A little over three months ago we travelled to Arsenal with the chance to go top of the Premier League, since then things have not gone as well as expected.
When we went up to the Emirates we had played 11 games and earned 22 points an outstanding total that had many talking of Champions League qualification, including this defeat at Arsenal we have played 17 games since this time and we have earned only 17 points.
This is a paltry total and to be blunt is relegation form, of course we wont be relegated because of our great start to the season, but the writing is on the wall and whilst some talk of our great performances and what an exciting side we are to watch we have taken our eye off the ball on what matters in the Premier League and that is getting points.
In truth this season has been propped up by two bursts of form, our opening four games were nothing special, five points from four games, then we had a burst of form where in the next 7 we won 5 and drew 2 to earn 17 points.
The second spell came in a 6 game spell in January/February when starting with the home victory against West Brom we won 3 and drew 3 to earn 12 points.
But these spells apart our form has not been great in terms of earning points and that has to be a worry going forward.
It is great that we are in the position that we are but every team needs to be keeping looking forward and improving and we should be no different, of course there are excuses as to why we have only averaged a point a game in the last three months, injuries and suspensions, but the fact still remains that 17 games is not far off half a season, it is a good barometer, over a period of that length of time things are smoothed out, you get a true picture of just where you are as a team and where your failings lie.
This season we have undoubtably been attractive to watch at times, but a look at the results table shows that we beat the poorer sides but anyone in the top half we struggle against, as I have said before if we look at the top 11 teams in the table we have played 14 games against them, we have won only 1 and taken only 5 points from the other 13, this is not a good record whatever way you look at it.
So what is it telling us ? probably that there is something missing from the side at present, but what is it that is missing ? is it players or is it the ability to get the best out of those players.
If we take the first, yes of course we could do with better players and if we buy wisely then of course it would improve us, but just where would we strengthen ? personally I think we can put out a decent first XI, but that is about it, if we are going to sign players, yes one or two need replacing but what we are really crying out for is variety, we play in the main the same old players week in week out and we never change our tactics, its always like for like and we have no one in reserve offering us anything different.
In the case of the latter the big question is whether we are a team of exceptional players not playing to our capabilities, or whether we are a team of average players overperforming.
Given the number of players we have in the England squad and linked with the England squad, I think we have the quality there, but we lack variety.
At the start of the season I gave a warning when we signed Osvaldo about why he had left Roma and what he would have wanted from a move, I feel that some of our problems now stem from the situation not being handled well, I mentioned about the folly of trying to play him and Lambert in the same team, that was glossed over at the start because we were able to meet and beat some poor sides at the right time and rack up a few points, but the situation soon got out of hand, with the consequences we have now, if it had been handled properly then we might have had at least part of that variety we needed, as it is we have neither player having a great season for us, Osvaldo is out on loan and Lambert looks a shadow of the player that he used to be, the odd free kick or brilliant ball aside he is not contributing enough during games, I dont think its his fault, in fact the opposite, he is being used in a system not suited to him.
If we had that variety up front then we would have got more points, but it isn't just up front, in midfield we struggle to do anything creative, we do not have a truly fast wide option, do other top teams have one ? yes they do Liverpool and Spurs to name but two have good English wide men for instance.
Perhaps some would say that the pacy wideman is a thing of the past, perhaps he is, but every good team has different weapons in their armoury, the old saying is you do the same things you get the same results, sometimes you have to try something different, a good team is pro active, it can change tactics to suit the opposition, it can target weak links in a side and it can conversely adapt to combat strong points, this is not a strong point of ours, the better sides are able to deal with us effectively as has been shown by the results, they know exactly how we are going to play and how to deal with it as has been shown by results.
This is a little harsh article after all we are 9th in the League and should hold that position a total collapse apart, we should however be wary that of our final 10 games only 4 are against sides outside of that top 11, we have to get our foot on the gas against Crystal Palace on Saturday being the first of that quartet or we will suddenly be struggling.
However all negative thoughts to one side, we should be reading the warning signs and looking to improve in the areas that we are not up to speed in this season, that is being positive, its easy to pat yourself on the back when it appears to be going well, but the best sides are always looking at where they are going wrong and where improvements can be made.
On a positive side we do have a lot of youngsters coming through who could perhaps offer us variety and perhaps its time to give some of those a game, key areas we need to cover in.
1. Central defence, its harsh but Jose Fonte should really be pushing for a place in our side, not be an automatic choice, our goals conceded is not great now and getting worse.
2. Midfield, we need to have different options, we need creativity and we need pace out wide as options, Perhaps Gaston could be the creative option, perhaps one of the youth players coming through could offer pace, we need to find out.
3. Up front, we need other options, Lambert is an old style forward playing in a formation that is asking him to do things he is not suited to, he can be used withing this formation as an impact player, but we dont have other options, we dont have a speedy finisher in the mode of Suarez or Sturridge to name two from Saturday, till we get one the style we are trying to play is compromised.
The good thing about this article is that I am picking up on points whilst we are in a position of strength, but we need to realise that the momentum at the moment is not upwards but downwards, 17 points from 17 games is a warning sign that if not heeded will lead to a relegation battle last year, look at the teams that finished 8th & 9th last year, they have not built on that foundation, we need to, last season we had a bad start due to the teams we played, this season we had a good start due to the teams we played, last season we beat Liverpool at home as well as Chelsea and Manchester City, this season we picked up a solitary point from those three fixtures, in my opinion the reason why is the rigidity of our play this season, we dont seem able to change games.