Well we got there but only just. The good, 2 really good goals, the bad, Reece James being stupid , the ugly, long bouts of static back and forth passing by our defence. Wish we'd just be more positive and quicker.. Weird VAR decision denied a penalty, and some dodgy defending by Brighton unpunished all game in my book. But we played well and Nkunku looked sharper , Gusto the bees knees, Cucurella needs to stick to the decaf and chill a bit. Palmer scores again, Jackson bit stiff to have his ruled out, and 3 points in the bag. One more big effort and we lock in 6th or even 5th, which looked impossible just 2 months ago.
It wasn't shown in UK but followed it on CFC web site, just watched the highlights on said platform and I did not think James' actions warranted a red. Anyway, we have improved massively since the Arsenal debacle so looking forward to either Europa or conference football next year. It would be massively funny if we finish higher than The Spuds mind. Come on you Blades.
It would be mental if we finished fifth, especially since we have sat between 12th and 9th pretty much all season. This last 5 weeks has felt mad! Even 6th, which is most likely, would be nuts. If you'd told me in January that we we would be in for a top 6 finish i'd have laughed! I just hope that Poch and the boys can sort out the squad in the summer and carry this on into next season.
Overall, I think a cup final, another semi final and a top 6 finish is pretty good going. Factor in an awful lot of injuries to key players (James, Chilwell & Nkunku) especially and I don’t think we can have too many complaints. We’ve also got Fofana & Lavia who have barely played a minute all season. The difference between and a few weeks ago seems to be that we’re learning to stick the ball in the net. I just hope that we don’t go and buy another 15 players in the summer. We only need 2 or 3 and I think we could make a decent go of the top 4.
Time to admit that the players I criticised 4 months ago have pretty much all grown into the team and into good form. Only Mudryk still looks lost, though he's also improved ,just not enough yet. Hats off to Trevoh Chalobah who looks the best of the 3 including Disasi and Badashiell, and Gallagher who's position is alongside Casiedo. To think Lavia and Fofana yet to get out of 1st gear, so our midfield looks good with Chucky and the Italian lad also there. Then Reece James and Chilwell to come too. Agree we need only a couple of players not 10. Poch has earned another year too, he's done some good stuff these last months. Not absolutely convinced by him, but he's done what I and many thought he couldn't, so better to give him another year than change and start all over.
This season has been a disaster. However, to end up where we are having reached cup finals means our standards are the highest in the league. Any other team would have been happy with a top 6 finish. It hides well for next season and hopefully a bit of stability without massive ins and outs will mean a push for the title next season. Having said that rumours are that Gallagher will be off to villa in the summer, so maybe not…
If we can make a couple of decent signings and get rid of some dead wood, I am hopeful we can make a top 4 challenge next season. A title push is a bit premature. The only dark cloud is gallagher and whether he leaves or not.
Top 4 would be a significant step up and should be achievable with proper recruiting and sales. I just can't get my head around selling Gallagher and Chalobah, I'd much rather sell Enzo Fernandez, he 's not been missed one jot when not available. Have we lost a match with Chalobah in defence in the last couple of months?? And Gallagher is the dynamo that never slows down.
