So it's not been the blistering start to the season that we wanted, being European Champions at all that. One goal scored in 4 games, and none from open play is a tad disappointing and leaves us supporters in the continued state of unease that began with some debatable transfer [in]activity over the summer. In Rafa we trust though, and although his thinking remains a little cloudy to us right now, we continue to wait patiently for the blue sky to appear and reveal how it will all come together.
But there are still tangible positives to take from the first 5 weeks of the season. We still haven't conceded a goal in the league, something only Chelsea can match, and we've had a great start in the CL. and normal service appears to have resumed across the park.
A win and 3 draws from our opening 4 games is not quite as good as last year's start, but it has been against tougher opposition and the underlying trend has been one of steady improvement.
Middlesbrough away: we lost this 0-2 last year. This year it should have been at least 2-0 to us, but in any case a draw is a reasonable result up there. Ask Arsenal. 1 point better than last year.
Sunderland at home: a tougher match than we anticipated, but Sunderland repeated the trick at Stamford Bridge the following week to prove it wasn't a fluke. But at least we ground out the three points. Last year's equivalent early visit of Norwich was an easier game, but in terms of points, the result was the same.
Tottenham away: always a tricky fixture. A draw was a fair result, as it was in last year's opening game. Could prove to be a good point though as Tottenham's continued development sees them now being tipped for a top six finish this year. Same result against an improved side.
Man Utd at home: a manic game, little composure and few chances. We might be disappointed not to have won it in the second half, but it's worth remembering that we dominated United for most of the last three years and ended up with nothing. A point better than last year.
So two results matched, two results improved. Certainly improved defensively, and mentally, and we've created enough chances in 3 of the 4 games to not be too concerned yet about the low scoring. If we continue to improve 50% of our results this season without doing any worse in any of them, we'll do very well, and that starts with not getting beaten by Birmingham and Chelsea again.
After that the fixture list eases up on us a bit, and hopefully we might catch more glimpses of that blue sky...... after all, it's the only thing Above Us.
