I tweeted something after the match yesterday that went something like; new players, new manager, same problems. It wasn't meant as anything other than an observation that despite the new manager and the new players, we're still playing pretty much the same way.
We had six shots on target and scored twice. Yes, it was exciting to watch, but we couldn't beat Sunderland. It was exciting to watch because that is our level. Read on, before leaving a comment castigating me based on this.
Look, I'm all for a high tempo and I like that we had 62% of the ball but having more tempo and more of the ball needs to translate into wins, not just more of the ball and a higher tempo. We're four games in and we have four points. Averaging one point a game means nothing has really changed.
And yes, someone will say that we didn't have Traoré, Gabby or Grealish available and you'd be right we didn't. And we all hope that Grealish and Traoré will be the players to win us more games, but isn't it a little worrying that we're putting all our hope into two nineteen year old players?
And someone else will say that they haven't had time to gel yet and maybe that could be explain certain things, but I really don't buy it. They're professional footballers that have nothing else to do and they should have got it by now.
And you don't need this amount of time to learn that the Premier League is faster than France or every other league. This is just my view and I've got no numbers to back this up, but I think there are too many individual mistakes resulting in the opposition getting possession.
However, we are a little frustrated
But we are a little frustrated today and we all feel as if we should have won. Even if Sunderland is our level, we had twice as many shots on target, three times as many shots and we also had 50% more of the ball. You could argue that we just missed one piece of luck yesterday that meant we didn't get the third goal.
So, yes I made that comment and at the end of the day we didn't beat Sunderland, they scored as many as we did, but we're frustrated today. Last season, I think we would have been grateful that we got the point. Look at that any way you want, but to me that feels just a little like progress.
But, we've got to get past this one point a game and with Leicester and West Brom coming up, I think that's possible. And yes, I know Chelsea and Liverpool lost yesterday.