In recent weeks Saints have gone off the boil a little in a run of form which almost exactly mirrors the second half of last season.
A look back at last season after the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino and then a comparison with this term shows a remarkably similar run of form, back then Saints struggled a little in the first games of that run, went on a superb streak of form and then tailed off without winning a game in the final six.
This is almost identical to what has happened this term, in the first four games after the win at West Brom we drew 2 and lost 1 of the next three games before our purple patch, now we find ourselves having gone 5 games without a win.
In those 16 games last season under our new manager we gained 19 points, in the first 16 this term we have 24 and we now stand on the threshold of six difficult games culminating in Sunderland away exactly a year to the day when Mauricio Pochettino was unveiled to the world as our new manager.
What we do in our next six games will not only go a long way in deciding which direction we will be taking in the second half of the season, whether it will be upwards and revive hopes of a top six finish or whether it will be downwards and a similar position as to last year.
But given the similarities to the two runs of form in that at the start of both we were looking over our shoulder at the bottom three, picked up magnificently and then when we reached a comfortable mid table position we took our foot off the gas, we have to ask the question of whether pressure on the players is a big factor in getting them to perform at their best.
back in the 1990's when Saints fought a few relegation battles, what kept us up was despite the fact that for most of the season we would be well beaten, at the end with the pressure truly on we could focus win vital games and stay up, when we went to places like Arsenal etc we were resigned to defeat, we didnt feel we could win, play Coventry or Charlton etc and we were focussed.
Certainly there is evidence to support this now, too many mistakes have been made this season through lapses of concentration and individual error, when the pressure is on ironically enough you dont tend to get this as much as you might think, players become focused and have their minds fixed on just what they need to do, however when that pressure is off it is easy to become complacent and make stupid mistakes and in rcent weeks there has been far too many of these, both by those seen as first team regulars as well as squad players as in Yoshida and Hooiveld in recent games.
Again we dont seem to truly have the faith that we can finish in the top six, there have been some fine words spoken, but professional footballers know the score and whether a team is truly good enough and we have just lost some focus, the pressure we thrive on is about keeping our heads truly above water rather than winning the race.
Im not criticising anyone here its perhaps a sign that a team that finished in the lower half of the table last year cant just expect to jump to being a top six club just with the inclusion of a couple of new players, it needs to evolve and that takes time, we need to build a spirit where deep down we truly know we are good enough to attain the targets that are realistic, fine words are just that ! fine, but in any walk of life what you are striving to attain needs to be achievable otherwise it is not actually motivational, but has a negative effect.
This seems to be the situation at the moment, we reached a place where we knew we couldnt keep it up, the pressure that the players were playing under wasnt the same as that of Man City, Liverpool or Arsenal, it was the same as it was last season, pressure coming from the bottom not the top.
But this isnt the end of the world, what we need to do now is re focus our players on just what actually is achievable this season, at the moment that is probably a top ten finish with perhaps 8th as the maximum, we need to concentrate on longer term goals, ie a top ten finish this season, add some more players both in January and the summer and then focusing on improving again next season.
Im sure Mauricio Pochettino will know exactly what is needed, the trick in any business is to under promise and over deliver, if we are guilty of one thing this season it is the exact opposite of that after our recent poor run, we need to re focus and get back to winning ways.
If we do this and set ourselves realistic aims then we can get the pressure on ourselves again in the right way