Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Peter. Thank you for your letter.
You raise some very interesting points and I do agree that against Fulham in particular, we did look a bit jaded and disjointed — a far cry from the team we’ve been for much of the season.
Was that due to fatigue, tactical issues or just a lack of confidence? It’s difficult to say and it was a very disappointing day all round, but I do think the fact that we have two challenging away games before we return to the Stadium of Light could be beneficial.
If we can find the solutions to our troubles on the road and pick up positive results against Bournemouth and Leeds, the visit of Brighton will take on a different feel altogether and hopefully everyone will be bang up for it. There’s still a lot for us to play for this season and I hope that message is being reiterated by Granit Xhaka and Régis Le Bris.