Down But Not Out

Well Blackburn was a gutter of a result. Same mistakes from our defence we've seen too many times already this season, namely a soft cross coming in from our left and the defence getting sucked over, leaving a man spare. Didn't help that Pepe was out of position, but I count three errors in their goal, and not one of our back five came out smelling of roses.

We should have done enough afterwards to take the game back, but we didn't unfortunately, which leads to our next problem, which is our conversion rate. At around 7%, we're apparently something like 17th in the league on this stat.

At least Bellamy is off the mark, but from the moment the fixture computer did it's dirty work, very little seems to have gone right for us this season.

I refuse to believe our challenge is over, but we've got a lot of hard work to do and will have to exceed the two runs last season if we want to keep it alive.

Hopefully we can repeat what Arsenal did and start a run against the Mancs. Otherwise we may end up looking to qualify for Europe and take some silverware in another competition. Eleven points would be far from insurmountable, but we are making it hard for ourselves, and if we come away with a loss then the pressure will really be on.

I've not been one of those who has said we will definitely win the league this season: I think we need to overtake the Mancs first and close the gap on Chelsea as a platform to challenge them, but at this moment we are staring down the barrel a bit. Never say never though, as stranger things have happened.

Let's not forget Bordeaux away first. I wouldn't be surprised if Rafa picks a weakened lineup, looking for an away draw, so we can concentrate on the game at Old Trafford. Let's hope that doesn't bite us in the arse if I'm right, as I would hate to drop the ball in Europe and then not make up for it in the following fixture.

Bordeaux will be defensive even at home, and they will be looking hard at our left-back area for an advantage. I think we've got the quality to get a result, whatever lineup Rafa picks, but the next two games could prove crucial and we have to start taking our chances if we want to take something from this season.