at least we have enough of a lead to somehow save the 4th place (I hope).....quite impressive how bad we are. It will be a busy summer. So many average players in the squad.
Yeah, I think we should manage top 4, no matter how bad things get. Which would be fine, but it is urgent for lot of improvements.
I see three big issues at the moment.
1.The physical state of these players should be questioned, we seem awfully tired lately, during these last 2 months. The team had their peak in January, but since then the players have gone out of shape.
There are rumours that Sampaoli and the coaching staff have not minded to practice the physical condition of the players; that they only kept practicing tactical bits and possession. There is no proof, only small rumours.
But the poor form could rather suggest that we over achieved with our results during autumn; I'd think there's more truth in this.
2. According to some stats (before the month of March) Sampaoli is the manager that has made most 'successful changes' after 45 mins. But that also suggests that his original gameplan often fails, which forces him to make radical changes in the middle of the game; he certainly needs to improve his initial gameplan.
3. And then there is also the struggle with not having proper strikers... Somehow, it worked to play with virtually no strikers until January, but reality has caught up with us during this spring.
