It’s one game. One. Let’s at least wait until it’s 10 before the meltdowns. I genuinely can’t think of another time on this board where the reaction to a loss has been so vociferous after the first game of a new season. We have key players almost ready to come back, new players to bed in, new recruits yet to be signed and a manager who seems to actually give a brick. Yes it was a brick result but we’re one game in. This won’t continue, I think we alll know that. And if it does, well then we’ll deserve to be where we are
Yeah, it’s way too early to judge, of course.
That said, it was worrying. A bit of fight is a minimum requirement, and there was none. Our defending of set pieces was all over the place and we failed to tweak what we were doing in-game, which cost us at least one goal (as highlighted by Sky). We didn’t seem to have a plan to counteract what Brentford would obviously do.
RDZ’s ability to select a different team was limited (although personally I’d have started Danso), but the set-up was odd. And I’m not sure “We weren’t ready” is an out; his job is to ensure the players available ARE ready. A lot of those who kicked off he’d had all summer.
It was a very bad day at the office, and 5 or 6-1 wouldn’t have been an unrealistic result, hence perhaps what you have called the “vociferous” response. The context of the last two seasons obviously comes into play too.
We will need to make strides forward quickly or we are going to find ourselves under a lot of media pressure (we’re already hearing this morning that Tottenham were soundly beaten “despite splashing out over £300 million over the summer” - which is wrong in a number of ways, but which is the start of a narrative that most reporters will want to pursue).
Hopefully we’ll see better as players return, starting on Wednesday.
