Villa (swap with Fulham) equal pts City +1 pt Newcastle -3 pts Arsenal +1 pt Palace equal pts Leicester -3 pts Southampton equal pts Brighton -3 pts Watford -2 pts Liverpool equal pts Everton -2 pts Sheffield Utd (swap with cardiff) -2 pts Pochettino sacked West Ham equal Bournemouth equal Man Utd -3 pts Burnley equal Wolves equal Chelsea -3 pts After 18 matches we have 19 points less than we did playing the same matches last season. We have lost 6 matches in half a season (on par with the 13 we lost last season) Just shows how far we have fallen...and how remote our chances are of a top 4 finish.
So, we reach the halfway point of the season. The 2018-19 "like for like" executive summary : 1. PL = Pts -19, GF -4, GA +11. 2. CL = last 16 3. League Cup = out in R3 to Colchester. The analysis : 1. To be 19 pts down, and with those GF/GA stats, is terrible. All the traits of the Pochettino teams, including the MF pressing, went AWOL. Also no on-pitch leadership, which meant too often the defence turned to jelly. 2. To finish 2nd in a CL group including Munich is no shame, but the performance in that 2-7 mauling was demoralising. 3. Unacceptable. With the quality and depth in the squad, there is no way that Colchester should not have been beaten. Sadly it seems that game was a warning sign of the manager/squad selection/attitude malaise that would later do for Pochettino. Going forward ... 1. PL The only ray of light is that due to the poor form of the final third of last season, there are actually a massive +34 pts "like for like" that can be played for. Mourinho is going to have to get his finger out big time with the squad and his formation/team selections to try and make hay on that. 2. FA Cup Spurs need a decent run in the competition, if only to give competitive game time to those squad players that Jose seems to be shunning.
PL (like for like with 2018-19 after 20 games) : Pts -21, GF -4, GA +13. Norwich paired with Huddersfield 2018-19. So much for starting the second half of the PL season on a new page.
Plenty of scope to improve this comparison. I think we barely got any points in the last 10-15 games of last season.
We had 15 league games left at this date last season. We won the first three, then only three of the remaining twelve. P: 15, W: 6, D: 2, L: 7. 20 points out of a possible 45.
PL (like for like with 2018-19 after 25 games) : Pts -17, GF -6, GA +8. A third of the way thru the 2nd half of the season, and only a +1 pt gain like for like since the halfway point.