I thought we can have a thread to analyse the team's performance for each month so that at the end of the season we have a better idea where we took the league by storm or maybe where we lost our way a bit. Maybe the mods can add a poll to it to gauge the level of satisfaction with the month's performance.
Every year August is the month when the excitement and anticipation is the highest but this year the adrenaline was off the charts because of the way we finished last season and also the real quality we brought into the squad and we surely were not disappointed.Picing up each match individually:
1.Sunderland:First game of the season and expectations were very high particularly because of 4 players making their debut for us.
Highs:
a)We started off right from where we have left it last season. The move and pass philosophy was firmly in place and even after missing the penalty we struck early on in the game to seize the initiative and kept on creating chances after chance
b)Since we had a lot of new players in the team so the focus was always going to be on them and Adam,Enrique and Stewart proved they were the right buys for this club.
Lows:
b)Failed to finish off the game.Come the second half we seemed to have taken our foot off the pedal be it lack of match fitness or caution and were made to pay for it.
2.Arsenal:We have never beaten Asrenal away in the EPL and for a club of our stature it was a bit uneasy to digest but if there ever was a right time to play Arsenal it was now and we certainly took full advantage of it.
Highs:
a)More possession than Arsenal which is practically unheard of when playing in their backyard.
b)The squad depth on display as it was two guys coming off the bench who caused mayhem and finally got us the goals.
3.Bolton: After the kind of fight they put up against City,we had to be on our guards against them.
Highs:
a)Took the game by the scruff of the neck right from the beginning and never let the tempo subside.
b)Hendo gave a glimpse of his talent and the immense player he can be for us in the future.
c)It was just so tough to pick a MOTM.
In between we had a league cup tie against Exeter and by playing a strong team,Kenny gave out a strong message that we mean business this time around and the players surely didn't disappoint.
All in all if some one had given me 7 points come the end of August I would have gladly accepted it.Though the draw against Sunderland did feel like a defeat but then we are going to have a few matches like that in the course of the season and what would really count is how we react to it and our reaction against Arsenal and then Bolton left nothing to complain about.Let's hope the juggernaut continues in the next month and the whole year.
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