From every disappointment, lessons can be learned and yesterday was, without doubt, a massive disappointment.
If we do not take a serious hard look at ourselves things will not get better and there was enough from the Brighton game alone to tell us what we need to know going forward.
Here are five things I have highlighted that we can hopefully take on board.
We are now bottle jobs
There is no hiding from that fact anymore and if we ignore it we are just deluding ourselves. We have had multiple opportunities to have finished top-four and literally on every occasion we have come up short. There are just two words for that, bottle jobs.
No such thing as nothing to play for
The idea that teams just turned up once their season was over with and they have nothing to play for is a myth, it may apply to the best teams, they may not be bothered but the teams that are playing the top teams do not think that at all. A scalp of an elite side is something to play for, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Brighton all proved that beyond any doubt this weekend.
The midfield is not top-four quality
Not one of our midfielders are top-four quality and the only way to verify that is to ask yourself a simple question, would any of them get into our top-four opponent’s sides and the brutal truth is no, in fact, the midfield of the likes of Leicester City is better. An uncomfortable truth but the truth nonetheless.
Unai Emery still on a learning curve
This is his first season and he has made a load of mistakes there is no denying that and we have to hope that he has learned from his debut season in the Premier League. There was a serious lack of urgency yesterday, the tactics were wrong and he just never seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation. One season of domestic disappointment is sustainable but not two.
Serious money must be spent
This one is a no brainer. The squad needs an overhaul and not a small one but a major one, especially the defence and midfield. If there is no serious injection of funds and no top class additions to the squad then to expect a different result next year is naivety at it’s very worse.