Alex Charlton says…
We were given a tough start to the season, with Brentford (A), Arsenal (H) and Man City (A) likely to yield minimum points, and we were unlucky to take just one. The Ipswich game was disappointing, but it’s the worst time to play a newly-promoted team, especially away from home.
I think I would’ve expected a couple more points but in terms of performances, we’ve been immense and it’s left me feeling very positive about the season. Of course, getting off to a winning start in the Europe League was
very important too.
I’ve really enjoyed watching the Lads and our best performances have come in our three trickiest league games. We’ve also been very fluid going forward and created plenty of chances, with the City game a standout.
Enzo Le Fée is on top form and Brian Brobbey has also shown improvement. There’s been the odd sloppy goal from poor passing out from the back, but the intent is there and if we carry on playing as we are, we’ll pick up plenty of points.
Kevin Danso has been the standout signing for me, coming straight into the side and elevating it.
Yes, one poor moment against City, but overall he’s been brilliant. I really liked what I saw from Dayann Methalie at the weekend — particularly going forward. He looks like a top signing, and the more I watch Malick Fofana, the more I like him.
He’s very young and need time to develop, but he looks confident on the wing and can beat a man. Thomas Meunier has slotted in well and is an assured, experienced player. I haven’t seen Jules Ahoka yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing him and Juan Riquelme Angulo Caicedo.
We’ve played really well and deserve more points. I think we look better than last season, and I’m convinced we have a strong enough squad to compete and rotate in Europe, which will be important.
Dean McDonald says…
I don’t think there’s too much difference between expectation and reality.
The Ipswich game is the clear standout in terms of not getting the result we expected, but after last season’s hammering, many fans probably didn’t expect a point at Brentford, so we’re two or possibly three points worse off in terms of this. Performance-wise, however, I think we’ve been much better than we expected, particularly recently against City and Arsenal.
The style of play is in stark contrast to how we played the majority of last season.
We seem to be playing on the front foot no matter the opponent — and when was the last time we could say that about Sunderland in the Premier League? Certainly not in my time watching us. Getting players forward, pushing to create and score is a huge improvement and one that will serve us well.
Similarly to last summer, the new signings seemed to have settled and adapted fairly quickly. Kevin Danso and Thomas Meunier are the standouts, having played the most, but neither have missed a beat for the most part.
Dayann Methalie looked very capable against Manchester City, against a very tricky winger in Iliman Ndiaye, and Malick Fofana is showing more game by game and we’ll hopefully see the best of him after the break.
Jules Ahoka against Hull was probably one of the best debuts we’ve had for a while — everything was spot on and for such an inexperienced player he didn’t put a foot wrong. We can’t pass comment on Juan Riquelme Angulo Caicedo yet, and can only hope it works out as well as previous transfers.
In my eyes, I don’t see how anyone can be anything but positive and optimistic after the start we’ve had.
Yes we should’ve beaten Ipswich, and based on how the games played out, also beaten Brentford and took something from Arsenal and City. But the fact we’re creating chances, taking the initiative in games and trying to control (something we struggled with when we had to do it last season), is extremely encouraging. Sooner or later the chances will start becoming goals and someone will be blown away.
After the break, I think we’ll go from strength to strength in the Premier League and across the continent.
John Wilson says…
The reality is that we were dealt a difficult early fixture list, and that includes playing a newly-promoted club in their first home game of the season. But compared to last season’s relative fixtures, we’re three points better off.
We’re a more combined and fluid unit — a natural development from having already had a year together in the Premier League, and there can’t be many clubs that’ve kept their team’s core as we have.
On top of that, the new signings seemed to have slotted in seamlessly. Thomas Meunier is a class act, adding drive, experience and height, and the younger signings have added a touch of speed, enthusiasm and fearlessness.
I have no doubt we will have another memorable season —especially in the Europa League. Definitely glass half full.
Owen Sara says…
In terms of expectations, it was always likely to be an underwhelming league season in comparison to last season. We’ve had a tougher start than last season having three out of our first five games against teams who finished in the top nine last season, and two being first and second in the same week.
Although the results on paper look don’t make for great reading, the reality is far different.
We’ve taken the handbrake off a lot more and tried to play a lot more on the front foot, which is what everyone was crying out for, so we can’t complain about that.
Even in the games that we haven’t picked up points from, we’ve been in the games — against Brentford and Ipswich, we threw away points after having the better of the chances.
We’re not too many points off where we were at this stage of last season and if we were a bit tighter at the back, we’d probably be slightly higher in the table. We also bettered our results against Brentford and Manchester City from last season.
The new signings are already showing promise with Kevin Danso being a standout and Dayann Methalie having a pretty OK league debut against Manchester City. There’s certainly no need for panic at this stage — let’s not forget that we got off the mark early in Europe, which is crucial if we want to progress into the knockout phase.
The three-week break has come at the right time.
I’m sure it gives majority of the squad a well-earned break and for Régis Le Bris and his coaching staff to get together on how we can tighten up the defence whilst being a flowing attacking team that’s great to watch.
Phil West says…
In all honesty, it’s probably fallen a tad short of my expectations but given the thrilling ride these players took us on last season, following it up with another rapid start felt like something of a tall order.
I don’t really deal in blind faith and nor do I like to nail my colours to the mast marked “If we play like that all season, we’ll be fine”, but it’s not entirely negative and I’m still fairly confident that a season of mid-table security (and maybe more) is very much on the cards.
Fixture-wise, it’s been savage and even though the results may not have matched the standards of performance, we acquitted ourselves well in all bar one of our five league games, with greater attacking purpose displayed during Sunday’s ridiculous 5-3 barney at the Etihad.
Ipswich saw a rusty, disjointed performance and a defeat that still needles me, but a solid league cup victory over Hull and a priceless home success over AZ Alkmaar were real standouts, so it’s been a mixed bag, all told. Plenty to work on — converting chances and cutting out the sloppy errors at the back being the primary aspects — and the fixtures that follow the international break do feel more favourable.
I’ve liked elements of the new style of play we seem to be attempting to implement.
It’s a little more dynamic and a touch more attack-minded than we’ve often seen under Régis Le Bris, but too much still goes through Enzo Le Fée and we need to become more dangerous from both wings if this vision is to be fully realised. Combine that with recapturing the defensive solidity that defined this side last season, and I’m confident that we can compete with anyone.
Kevin Danso has been the signing of the summer, in my view. A classy, solid and likeable presence at the back and a player that’s made this writer eat his words following some initial doubt when he was linked with a move to Wearside.
Elsewhere, Thomas Meunier has fitted in well, Malick Fofana and Dayann Methalie are gradually finding their way, and patience will be key for Jules Ahoka and Juan Riquelme Angulo Caicedo as they’re slowly eased into the first team setup.
Overall, I’m reasonably comfortable.
Our league position perhaps doesn’t reflect the overall talent of the squad and we need to be proactive in trying to fix the issues that’ve hindered us thus far, but solving problems is one of Le Bris’ major strengths and I suspect he’ll be relishing the challenge.
