What's changed?

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3 Things that fit the curve:

1. Moyes changed the pre season so they weren't dead before the first game
2. Still had the feel good from the backend of last season in the system.
3. Squad never big enough for top 5 let alone 4 - tiredness from a good start always going to replace "post xmas" second wind.

In my opinion we're going to plan - we are a 7th ish outfit - it's just the cups... better win the fa cup!
 

MapleLeafEvertonian said:
Pretty much this. Look who was the first scorer for norwich today,a January signing. Regardless if they score or not, teams get new energy when bodies are added.
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I would've punted on Darren Bent. The lad knows where the net is and is rotting at Villa.

It would've boosted his confidence to prove something. Give Jelavic kick. And we'd be scoring.
 
Here is another thought.

Expectation.

We have never been expected to win. We are perennial underdogs. Now when we play we are expected to win, and the pressure that brings is clear to see.

On a postive note my expectations are rock bottom for the rest of the season and I think a lot of others feel the same. Pressure may be off and we could start to perform.
 
tasslehoff said:
Here is another thought.

Expectation.

We have never been expected to win. We are perennial underdogs. Now when we play we are expected to win, and the pressure that brings is clear to see.

On a postive note my expectations are rock bottom for the rest of the season and I think a lot of others feel the same. Pressure may be off and we could start to perform.
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I dunno I've always thought that's the main factor why we start so poorly, because we finish the season so well and therefore should carry on when the season begins again. This season it actually happened and we met the expectation, so nothing has changed really in terms of pressure after Christmas.

As has been said, we don't have the squad to keep it up for an entire season.
 
Neiler said:
Teams have cottoned on to our system and players, from the first half of the season, you have to adapt.
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I think we have changed how we play, the long ball started creeping back in before Christmas. That and we are terrified of being a goal up.
 

Jelavic has scored once since December 1st and Fellaini only has two goals in the same period.

Looking at the sequence of results:

Up to December WWLDWWDDDDWLDD (5 wins out of 14. 22 points out of 42= 52%)
Since December DWDWWLWDDWDLL (5 wins out of 13. 20 points out of 39= 51%)

we've actually been pretty consistent this season. Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool all took some time to get into their stride. So, while we've been treading water since day one, they've made up ground and it's given the impression that our results have been slipping.

Also, we were creating lots of chances without finishing them in the early part of the season.

Goals up to December: 24 (1.7 per match)
Goals since December: 17 (1.3 per match)

Goals conceded up to December: 18 (1.3 per match)
Goals conceded since December: 16 (1.2 per match)

Up until December our biggest games were United (h), Liverpool (h) and Arsenal (h).
Since then we've played City (a), Spurs (h), Chelsea (h), United (a)

Looking at the table it feels like our season is falling apart but we're performing only marginally worse than we were earlier in the season in terms of results, our games have been more difficult and some opposition teams have started to find form.

There are things that we can improve on though.

Fellaini is getting manhandled at every opportunity and the refs seem to be letting it go, so he's not as much of an aerial threat from set pieces. Rather than having him standing in a pack (where it's hard for the ref to make out infringements) and hoping that he can bundle things over the line from a standing start I'd get him to start further out and to make sure that he runs and jumps for the ball. It would make it harder for defenders to grapple him and it could prove a good distraction to allow other players in.

We need different attacking permutations. Mirallas, Naismith and Pienaar could all offer us something different playing in the hole. Teams will spend all week working out how to shut down Fellaini and the Baines- Pienaar combo, so we need to mess with them and cause them problems. It's not enough just to interchange Mirallas and Pienaar during a game. And, with Anichebe out injured, Vellios should have made it on to the bench today. How much worse could he have done recently than our misfiring forwards? Jelavic, Fellaini and Anichebe have contributed 6 goals between them in the last 12 league games. It's far from Champions League standards.
 
billycopper said:
Jelavic has scored once since December 1st and Fellaini only has two goals in the same period.

Looking at the sequence of results:

Up to December WWLDWWDDDDWLDD (5 wins out of 14. 22 points out of 42= 52%)
Since December DWDWWLWDDWDLL (5 wins out of 13. 20 points out of 39= 51%)

we've actually been pretty consistent this season. Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool all took some time to get into their stride. So, while we've been treading water since day one, they've made up ground and it's given the impression that our results have been slipping.

Also, we were creating lots of chances without finishing them in the early part of the season.

Goals up to December: 24 (1.7 per match)
Goals since December: 17 (1.3 per match)

Goals conceded up to December: 18 (1.3 per match)
Goals conceded since December: 16 (1.2 per match)

Up until December our biggest games were United (h), Liverpool (h) and Arsenal (h).
Since then we've played City (a), Spurs (h), Chelsea (h), United (a)

Looking at the table it feels like our season is falling apart but we're performing only marginally worse than we were earlier in the season in terms of results, our games have been more difficult and some opposition teams have started to find form.

There are things that we can improve on though.

Fellaini is getting manhandled at every opportunity and the refs seem to be letting it go, so he's not as much of an aerial threat from set pieces. Rather than having him standing in a pack (where it's hard for the ref to make out infringements) and hoping that he can bundle things over the line from a standing start I'd get him to start further out and to make sure that he runs and jumps for the ball. It would make it harder for defenders to grapple him and it could prove a good distraction to allow other players in.

We need different attacking permutations. Mirallas, Naismith and Pienaar could all offer us something different playing in the hole. Teams will spend all week working out how to shut down Fellaini and the Baines- Pienaar combo, so we need to mess with them and cause them problems. It's not enough just to interchange Mirallas and Pienaar during a game. And, with Anichebe out injured, Vellios should have made it on to the bench today. How much worse could he have done recently than our misfiring forwards? Jelavic, Fellaini and Anichebe have contributed 6 goals between them in the last 12 league games. It's far from Champions League standards.
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Some good points in there.

Then surely DM has to counter by mixing selection a little more than he does?
Not wholesale changes, but rest one or two. Do not put out a predictable team.

Rest Pienaar for Oviedo. Start with somebody different up front. Maybe Coleman back on right mid for a game. Just something different.
 
Bill has slipped some anti-performance enhancing drugs into the team's water supply so they won't qualify for Europe. That way he won't have to strengthen the squad to complete in Europe, and also get rid of Moyes who's tired of not being backed. Two birds with one stone. What a genius.
 
Given that things were looking pretty rosy until Christmas it seems that our inability to bring new players in and freshen-up the squad has contributed to such factors as:

- team looks jaded
- inability to change things around due to lack of resource
- some egos have been massively deflated
- mass loss of form
- Moyes contract saga / maybe Moyes has lost interest

It's a pity we didn't get Fer in the window as he is exactly what we need in the team right now, a tireless bouncer.
 

The Simple fact that Moyes has nowhere near big enough Squad to compete week in, week out for 10 months of the Year.

How it has got to this is a little bit silly Davey.

He's thrown away the Season not bringing in any new faces, or signing a new contract.
 
started the season in 5th gear, way too fast, and now the players are nackered,
First half to the season is always a slow start then we peak in the second half and dont want the season to end, this season was the opposite.
 
For me the only thing we needed to make the top 4 a possibility would have been Jelavic to have been in the same form he was last year. Thats it, with him on form we could have had a realistic chance of top 4.
 

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