Quote Originally Posted by fakeyank View Post
I dont think we have regressed. I think we are/have been at the same level since 08. We have shown improvement in grinding out wins but along with that progress, our football keeps regressing to eye gorging standards. So, we have a + and then with that comes a -. And thats why I say, we are the same level.

If you take the FA Cup final out of the way, we didnt show any real progress in my opinion. I do however think we had a tremendous amount of goodwill around the club.. something that had been missing around our club forever! We signed players early and looked set to challenge.. and then things just stopped! We didnt sign the players required and have again gone gambling on crocks (Diaby, Gibbs, Walcott).
I wouldn't say we're at 08 level. We definitely haven't been at the same consistent level. When Cesc and Nasri level, it knocked us back a peg in terms of creativity and the way we'd dominate teams. Then RVP left and we're even further back in the striking department. I'd say we were below 08 levels because weren't even challenging for the title. Last season was the first time in ages we looked like we possibly could win the league. We dropped off a peg and now it's now starting to look like we're one or two players shorts where a couple of seasons back you'd know we had no hope in hell for the title.

Our attacking fluidity wasn't there last season, the goals weren't there but it was the first time in years we built a functioning defence.