I find it sadly funny that people think Rafa somehow learned from his mistakes in the latter half of the season. Shite finishing and the odd off form performance explain more bad results than not. In some we played teams off the park and they stole a point late.
If you can only point to a few matches over 9 months then I'm not sure I can agree with you. Ever stop to think the team started playing better together over time without Torres then he came back and it made us even stronger?
by jove i think you're on to something!!!
there is a lot of nonsense in this thread.........you set up to win each game, but use different approaches for each game to achieve that win (horses for courses and all that).......you certainly do not want to lose to your rivals and therefore an approach that guarantees a draw with a reduced chance of winning is sometimes seen (Chelsea away for instance)......all other games, i have no doubt the plan is to win the game not to "not lose"........and you have a fuck of alot better chance if you do not concede a goal on the first place
"throw the kitchen sink at them" was the cry.......hmmm, what exactly do you want, gung-ho approach from beginning, forget about your strengths and just assume that be everyone piling forward we are bound to score.........people talk about benitez taking time to "learn how to win the premier league" but what does this mean? does it mean he hasn't learnt that the way to beat stoke is to change your style of play and throw the ball up into the box more often, and get loads of men in there? or does it mean teaching your players to put one of the 23 shots that you had during the game into the back of the net?
benitez has a style of play that requires good ball retention, change of pace and creation of space for attacking players to play.........we have been good for the majority of the season, after a disjointed start, with the exception of a dodgy spell in february which ended with the defeat to boro - our worst performance and result of the season.......but we have developed the way it is clear you would expect a team from benitez to develop......we have become a solid stable unit at the back (despite the dodgyness that came in to pass the last month or so) our midfield controls the possession of the ball and the pace of the game........and our forwards, although working back regularly, appear to have now developed the level of movement required to make use of the solid base formed by the defence and midfield
it appears to me, that as the season has gone on, our ability to turn good possession/performances into good results has improved........and this has been the key, not tactics and not just form
we need to continue to develop, cos regardless of this years improvement we are still not top dog, and each of our rivals is likely to improve, so to reach our goal we need to improve on this year and then some...........and if our form of the last 2 months is anything to go by, there is much to be hopeful and optimistic about