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Spadge Vernacular
Player Valuation: £60m
If we are being honest, Dave, you will be one of a couple of posters in here wanting the mutants to win in order to feed the fire of your game.
It is as obvious as someone wearing a sign saying 'OBVIOUS!' who is pointing at the sign and shouting "THIS IS OBVIOUS!"
We're getting smashed against Liverpool and we're probably getting smashed by Arsenal.
It's not brushing them off as such, more just acknowledging the reality that a point from those two games would be overachieving.
If we lose the Palace game, then he's in massive trouble, but the two games before that aren't make or break for him.
The other day I thought he'd survive even that, but with Chelsea and Leicester waiting to smash us after that then it's really hard to see him surviving that run after the Brentford result.
Spadge Vernacular
Player Valuation: £60m
The difference being Ancelotti had secured safety.
Ancelotti had also started very well and improved the team. Benitez has a benchmark of 59 points to achieve.
Ancelotti had a record of 5-1-4 by this date in 2020 and had lost four of his last five games, with his only win being scraping past Fulham 3-2.
Ancelotti and Benitez shared identical starts in their first six games - 4-1-1.
Nothing has changed except injuries to key players. The squad are performing exactly to par.
15 from 13 is never par. I can't take that point seriously.
Don't forget a loss to lower league opposition as well. People seem to have forgotten this and it's the worst thing that has happened this year so far.
It is for this squad. The evidence is clear. They are proper manure.
They got 59 points last year so that is the benchmark whether people want to accept it or not. If you want to lower expectations significantly then by all means fire away, but I won't accept such a drop off. The only reason why we should accept a significant drop off is if we believe we now have a far inferior manager, because the squad is largely identical, bar Gray/Townsend instead of the permanently injured James. And that begs the obvious questions of why did we appoint him, and why are we not replacing him.
I've just provided proof that there isn't a drop off. It's nearly identical statistically across the board, with the only difference being we've played three more games this season than by the same point last.
Ancelotti turned it round with a crazy run in December/January; Benitez hasn't had that yet as it isn't December yet. So the only data we have to compare is above.
This squad isn’t capable of getting 59 points. It wouldn’t have last season if it was a normal season and not 38 training games. Last season was an absolute freak of nature, 29 points would’ve kept you up, it was a farce. This squad is incredibly poor, our best players are mid-table pushing top 7 quality.
I think the points you have made are correct.
I believe CA realised that , the board realised that and Benitez knew that before accepting the job. The injuries have simply made a difficult job even harder.
I think he has been appointed for a long term overhaul.
And if Benitez gets the whole season (which I strongly doubt), then 59 points is his benchmark.
You can't judge Benitez's only 13 games against Ancelotti's worst 13 games. You shouldn't really judge them together in the first place because Ancelotti is elite and Benitez is not. But you can't just use partial stats. Either judge fully against Ancelotti or don't judge at all.
billyblue80
Player Valuation: £70m
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