7th-ometer

[STM]

23 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

Think we’ll finish 8th still. But for fun I want to make the argument for why we will finish 4th.

 

 

1 No European football meaning we can concentrate fully in domestic football.

 

2 Howe has admitted that he still hasn’t got us up to speed yet. We’ve been so good the tbh ought of further improvement is mind blowing.

 

 

3 The World Cup. In one way it’s a negative to break momentum but I have faith in Howe to manage the fitness and mentality of our squad so that actually it should be a benefit. We get to regroup, rest and recharge as we don’t have to any players going to Qatar. With our front-foot all’s action style of play, the time off will pay dividends by the end of the season, those players playing European club football and international World Cup will surely suffer hugely from fatigue.

 

4 I can see Willock potentially going on a goal scoring run. He’s getting in to good positions, onvce he’s for the mark, I think he’ll go on a run.

 

5 Anderson playing a bigger and bigger role as the season goes on. Howe is bedding him in slowly, but he looks like he has real potential. And technically is very good.

 

 

6 with the rumour mill picking up again, it looks like we”ll be making signings in January.

 

Presumably you think the "big 6" will finish top 6, who do you think will finish 7th?

[Rafalove]

West Ham 

[gbandit]

I’d be very surprised if West Ham finished seventh, not so much based on their league position so far but their performances. They don’t score a lot of goals and they’re in Europe which will start to affect them more as the season progresses 

[Rafalove]

I just trust Moyes to get it right over a season. I think Paqueta will come in to form too.

[manorpark]

Interesting article . . .

 

"Newcastle United have the money to buy a floor…there’s only so far they can fall now and that’s what separates the elite from the rest."

 

https://www.football365.com/news/how-soon-will-newcastle-united-force-talk-of-a-big-seven-in-the-premier-league

[PauloGeordio]

27 minutes ago, manorpark said:

Interesting article . . .

 

"Newcastle United have the money to buy a floor…there’s only so far they can fall now and that’s what separates the elite from the rest."

 

https://www.football365.com/news/how-soon-will-newcastle-united-force-talk-of-a-big-seven-in-the-premier-league

Good read that 👍🏻 We’ve been at rock bottom, the only way is up 

[STM]

11 hours ago, Rafalove said:

West Ham 

We have a 7 point head start, with a 3rd of the season gone. It's a bold prediction, especially since they play Thursday Sunday.

 

IMO they are the only team capable of it but I don't see it at all.

[Rafalove]

I expect teams to figure out a way of playing against us too. And if I’m right Eddie Howe’s teams usually tale off later in the season.

[SUPERTOON]

Just now, Rafalove said:

I expect teams to figure out a way of playing against us too. And if I’m right Eddie Howe’s teams usually tale off later in the season.

Apart from last season ?

[Rafalove]

5 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Apart from last season ?

 

 

last season he took over Just before halfway through the season. Very different over a full season. Again though World Cup could benefit us

[Geogaddi]

1 hour ago, Rafalove said:

I expect teams to figure out a way of playing against us too. And if I’m right Eddie Howe’s teams usually tale off later in the season.

Teams have already tried to figure out ways to play us, anyone outside the so called big 6 coming to SJP will come to sit back and try to snatch a point showing very little intent to score. It worked for Bournemouth and Palace although we had a perfectly good goal chalked off against them and it hasn't worked for anyone else. I don't see what else these teams could do to "figure us out". Some will snatch points playing like that and other wont. 

[ponsaelius]

Personally I'd be mortified if we finished below West Ham now - unless it was offset by some deep cup runs.

[Stottie]

West Ham play Man U this week, so that'll be a good test of where they are after their improving form. xG quite likes West Ham, but likes us more.

 

We've not played West Ham home or away, and winning those two will be their best chance of catching us. They have individuals who can win games on their own, but I still can't see it myself.

 

[The Butcher]

1 hour ago, ponsaelius said:

Personally I'd be mortified if we finished below West Ham now - unless it was offset by some deep cup runs.

Anything below 7th now would be really disappointing imo. 

[manorpark]

2 hours ago, Rafalove said:

I expect teams to figure out a way of playing against us too. And if I’m right Eddie Howe’s teams usually tale off later in the season.

 

I know what you mean, but all teams are very different, the players are very different, and the quality of players here (and still to arrive) are very different from anything Eddie Howe has managed before.

 

So, even if what you say is historically accurate, this is a brand NEW situation here, and 'the past' has no real relevance at all.

 

 

[STM]

Also people said he couldn't sort out a defence and we haven't played ASM and Isak for any notable period.

[WilliamPS]

It has taken other teams years to get the consistency needed to finish top six. 

 

The squad is not deep so if there’s a loss of form for some players or they just need a rest there’s not much behind. Under Robson in the CL challenger years there was a tale off in March or so as the squad didn’t have the depth and some players were simply knackered.

 

Enjoy the wins and hope they keep coming

[Rich]

We're not other teams.

[Bondedcrown]

2 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

Apart from last season ?

[nufcjmc]

I think the argument that our playing style will be counter acted is eventually true. If there was a sure fire method to success all clubs would implement it. 

 

The fact we haven't fully upgraded the starting 11 or wider squad and 2 of our on paper better players are still not in the side gives me hope the system can be even more fine tuned or Eddie with his time away from managing has a plan B. Particularly if we get even more players in he wants to implement his game plan rather than just working with what he has. 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by nufcjmc

[PauloGeordio]

2 minutes ago, nufcjmc said:

I think the argument that our playing style will be counter acted is eventually true. If there was a sure fire method to success all clubs would implement it. 

 

The fact we haven't fully upgraded the starting 11 or wider squad and 2 of our on paper better players are still not in the side gives me hope the system can be even more fine tuned or Eddie with his time away from managing has a plan B. Particularly if we get even more players in he wants to implement his game plan rather than just working with what he has. 

 

 

 

Eddie is a dynamic manager and he tweaks the squad throughout the match as he sees fit. We haven’t fielded our potentially strongest eleven yet, we have players coming back from injury for depth.

we aren’t playing in Europe, we have a break coming up, and then there’s January. Our 2022 stats don’t lie. We are the real deal and we will only get better! 

[Rich]

Been a while since I posted these, but here we go:

 

 

The key takeaways:

Goals For/Against vs. Same/Equivalent Opponents

• Only once have we taken fewer points from the same opponent as last season, which was the robbery against Crystal Palace at home.

• We've taken more points from the same opponent on 6/12 occasions and matched the tally on 5/12 occasions. Insane consistency.
• We've scored more goals against the same opponent in 5/12 games, the same amount in 3/12, and fewer goals in 4/12. Pretty standard here.

• However, we are yet to concede more goals against the same opposition in 2022/23 vs. 2021/22. In 9/12 games we've conceded fewer and in 3/12 the same. This is huge.

• We've only conceded more than 1 in 2/12 games: Man City (h) and Liverpool (a) - the latter of which was another fucking robbery.

• Similarly in GD, only twice has our goal difference been poorer in the equivalent game from last season. 8/12 times it's been better and 2/12 times it's been the same. Unreal.

Goals For/Against vs. Same/Equivalent Opponents

• In only 3/12 games has our xG For been lower in 2022/23. There's no doubt that we're creating more and more consistently (+0.67 xG For per game, on average.)
• In 5/12 games our xG Against has been higher this season, though never by more than 1 goal. 0.53 is the highest difference. (-0.69 xG Against per game, on average.)

• In 9/12 games our xG Difference has been better in this campaign. On 7 occasions it's been by >1. On 5 >2. On 2 >3. (+1.36 xG Difference per game, on average.)

 

We're just a much, much better team all-round. Barring a catastrophe, that just doesn't stop happening.

 

Oh, and this is with Isak having only played 23% of all available minutes, Maxi 33%, Wilson 60%, and Bruno 68%. Between them, they've played 46% of possible minutes so far and they've never all been on the pitch together at the same time. Isak's never even played with Maxi or Wilson, and he's only had 72' minutes with a returning Bruno against Bournemouth.

 

I'd argue that there's more to come from us, not less.

[PauloGeordio]

11 minutes ago, Rich said:

Been a while since I posted these, but here we go:

 

 

The key takeaways:

Goals For/Against vs. Same/Equivalent Opponents

• Only once have we taken fewer points from the same opponent as last season, which was the robbery against Crystal Palace at home.

• We've taken more points from the same opponent on 6/12 occasions and matched the tally on 5/12 occasions. Insane consistency.
• We've scored more goals against the same opponent in 5/12 games, the same amount in 3/12, and fewer goals in 4/12. Pretty standard here.

• However, we are yet to concede more goals against the same opposition in 2022/23 vs. 2021/22. In 9/12 games we've conceded fewer and in 3/12 the same. This is huge.

• We've only conceded more than 1 in 2/12 games: Man City (h) and Liverpool (a) - the latter of which was another fucking robbery.

• Similarly in GD, only twice has our goal difference been poorer in the equivalent game from last season. 8/12 times it's been better and 2/12 times it's been the same. Unreal.

Goals For/Against vs. Same/Equivalent Opponents

• In only 3/12 games has our xG For been lower in 2022/23. There's no doubt that we're creating more and more consistently (+0.67 xG For per game, on average.)
• In 5/12 games our xG Against has been higher this season, though never by more than 1 goal. 0.53 is the highest difference. (-0.69 xG Against per game, on average.)

• In 9/12 games our xG Difference has been better in this campaign. On 7 occasions it's been by >1. On 5 >2. On 2 >3. (+1.36 xG Difference per game, on average.)

 

We're just a much, much better team all-round. Barring a catastrophe, that just doesn't stop happening.

 

Oh, and this is with Isak having only played 23% of all available minutes, Maxi 33%, Wilson 60%, and Bruno 68%. Between them, they've played 46% of possible minutes so far and they've never all been on the pitch together at the same time. Isak's never even played with Maxi or Wilson, and he's only had 72' minutes with a returning Bruno against Bournemouth.

 

I'd argue that there's more to come from us, not less.

👍🏻 agreed 

[ohmelads]

No midweek games and presumably fewer World Cup players than the "Top Six" presents us with a big opportunity if we can maintain momentum. They do have better squads than us to cope with all this as well, like. The January window is going to be massive and I think 1 big signing is the smart strategy. Not several players to disrupt the squad but a first team creative player. It sounds like we're after a top level signing undervalued because of their contract (Maddison, Tielemans, Trossard all linked in the rags).  I have a feeling it'll be Maddison. When you think back to when we were after him and look at the two clubs' trajectories now, so much has changed. Add in his contract has run down another 6 months, plus his continued form, it all points to us going back in. We were patient with Botman and went straight back in and I have a feeling we're going to do the same.

[Nine]

The world cup break will benefit us massively