't think we've conceded more than 2 for a while now.

We should be higher than we are but it hasn't turned out that way. Although after the start we did have a lot of people were worried we would be right down the wrong end of the table but we aren't, we've pulled our fingers out and are playing and picking up points like we should be.

I reckon we will easy have a plus gd by the end of the year but probably not over +10.

 

[Goat]

W1 D3 L4 home
W6 D1 L2 Away

Giggle.

 

[Philw]

Not really true though lads, anyone remember our GD the season we finished 4th?

-1.

That was more to do with our attack than our defense. I -ve gd doesn't necessarily indicate a poor defense, especially when such a small -ve or you take into account the arsenal game.

Win 10 games 1-0 and your gd is +10. Doesn't mean your attack is great. Lose the next 7-0 and your gd is +3. Doesn't mean your defense is [Poor language removed]!

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Exactly

 

[GhostOfDixie]

Exactly

Yeah, but we are scoring goals, we just stopped stopping them, if thats not a double negative.

Anyway, a good win against Chelsea next week followed by 3 winnable games should see us really push the Villa for that 6th spot. I'm really starting to see a real gap in quality between us and those below.

City have some good players, Spurs have some good players - but they are not playing well as a team.

It just frustrates to know how well we would be doing if we had that little bit of cash to alleviate some of the squad issues we have. We don't even need City money - just enough to purchase 5 or 6 extra a season.

 

[Neiler]

Dont think we can really use anything as a marker this season, its been a mental season and seems like no team can string a good run together, but our performences have improved immensely since we changed to 4-5-1.

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

Especially away from home we look stronger. I am totally amazed we are tied with Rovers as the worst in the W column so far this year at home. Are we too over confident and let our guard down when playing at Goodison?

 

[Scottoffee]

We started unacceptably poorly, but have also had some [Poor language removed] luck at home. eg Blackburn's winner was offside, 2 of Villa's shouldn't have happened, almost total domination over Boro = 6 points right there and we'd be sitting 4th.

Was beginning to come around - up until Villa, we'd gone unbeaten at Goodison since the derby in September.

If we can cut out the screw-ups and turn just a few of our draws into 3 points, we'll be laughing our way back into Europe come May and another 7-1 win along the way can sort out that goal diff.

Both us and Villa can finish above Arsenal this season.