I don't know why everyone's going bonkers all of a sudden. 1 win in 7 is a poor start but I'm seeing shouts of Silva out in the manager's thread and a whole lot of other nonsense. We have to know where we are as a club. We're miles off competing for a top 4 place and finished 7th last season. Realistically any sort of improvement on that would be a success. It's early days and we're only around 4 points away from that so we shouldn't panic just yet. Do we want to be better? Yes, but you can't just splash money at the problem with no plan and expect instant success unless you go out and buy the cream of the crop in terms of players ala City. We can't do that.
To me over the last few seasons, we've thrown money at the problem without a proper plan at all. We've gone out and bought players who we thought could improve our squad and performances in the league, but in most cases we've used those said players poorly. To me it boils down to: what do we want to do as a club? How do we want to play? We need an identity. I saw some good moments yesterday against Arsenal. We pressed them high and won the ball and went through on goal twice from which we should have scored at least one. Our passing was sharp. Do we want to continue that going forward? Do we want to emulate a Liverpool or Spurs type of workrate and identity, or do we want to build from the back up ala a Mourinho team and become defensively solid and just an overall solid team? Going by Silva's history as a manager I think we already know the answer to that. He's not known for building stellar defenses. I hate to use them as an example but I've a few family members who are pool supporters. Look at what Klopp has done over there. His first season was a write off because he inherited a load of [Poor language removed] from Rodgers. He instantly knew what he wanted to do with that side and got them to two finals. He then improved the side and the next goal was qualification for the champions league. Check. He then got rid of more of the deadwood and the next goal was to stay where they were and compete. He qualified them for the champions league again and also got them all the way to the final of a champions league. Check again. Last summer they spent even more and now look like a proper side who can not only challenge but win things. That first full summer he didn't just go and buy any players. He didn't do that last summer as well. Look at Van Dijk. He couldn't get him in the summer so they waited until January. Klopp has identified players that only fit his system and it's either he gets those players or no one at all. There's a master plan there and he's been given the time to execute it and it seems to be working. Pochettino has done the same with Spurs and seems to only go for players that can fit the system because he knows exactly what system to use. They were just let down by the board this past summer.
I think if we give Silva adequate time and see that there is indeed a plan in place, we'll improve. We still have players to shift who aren't good enough or don't fit a system. And yes, I am including some of the ones we've bought for big fees. We need a few windows. Last summer I saw us buy players who fit a specific type of style Silva wants us to play. Richarlison, Digne, Bernard are all the types of exciting players we'd only dream of getting in days past. There needs to be a long term strategy here. It's not as if our lives depend on champions or europa league qualification so we don't' have to pressure our managers into achieving something impossible in a short amount of time. Obviously if our form falls of a cliff or if it looks like Silva really isn't sticking to a long term strategy and identity for the club, we might reconsider. But for now we get behind the club the manager and the players.
