For all of you reciting our “22 losses” on repeat for the last week. Take a look at the games where our first choice defence was available. Leicester (Draw) 1-1 Everton (Win) 4-0 Arsenal (Loss) 1-0 Brentford (Win) 3-1 United (Win) 3-0 Brighton (Loss) 3-2 West Ham (Win) 4-1 Palace (Loss) 1-0 Frankfurt (Draw) 1-1 Frankfurt (Win) 1-0 Bodo (Win) 3-1 Bodo (Win) 2-0 United (Win) 1-0 8 wins (61.5%) 2 draws (23.1%) 3 losses (15.4%) The losses came against Arsenal, Palace and Brighton. We lost by 1 goal in each game. I have nothing to say about the Arsenal game, we were full strength and beaten by a project 4 years on from our own. The Palace game we had Moore playing right wing and Kulusevski filling in as the 10. We played in Europe 3 days before, and were due to play in the league cup against City 3 days after. The Brighton game we had Werner on the left, and again played in Europe just 3 days before the game. So, let’s put these losses into context. Arsenal have been runners up in the league for the last 3 seasons, and whilst we hate to admit it, are a solid side. We all know how good Palace have been this season, after securing silverware for the first time in their history under Glasner. Beating Villa (x2), United and City this season. And looking at Brighton, they’re pretty much a giant killer, they always play very well against better teams, having beaten Liverpool, City, United (x2), Newcastle (x2) and Chelsea (x2) this season. The main issue for me this season has been squad depth. We’ve lost most of our matches because of either a lack of quality, injuries or not being able to cope with the congestion of fixtures, not as a result of Ange’s tactics. If we had a better squad, we would have won more games, it’s that simple. That being the case, how can you judge a manager for their performance across 4 competitions when it’s clear we haven’t had the squad to compete on all fronts. Yet people continually moan about our 22 losses without context, it’s like you all have tunnel vision, you are mules with blinkers. We all hoped that we had a good enough squad at the beginning of the season to compete, but it was clear when we started to pick up injuries that the depth and quality wasn’t there. We all saw the performances from our fringe and younger players during our injury crisis, they weren’t at the level. They weren’t good enough to compete. Yet Ange is the one being judged for it. Go figure. Fast forward, after the realisation that the squad wasn’t good enough, and Ange decided to focus on one competition, he’s then slated for it. Even after winning it, he’s still slated for his league form. You couldn’t write it. As far as I’m concerned he’s now proved he’s a winner, he’s shown us enough in Europe this year to warrant being fully backed with a squad that can compete in every game. However, there are still some bright sparks out there that want Frank or Silva? Frank having won absolutely nothing, and Silva winning a Portuguese cup with Sporting, and the Greek league with Olympiakos (Kind of what most of you have been slating Ange for with Celtic, except he pretty much won the lot, twice). And let’s just overlook the damage it would cause by splitting up this group, and installing a new manager after a historic European win and the scenes that unfolded as a result. I’m sure morale will be sparkling next season 😂 Here’s what I see… The formation of a winning mentality Tactical changes that have helped get us over the line when it mattered A galvanised group ready to run through walls for their manager A first XI that can beat anyone on their day, and just needs some better players in certain positions Back him, fully, and let’s see what happens over the next 12 months. This is not the time to be taking a punt on a manager less qualified than the one that’s just won us a European trophy and given some of our players their first real taste of success. We can’t just keep sacking managers after 24 months.

🙏