Todays result haven't done much harm, 3 points for us tomorrow would make things look a whole lot better.
Have to say I was puzzled by Puel's pre-match comments, suggesting that Howe would be a good replacement for Wenger, as he plays the same way, and it is best that a new manager doesn't change too many things from what the players were previously used to, or words to that effect. I'm not puzzled by his summarisation of Howe's potential to replace Wenger, but by the way Puel has taken on a new team and basically changed the way the team plays, something he says a manager is best not to do. Perhaps he will read back through his comments and a light bulb will go on, above his head, and give him pause for thought.
Forster, Cedric, Fonte, Van Dijk, Bertrand, Clasie, Reed, Boufal, Sims Tadic, Rodriguez. (4-3-3) 1-1.
Indeed, I hate doing this but I can't help myself ... ... with West Brom losing and Everton likely to on Monday we could be 7th if we win - 6 pointer !!!
"If this happens and so does that then we will do this!" One of those things where you know it's a trap to fall into and it will only let you down, but us football supporters just can't help ourselves!
Well, Stoke drew and if we win that means Bournemouth lose. Everton have a tough fixture against Liverpool soooo.... Top by March?
With only six points separating 7th and 16th, and the top six running away, this is a very old fashioned table; wouldn't get too hung up on position in the table from week to week, because it will be extremely fluid. Practically every team in that bunch could find themselves on the cusp of a European place with a good run through the January 2nd fixtures, or buried deep in the bottom half.
Definitely put the mockers on that - not withstanding our poor away record - we will now lose 1-0, probably miss a hat-load of chances but that's us at this moment in time....
Our goals scored in our last eight PL matches: 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0. Logic dictates that we'll score tomorrow.
Definitely an away game for a high press in my view, akin to how we played against City. Bmouth have conceded at least two bad goals this season, trying to play out from the back. And we know from our own experience, that Boruc isn't exactly error-free in that department. Oh, and given our lack of ability right now to either create chances or put away what we do create, it also might be our best opportunity to score full stop!
I never do, but while I'm breaking all my own rules, the possibility of 7th is quite something given the less than optimistic mood on here I'd play Maya up front, that boy's got goals in him
Agreed. As we saw last year, even Shane Long looks like a pretty good finisher if he's getting 1v1s or wide-open headers off of transition. No waiting around when we retake possession, because Bournemouth won't be waiting around when they get the ball in our end.
I'm going for a 4-4 draw because why not. Yosi, VVD, Cedric and Romeu to score. Let the floodgates open.