We also beat 4 of the top 6 this season. Doubt we've ever done that before.

While we're on statistics, someone has pointed out to me that we didn't concede a single goal in our last six home matches (including Everton in the Cup). I could get used to that!

I think the three points for a win system tends to lead you to see things negatively because two draws against a team (which isn't a bad return) is suddenly 33% of possible points rather than 50%.

Where we let ourselves down for me is in two areas:

1. We were poor on set pieces pretty much all season. We didn't defend them well and didn't make use of them at the other end. We gave up far too many set-piece goals and scored too few of our own. This is a shortcoming that coaching can address and I'd expect a focus on that in pre-season.

2. Obviously, though it improved a little later in the season, finishing out games. If games were 87 minutes long, not 90, we'd be in Europe now.

A third area is turning draws into wins, but that should come in time too and we did improve there as well as the season went on.

The plus points are that for the first time, we became hard to beat. Even when we weren't winning, we left games with a point. And we conceded very few goals. So pretty much every week, we gave ourselves a chance. Great teams are always built from the back. And for a team that didn't have a dominant goalscorer, we nevertheless scored quite a lot of goals. That's a good formula.

For me, the single biggest leap we need to take next year is a simple one. If either Edouard or Mateta can turn into even a 15 goal a year centre forward, we're a top ten side. And I see no reason why one of the two can't.

In some ways, Vieira is Arsenal-ising us. 1. Play attractive, possession-based football. 2. Very solid at the back, with few goals conceded. 3. Use wingers (for Overmars, Pires, etc. think Wilf, Olise, etc.). 4. Become hard to break down. As I said, what we're missing is the Wright/Henry born goalscorer. If we can find that...

Edited by sydtheeagle (25 May 2022 9.39am)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.