An Early Season Check-In

Just a quick check in this week to see how everyone is feeling.

Those of you with the pre-season panic attacks: Is your sky still falling? Or have you found some solid ground to stand on? We are three games into the season and about two weeks away from our first Champions League game of the 2018/19 season against AS Roma.

We have seen some roster changes this transfer window -- some tougher to deal with than others. We finally have a number seven in Mariano Diaz. I liked what I saw out of him when he was with Madrid during the 2016/17 season, so I’m glad to see him back this year. Hopefully we will get to see him get some minutes soon. Whether or not he “deserved” that shirt is a different story.

Courtois finally got his first start of the season. While it wasn’t a clean sheet, it also didn’t give us much of an accurate portrayal of what we can expect out of him. The defense did well against Leganés to keep their opportunities low and, truthfully, penalties aren’t something goalkeepers are expected to save. (Let’s be honest here, clean sheets are nice, but three points are even nicer.)

We have won. We have earned nine points in our first three games. While the wins aren’t as convincing as I would like to have seen them, there is definitely a lot of room for improvement, and I’ll take the points however the other teams would like to give them to us.

The ‘definitive’ wins will come though.

Most importantly, the team is working well together. Bale has been in great form, and Benzema is playing better than we’ve seen from him in a while. Asensio hasn’t been able to get one in the net yet, but has been able to set up some great opportunities that both Bale and Benz have been able to take advantage of. (Okay, and Ramos if we’re including the fouls Asensio drew.) The backline is getting the job done with minor mistakes, and the midfield is creating like they’re supposed to.

I am feeling positive. I think this will be a good season. How about you?