Isn't the phrase overperforming?
In any case, I was going to start a similar thread. On the balance of the football I've seen this season, I don't think we have played the fifth best football in the country. Or not the kind of football you'd typically associate with a team fifth in the league, anyway.
We've got results though. Obviously the summer transfer window brings change, so it's almost meaningless to speculate over where I'll think we'll finish in 16/17 months time. I do think, though, if we were to start this season again in August (ie. have no further transfers for our club or any other) we wouldn't be quite as high. I think we'd be scrapping with Stoke, Swansea, Norwich, Sunderland around 8th-10th. I say that purely on the basis that we've had so many results like Wolves (a), QPR (a), Man Utd (a) - games which have been borderline but which we've left wiping our brows in gratitude.
Every team has these types of games, I know, but we've had a fair few games where we've got results without dominating and where, but for last-ditch defending/Krul, we would have had nothing to shown for our efforts. Defending/goalkeeping isn't luck, of course, but I still feel on another day - or in another season - the break of the ball may not have been as kind as regularly [like last season, for example, where we conceded deflected goals in double digits, probably].
In terms of players/assets, I think we have top calibre assets (as mentioned in the OP). Another poster said recently we have better players than we do a manager - which I tend to agree with. Pardew is good though, I just think our bunch of individuals are capable of even more - which is quite staggering/exciting, really. That may sound greedy, but it's a testament to the flashes of brilliance and football I have seen from them in fits and starts.
I've yet to see us string together convincing performances, or dominate matches for 90 minutes on even a semi-permanent basis - which is what I would normally associate with a top 4/5 team. Arsenal have done so in patches, but have been horrendous in others, and not picked up points in those poor phases. Liverpool are underwhelming too. Chelsea... well, Chelsea haven't impressed me either - but they're well versed in picking up points without playing well. The league is as poor as I can remember it, IMO. I don't want to denigrate our achievements, because we've made the most of it with a lot of commitment, effort and hard work. I just feel like we actually have more in the tank (ie. untapped ability). I don't want Pardew gone or owt like that (if that is how my post has read thus far), but I hope he can get us playing better football to fully utilise our potential. It's a work in progress and it takes time tbf. There's some room for improvement, growth and development for him as a manager too is what I'm saying. Interesting times.
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