Record vs the Top 7

[bigblue]

Here is what the league table would look like if you only included games vs the top 7:



And here is our results graphed out by league position:



Abysmal. Day and night compared to us under Mancini.

So is it Pellers failing to adapt tactics in big games, our players having no heart, all of the above, or something else?

[Original Dub]

That is pretty terrible alright.

But why are you comparing it to Mancini.
Give me Pellers first season anytime.

Makes for an even worse comparison of course, but a lot more relevant.

[Nigels Tackle]

was the 2nd table knocked up on a zx spectrum?!

[bigblue]

That is pretty terrible alright.

But why are you comparing it to Mancini.
Give me Pellers first season anytime.

Makes for an even worse comparison of course, but a lot more relevant.

No reason in particular to compare to Roberto. Maybe because he is a good representation of the fight that we seem to be lacking in big league games.

Part of our results has to be down to Pellers tactical stubbornness. Against other big teams, we seem to either score 4 goals or hand over 4 goals on a silver platter. But no matter the tactics, the players (bar Fern & 1 or 2 others) have as much spine as wet cardboard. So many flat performances and indifference. Easy goals let in and a lack of will to really have a goal. If we're going to be losing by 3 or 4 goals I at least want to see someone get a red card for getting stuck in and having some pride (like Yaya on Sunday).

Maybe part of it is all the injuries (and ongoing niggles). Who knows. Hopefully Pep can fix it, but I feel the players need a Full Metal Jacket type treatment to fall in line and start putting their heart on the line:

Watch on youtube.com

[Dimples]

its the players - they should audition for shameless

[Clowncrete]

On the other hand it makes me optimistic. Imo, we didn't deserve to lose to West Ham or Spurs at home. Our home form isn't completely disastrous and imo, we can beat Stoke, rags and Arsenal at home. The trickiest fixtures away are SOTON and Chelsea, both winnable. And if we continue our form against the bottom teams, we can still go on a winning run.

[Blue Since 76]

On the other hand it makes me optimistic. Imo, we didn't deserve to lose to West Ham or Spurs at home. Our home form isn't completely disastrous and imo, we can beat Stoke, rags and Arsenal at home. The trickiest fixtures away are SOTON and Chelsea, both winnable. And if we continue our form against the bottom teams, we can still go on a winning run.

'Winning run' suggests more than one game in a row. You may need to explain that idea to the players, as they forgot it a long time ago.

But in the meantime, please buy Head and Shoulders/Pepsi/listen to us say we're going to beat everyone to make you forget what a bunch of flat track bullies we are

[Socrates]

On the other hand it makes me optimistic. Imo, we didn't deserve to lose to West Ham or Spurs at home. Our home form isn't completely disastrous and imo, we can beat Stoke, rags and Arsenal at home. The trickiest fixtures away are SOTON and Chelsea, both winnable. And if we continue our form against the bottom teams, we can still go on a winning run.

Exactly, 8 games left against teams in the lower 12 and we have 14 wins and 2 draws in the 16 games against those teams so far - so 22 points if we repeat that same form level and then 3 winnable home games against top 8 sides, couple of results there and we'll be close!.

[phips]

yay. we're not level with Villa anymore in this table.

[Socrates]

yay. we're not level with Villa anymore in this table.

How do you figure that? We will shoot up a few places if Chelsea and Southampton move into the top 7 though as they will have to recalculate it. Come to think of it you'd have to know who the final top 7 after 38 games were going to be for it to have real merit at all.

[Blue Since 76]

yay. we're not level with Villa anymore in this table.

How do you figure that? We will shoot up a few places if Chelsea and Southampton move into the top 7 though as they will have to recalculate it. Come to think of it you'd have to know who the final top 7 after 38 games were going to be for it to have real merit at all.

It's based on points per game, so Villa's is now.divided by 11 and drops. Ours stays out.of.10 and won't change it until we beat the rags

[Cocacolajojo1]

How do you figure that? We will shoot up a few places if Chelsea and Southampton move into the top 7 though as they will have to recalculate it. Come to think of it you'd have to know who the final top 7 after 38 games were going to be for it to have real merit at all.

Agree, it would be much better to calculate this against last year's top seven until the season is over. I don't think that will make for much happier reading but it's still more valid until the season is over.

[branny]

I'm not too concerned about the away games after all when have we ever got anything at Arse or the dippers? The home games are shocking though. At worst we should at least be coming away with a point. Losing 3 to title rivals is shooting yourself in the foot. Our home form has fallen a long way since 2011/12 when we went unbeaten and only Sunderland left with anything. We need to get that level back.

[Cocacolajojo1]

Come to think of it, considering we're that poor against the top sides and still pretty much level with everyone bar Leicester, shouldn't that mean that they are failing in other departments? And shouldn't that mean that we can certainly expect them to drop points where we wouldn't expcect them to?

I'm more optimistic now than before I saw those stats.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Come to think of it, considering we're that poor against the top sides and still pretty much level with everyone bar Leicester, shouldn't that mean that they are failing in other departments? And shouldn't that mean that we can certainly expect them to drop points where we wouldn't expcect them to?

I'm more optimistic now than before I saw those stats.

I think it
Means were flat track bullies. The fact that we're still close is due to the competitive nature of the prem this season. Everyone has bought and teams are not running away with it right now. We've still be hugely underwhelming.

[Socrates]

How do you figure that? We will shoot up a few places if Chelsea and Southampton move into the top 7 though as they will have to recalculate it. Come to think of it you'd have to know who the final top 7 after 38 games were going to be for it to have real merit at all.

Agree, it would be much better to calculate this against last year's top seven until the season is over. I don't think that will make for much happier reading but it's still more valid until the season is over.

0.88pts per game v last year's top 7, 2 points per game v everyone else

Against the bottom 12 in the above table we are now 47 points from 17 games, a heady 2.76 points per game. Still means not very much... Especially as Stoke are now bottom 12 instead of Swansea.

[Socrates]

yay. we're not level with Villa anymore in this table.

How do you figure that? We will shoot up a few places if Chelsea and Southampton move into the top 7 though as they will have to recalculate it. Come to think of it you'd have to know who the final top 7 after 38 games were going to be for it to have real merit at all.

It's based on points per game, so Villa's is now.divided by 11 and drops. Ours stays out.of.10 and won't change it until we beat the rags

My mistake, I thought the 2 tables were related and the 1st table included results v Stoke rather than Scousers