When you look past the noise, the underlying performances and circumstances point toward a strong finish.

1. Our results are not as bad as they look on paper

A lot of the dropped points came from very specific, very fixable situations. When you break down each match, the season could look completely different with just a few small improvements.

• 0–0 vs Crystal Palace: Opening game of the season. We controlled the match and should have taken all three points. Palace are currently 10th and only three points behind us in 3rd.
• 2–2 vs Brentford: We fell apart on a last-minute long throw. We were 2–1 up and should have managed the moment better.
• 1–3 vs Bayern: That’s arguably the best team in the world right now. No shame there.
• 1–2 vs United: An early red card from an individual mistake changed the entire match. Hard to judge the team performance based on that.
• 1–3 vs Brighton: We were winning until another individual mistake led to a red at 53 minutes. Playing with ten men lost us the game.
• 1–2 vs Sunderland: Conceding in the last minute from shocking defending, but Sunderland are genuinely a very strong side.
• 2–2 vs Qarabag: We underestimated them and gave away a penalty. No excuses. Should have won.

When you look at these games together, there’s a clear pattern: individual errors, red cards, and soft goals from set pieces or long throws. These are all correctable. If we clean these up even slightly in the remainder of the season, the points swing could be massive.

2. Estevao’s impact is only going to grow

Short and simple. Estevao is already our best attacking player (bar Palmer) despite being only 18. Whenever he comes on, he changes the game. At some point Maresca won’t be able to justify using him as an impact sub anymore. As he transitions into a regular starter, our entire attacking dynamic improves. He is a genuine game changer and his influence will only increase.

3. The defence is stronger than people think

There’s way too much negativity around our defenders, especially Chalobah, and not enough talk about Wesley Fofana.

Maybe I'm just a bigger fan of Fofana than most but if Fofana stays fit for the rest of the season, he’s a massive boost. In my opinion he’s our best defender (it's just an opinion, relax).

Chalobah hasn’t had his best year, but outside of the odd mistake he’s still a very solid defender. Last season after we recalled him he became a key part of stabilising the side, don't forget that.

And then there’s Josh Acheampong. He's absolutely reliable enough to slot in for an injured Fofana or an out of form Chalobah.

Our defensive depth is much better than it feels online.

4. The biggest one: Cole Palmer returning (and dealing wiht low blocks)

Two little key reasons:

1. Palmer might be the key to activating Joao Pedro again. If JP gets anywhere close to his form from the Club World Cup run when playing alongside Palmer, opponents are fucked.
2. And just in general, Palmer is simply our most important player besides Caicedo. We have shown we can function without him, which is a good sign, but imagine how much stronger we’ll look when he returns.

But the biggest issue in Palmer’s absence has been breaking down low blocks. The best way to beat a low block is with a special player who can break lines, combine in tight spaces, turn under pressure, and slip runners through.

That’s exactly what Palmer is elite at.

If Enzo continues to deliver more of those prime Fabregas performances like he did against Wolves, and Palmer returns to full flow, our ability to break stubborn teams improves dramatically.

TLDR

The season so far has looked more chaotic than it actually is. Most of the issues have been self-inflicted and are completely fixable. With fewer red cards, fewer individual errors, Estevao stepping into a bigger role, the defensive unit strengthening, and Palmer returning to unlock the attack and beat the low block, there’s every reason to believe we finish the season far stronger than we started.