TSB
Captain Hindsight
Bit of self-indulgence, here. If you'll allow it.
First of all, last week at Watford was not good enough. No excuses
Secondly, this weekend was fantastic. Take a bow.
But, there's mitigating circumtances:
It's really very difficult to win away games in this league!
There are no Burtons, no QPR's. Every team has something about them. Be it momentum, new quality signings, intimidating home support, historic 'big team' respect.
In addition, the weaker teams will often sacrifice away games in return for a more competitive line-up at home.
It took Arsenal until May to register their first away win of 2018 and United lost at all three promoted sides.
Only Saints and West Ham, in our mini league, were better away than at home last season. And they both struggled to stay up.
It's hard to win away!
Then, there's style of play.
Since CH took over, the team and supporters have made the Amex a hostile place for opposing teams. After being humbled by Boro in 2015, we went on to annihilate the majority of teams at Championship level. And last season, following the step up, I'd argue only Liverpool,Chelsea & Man City outplayed us.
But we've been much weaker away from home.
Compare and contrast with the Poyet era.
At Championship level, we were excellent away from home. Teams hated being out-possessed in-front of their fans and often times this created a toxic atmosphere that we thrived upon.
But at home we were frustrating. Often ponderous, with no plan b, we struggled to break weaker sides down.
Culminating in the loss to an inferior palace side.
Clearly, improvement is needed. You can't keep relying on beating big teams at home to stay up. But I do think that there are legitimate reasons why it's so different and when I read "Why can't we place like this away from home?" for the 100th time after a performance, it's probably worth further consideration.
First of all, last week at Watford was not good enough. No excuses
Secondly, this weekend was fantastic. Take a bow.
But, there's mitigating circumtances:
It's really very difficult to win away games in this league!
There are no Burtons, no QPR's. Every team has something about them. Be it momentum, new quality signings, intimidating home support, historic 'big team' respect.
In addition, the weaker teams will often sacrifice away games in return for a more competitive line-up at home.
It took Arsenal until May to register their first away win of 2018 and United lost at all three promoted sides.
Only Saints and West Ham, in our mini league, were better away than at home last season. And they both struggled to stay up.
It's hard to win away!
Then, there's style of play.
Since CH took over, the team and supporters have made the Amex a hostile place for opposing teams. After being humbled by Boro in 2015, we went on to annihilate the majority of teams at Championship level. And last season, following the step up, I'd argue only Liverpool,Chelsea & Man City outplayed us.
But we've been much weaker away from home.
Compare and contrast with the Poyet era.
At Championship level, we were excellent away from home. Teams hated being out-possessed in-front of their fans and often times this created a toxic atmosphere that we thrived upon.
But at home we were frustrating. Often ponderous, with no plan b, we struggled to break weaker sides down.
Culminating in the loss to an inferior palace side.
Clearly, improvement is needed. You can't keep relying on beating big teams at home to stay up. But I do think that there are legitimate reasons why it's so different and when I read "Why can't we place like this away from home?" for the 100th time after a performance, it's probably worth further consideration.