I've found this backlash a bit weird tbh.
LVG arrived to a club with a long list of problems to sort out and a squad with several years of significant under-investment to do it with. One by one he's ticked off some of the problems on the list and got us to a position where we're well in with a chance of finishing 3rd or 4th.
He's bought in 5 new players, all of whom have been an improvement on what we had. He also brought in a loanee, who hasn't really worked out, but with bringing him in on loan (and considering his goalscoring record in the past) it was hardly a wild gamble.
Of the players he got rid of, can't say any of them have proven him wrong so far.
We're still stuck with some players we'd like to upgrade, but man, we got rid of 10 and brought in 6. That's a pretty epic changeover. Sure we could have upgraded Jones, Evans, Rafael, Valencia, Young & Fletcher. But is it realistic to get rid of 15+ players and bring in 10 to 15 new ones? At what cost? That would be crazy. These things take a couple of seasons.
The players repect the manager, seem committed & we seem to have a happy camp. We've had none of that talk we had last year about key players unhappy, dressing room fall outs, all that nonsense. And just as importantly the manager seems at home in a club the size of ours, rather than looking intimidated by the job.
He started badly in the first 5 games, but then stabilised. Since losing to Leicester we've won 10, drawn 5, lost 2. That kind of form is perfectly acceptable for this season. Indeed when you look at our results, only the Southampton and Villa games jump out as missed opportunities during that run. I totally understand that after a run of wins its unnerving when you then lose, particularly when you see Liverpool and Arsenal on the up. But its not like our form has gone out of the window. I dont see a team low on confidence all of a sudden.
He's started to address the problem with an inability to keep possession that we've all moaned about at times over the years. Indeed the style of football he's going for should be a lot more longlasting than what we saw under Fergie, because it doesn't need Fergie to make it work.
The football has been a bit dull at times, no doubt. Even then people have over-egged it, we've also played some fine football. But ignoring that, LVG knows how crucial it is it to get winning. Crucial to finish top 4, but also crucial to get into the habit of winning. Nothing delivers good football like high confidence, and nothing breeds confidence like winning. This is a team that had forgotten how to win under adversity last season.
Sure there's a way to go - we need more commitment to attack, we need to play the ball out from the back without needing 5+ defensive players, we need pace up front, we need a straight upgrade in quality in defensive areas and we need to juggle the squad around to end up with more round pegs in round holes.
But its only been six months. Is that really so little to have achieved in that time that people are beginning to judge him as a failure? Are we really saying that he should have sorted every single problem in the club out in that time? Or are we saying that wide open football is so important that it alone outweighs every other thing he's done right?
I'm quite content with how its gone so far. Lots more work to do, but that's to be expected. And if we go backwards, then of course we're stuffed. But when is that ever not the case?
), Valencia at right back has been a revelation. Rafael fans and Valencia critics will deny it but he has been brilliant for a while now. 