25 Sep 2014 11:43:33
Is it possible that even those die-hards who assure us that we are stronger than last year and did not need all those players we missed out on during the summer are beginning to have doubts? The defence looks worse every time they play- failing to sign experienced fullbacks or mobile centre-backs means that Poyet's 'system' simply leaves the back four embarrassed by possession they cannot retain, often too far forward or out of position. And while we have plenty of bodies to choose from in midfield we can't seem to get four who are interested in playing on the same field at the same time. When the best player we have had in midfield so far is Catts that tells you something about the way we have been playing. It is easy to point to shortcomings upfront, since no-one has exactly shone, both Wickham and Altidore have shown they can hold up the ball and trouble defences, but it is unreasonable to expect them to beat two or three men on their own to make scoring chances. Fletcher has not been worth his shirt for about eighteen months now, and was a very poor buy. Overall, it looks like a poor squad playing a system they don't have the speed or skills for with little impact from summer signings so far.
It may not have seemed we had reached a crisis on Saturday, but after Sunday's results it was clear that most of the teams we expect to compete with have stronger, more motivated squads than we have, and if we get don't get four points from the next two games, we will probably be in the bottom three.
Poyet must know that if we are there at Christmas this year he will be gone- contracts man nothing to owners worried about losing millions- so hopefully he will think again both the players he is putting out and the way he ants them to play, and we will begin to see why he said he was 'satisfied' with this bunch of players.

1.) 27 Sep 2014
. . "the defence looks worse every time they play". . . is this the same defence that have conceded fewer goals than 75% of the Premier League then Brandon?