What are the encouraging signs? We are playing like shit, concede goals essentially EVERY game, don't even score that much and every game is a struggle. Conte and Mou were also shit, that doesn't mean this is encouraging. Ange's had a year with the team and they are actually playing WORSE now than they were when he arrived.
We need competent people running the club from the top obviously. We sign tons of good youth players but with no clear planning with older mentors which means they end up not realizing their potential while also stunting our current performances. Liverpool, Woolwich and City literally gave us the blueprint - sign great and mentally strong players in the ages of 22-25 for 2-3 years then start signing a mix of proven and potentially great players to give the team institutional knowledge.
I'm not gonna name names but we should have went for a manager with a modern footballing education. But the manager won't matter if the structure above him is shit.
My thoughts exactly. There's nothing you can point to that says the club is headed in the right direction. Or any direction.
The team that went into last season is basically the same one today. Subtract Kane, add Solanke, fine... I'm glad that after a year they decided to sign Kane's replacement.
Being more direct or seeking to dominate are fine but in total, the entire recipe is the same as the one that didn't work last year when we were grateful to finish 5th.
Are we to believe Ange is going to turn water into wine now, absent any signs of progress last year? With all the same faces? That doesn't seem sensible.
It seems far more likely that his seat will be warming progressively and we'll all be brawling in October once again about whether Ange is wrong for the job or he's yet another manager who hasn't been backed adequately.
This truly is purgatory...