The Blueprint Laid For Success
We were all sad to see last year’s stand out performer leave the Lane to pursue his dreams. But the move financed the influx of a bunch of stars for the future thereby strengthening our squad in all areas of the pitch. “We sold a player and bought a team”. The appointment of the new technical director helped influence some high profile deals and it was agreed by pundits and fans alike that the Lillywhites were runaway winners of the summer transfer window. It gave us all the ammunition we needed to wage a war to break into the top four which would provide the coveted opportunity to compete in Europe’s elite tournament.
The Summer Swoops
The club broke the transfer record as many as three times in this single season and brought in as many as seven new faces who could lead the club to the glory it so deserves. Some have been expensive while some have been considered coups, either way the captures would make anyone swoon.
Paulinho has settled in the quickest and has looked to catch teams off guard with ability to dart late into the box providing an additional outlet in the attack. Chiriches, voted “Player of the Month” for October in Facebook, has done so well that AVB would have headaches to bring Vertonghen back to his preferred position. Eriksen in the first few touches has proved the asset he can be for the future to break down sturdy defences.
Capoue has added more steel in the middle and has impressed till he got injured. Chadli can cross, dribble and score too which are the pre-requisites of a winger.
Fans took a breath of relief with the signing of the Roberto Soldado brought in to add the finishing touch to the artwork in the centre of the park. He moves well and it will only be a matter of time when he starts recreating the magic from his La Liga days.
Lamela, the only one not to have excelled so far, has too started showing signs to justify his price tag.
The Lows and the Highs
A loss to bitter rivals, another couple of unexpected results and not bulging the back of the net frequently enough has caused some uproar from fans and pundits. But let us understand it is not yet the end of the world with only 11 games gone. After all this is the most competitive season in the league so far.
The positives are worth keeping faith in the team and the coach. The defence has been miserly, Hugo has been a hare off his tracks and youth product, Townsend is getting a lot of opposition attention. The midfield is working hard too. All in all we have all the ingredients for success awaiting to unveil the final recipe with minor tweaks in the tactics (wingers laying off the ball more to exploit the strengths of Soldado) only to go onwards and upwards!
