How have your team done so far?

[Camstud]

So, we're a couple of months into the season, and with the (shit) International break coming up it gives a little bit of time for us to take a look at how our clubs are doing so far.

Are they over-achieving? Under-achieving? Anybody you're particularly unhappy with? Who do you think you need in the transfer-window?

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CLUB: Tottenham Hotspur

So far this season:

We've looked O.K. -- And just that. When Pochettino arrived we all knew about his pressing game from Southampton and it had a lot of Spurs fans excited; high-energy, exciting, attacking football... And then we didn't sign a striker. So we've had to use this guy... Step forward:



EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR

That photo is an accurate depiction of his contribution to the team this season thus far. In fact, that's a lie because the grass stain in it suggests that he, at some point, bothered to attempt to make a tackle.

Remember what I said about all that Pochettino optimism? It is slowly reducing. With Adebayor up top he is not scoring goals and he is not pressing, and with a system like Poch's you need to start from the front so with Ade up there the system is literally doomed before it can begin. He needs to go. He's just lazy, screwing with our system, and worst of all is that he knows he can get away with it because there is no threat to his position. Which brings me to my next point...

Soldado. Now, there was widespread rumours that after a... Lukewarm first season in the PL he was to be sold in the summer. He wasn't. Which led many to believe he was going to be given another chance to show his class -- Perhaps it was first season syndrome. However, he hasn't been given much of a chance. Harry Kane (who has had a terrific season so far) has been coming off the bench and playing more often which makes me question why we didn't just cash in on Soldado and really focus on Kane, and whatever new face we brought in using the Soldado money.

It's weird, because he obviously knows where the goal is, he proved it at Valencia. It's just not happening for him with us, and I really hoped he'd come through this season. One person who has shone however is Chadli. He's creating chances for others, himself, and bagging goals to boot. He was a fringe player last season, one who didn't particularly excite Spurs fans, he was just... There. This season however he has been a standout player for us, and is an example of someone who Poch really has gotten the best out of.

Defensively we've done O.K. Kaboul was shakey to begin with and many questioned why we made him our captain after selling Dawson, but with a God-like showing in the North London Derby he has bought himself some time and looks like recovering from his stuttering start. Danny Rose has also done well. Often the first to be criticised by Spurs fans he has battled to keep his place ahead of Ben Davies, who we signed with (it appeared) the intention of starting with Rose as back-up. He even earned himself an England call-up for his efforts. Still needs to be putting in 8-9/10 performances more often, it's no good at this level being so inconsistent which is what Rose is.

In fact, it's what Tottenham is. We went from being unbeaten and winning 4-0 at QPR, to getting obliterated 3-0 at home by a not-particularly-good Liverpool side. Which is why that optimism I referred to earlier is somewhat fading. Poch is a very good manager, and I have no doubt he can take us where we want to go but at the moment it's the same old -- lacking consistency, and dropping stupid points. It's useless smashing goals past QPR and grabbing a point at Arsenal if you're going to lose 1-0 to West Brom... AT FUCKING HOME. It's not good enough. He's had an entire summer to get in who he needs, yet it seems like we are lacking the exact same personnel as last season, and still have the same, weak mentality.

It's not all doom and gloom though, we are currently in 6th place just 3 points behind 2nd placed Man City. And the season is still young, with plenty of points to play for. I think we'll be right in the mix for one of those glorious top four places come the end of the season, and if you offered me this position after seven games at the start of the season, I probably would have taken it. Now we can kick on and get a solid run of form going for once!

... But not if this guy has anything to do with it:

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tl;dr: Average start, Chadli is a boss, Soldado has gone missing, Ade may as well sit on the crossbar and Rose is just summing the entire team up.

Let's hear what you guys have to say. Either about your own club or about what I (or someone else) have said.

[PorkChop]

Quite well, all things considered - 10 points on the board and still in the top half of the table, despite playing last year's top four in consecutive games (and beating one of them). Senderos has proven to be a great signing, same with Cissokho. Delph is in the greatest form of his career, and Benteke is back.

A lot of people forget just how good Benteke is - look at these stats, and then consider that he's got a much worse team around him than than the guys above him in this table, coupled with the fact that he was out injured for 6 months - and he's still only a few goals behind the likes of Sturridge, Aguero, Rooney. That's a pretty remarkable achievement.

I think it'll be another bottom half finish for Villa, but I'm optimistic that another relegation scrap isn't on the cards. Luckily we've got the worst fixtures out the way and there's some potentially winnable games coming up between now and Christmas (QPR, Burnley, Palace, Leicester, West Brom).

I'd take a 13th place finish.

[AkydefGoldberg]

We're in fourth but we should have racked up more pts. The pre-season optimism faded quickly and we should have held on to win at Leicester.

I'd say we've under-achieved considering the fixtures we've got coming up (WBA, Chelsea, City) but if we can get Jones fit and avoid injuries then we can finish the season in the top four but still not confident enough to say that.

[prophet]

Liverpool have been poor. They've had a sluggish start to the season and seem to be lacking inspiration without Suarez. Despite an abundance of creative players they're restricted by Balotelli's general lack of effort and inability to make a nuisance of himself in the box but rather drop deep and take up space a player like Coutinho or Lallana could exploit (as proven against West Brom when Lallana and Henderson combined to score a lovely goal that probably couldn't have happened were Mario on the pitch). That said Rodgers does seem to recognize this and dropped Mario last weekend in favor of the not-as-talented-but-oh-so-hard-working Lambert and they're only going to get better. I think most fans would snap your hand off right now if you offered them a top four finish but the club is still in Europe and still better than Everton.

Bradford have been pleasantly surprising. We've racked up a fair few points in the early going and are still unbeaten away from home which is amazing. Despite a win last weekend our home form hasn't been the best but we are on TV twice in the space of week starting Sunday and we did demolish Leeds. Currently occupying 7th which is marvelous but I fear the squad lacks the depth required to really make a push for the playoffs.

[Viazon]

Not great really. We only have two wins out of 7 games in the league. And we have played a few teams we really should have beaten. There haven't been many instances where they have played really well. The Champions League game last week has many been the only time. However I do believe they also played well against Man City. However, it still seems like the bigger teams will trump us every time. Which is why it remains important for us to pick up as many points as we can against the smaller clubs. We also have a lot of injuries to deal with, including Ramsey, arguably our best player. In conclusion, it could be going a lot better.

[Camstud]

Quite well, all things considered - 10 points on the board and still in the top half of the table, despite playing last year's top four in consecutive games (and beating one of them). Senderos has proven to be a great signing, same with Cissokho. Delph is in the greatest form of his career, and Benteke is back.

A lot of people forget just how good Benteke is - look at these stats, and then consider that he's got a much worse team around him than than the guys above him in this table, coupled with the fact that he was out injured for 6 months - and he's still only a few goals behind the likes of Sturridge, Aguero, Rooney. That's a pretty remarkable achievement.

I think it'll be another bottom half finish for Villa, but I'm optimistic that another relegation scrap isn't on the cards. Luckily we've got the worst fixtures out the way and there's some potentially winnable games coming up between now and Christmas (QPR, Burnley, Palace, Leicester, West Brom).

I'd take a 13th place finish.

Delph's in great form, no doubt about that. I've heard Villa fans saying he's deserved this call-up for a while, actually.

The problem with Benteke for me is that his attitude seems way off, and again it's what I've heard Villa fans say. When he wants to play he's pretty much unstoppable, but when his head is gone then holy shit is he useless. I think he was angling for a move at the end of his first season with you guys towards the end (I think it was) I swear he just became useless. May have been early last season though, my memory is fuzzy.

I think one of the biggest reasons Villa have a good chance of staying up isn't because they're too good, but that there are other teams who are just worse. QPR and Burnley already seem nailed on so that only leaves one other which could go to anybody really.

[PorkChop]

^ That's a somewhat fair assessment of Benteke, it's pretty obvious he had his eye on greener pastures after his first season in England. He said that he'd love to play for Arsenal one day and even handed in a transfer request before Villa tripled his wages.

He's still one of the best strikers in the league, but he needs to prove it more consistently. I expect him to leave at the end of the season though.