- Honestly I don't know of a squad hit harder by injuries than us. We had the best and biggest squad ever before all that. But our key players have all gone injured and some keep getting injured.
- Aging players with some left in the tank have been found to be empty in the tank. Pienaar, Osman, Howard, distin, Barry, Eto'o, all have slowed down immensely to the point where next season for them might mean retirement. For the big 4 this wouldn't matter, for us it's half the squad.
- goalkeeping used to be decent. Howard was protected by solid defending that made him look better than he is. Now that he doesn't have that the true Howard has been revealed. Either that or he's old, peaked at the WC, and is past it. Robles doesn't offer any competiton to keep him on his toes and offers little when playing himself.
- Europe has strained is no doubt, but in years past where it was all resources and man power to premier league finish and fuck off the cups, we have a manager that cares deeply about doing well abroad and winning a trophy. Naturally with all the above issues there will be some let down elsewhere, which is the league form.