You know what they say...

You learn more from a loss than a win. You learn more about the players' character, the team shape and what not to do in the future.

I wasn't at the game, but for the people that were, what do you think Pardew would have learnt from the Blackburn match? Can Marveaux play on the right? Why wasn't Ben Arfa playing to a decent standard? (Note: not saying he should be amazing, just stating that from what I heard, he was WAY below par) Was it because we replaced too many players and lost our organisation, or was it because the players that came in weren't good enough (such as Guthrie, Perch etc)?

What did we learn?

 

We learnt that it is possible to lose to a team managed by Steve ****ing Kean

 

-Marv can't play on the right as he cuts inside EVERY time. This compacts the play giving us less space, which meant Ben Arfa struggled to get into the game.
- Guthrie was good, probably our MOTM in my opinion. Worked very well with Cabaye.
- Perch shouldn't be let near anything resembling a football ever again in his life.
- Team spirit was very good, we were ultimately undone by poor defending not lack of effort.

 

Maybe Kean gave Pards a few quid to let them win and keep him in a job.

 

Main reasons for losing were:

Perch being in the team.
Collo having an off day.
Marv being played on the right.
Simpson having a mare.
Ben Arfa couldn't find space.
Terrible refereeing.
Bit of bad luck (B'burns third goal).

 

I wonder if it would work putting Jonas on the right to accommodate Marveaux? He's not a right winger but surely it would be better than Obertan is playing right now.

 

Hate him. Horrible grin on his face like they have just won the Premier League

 

Also, how was Jonas at LB?

 

Seriously considering dropping Simmo for Raylor to be alongside Santon.

The question is, would we keep Raylor at left back and play Santon in his slightly more natural right position? Or would we risk changing things and swap them over?

Saying that, I'm not the manager.

 

Looked decent. But not much of Blackburn's play was coming down the left in extra-time, as Hoillet had been subbed off, so he didn't have that much to do defensively. Going forward he actually linked up with Sammy pretty well.

 

Sums it all up really.

 

Sounds like Santon was less than convincing. I think we should ease him in.

 

Good. Definitely an option if we are chasing a game to put him at full back and have 3 wingers on the pitch.

 

Keep Raylor at left-back and put Santon right-back. From what I saw last night Santon is nowhere near as two footed as we've been told. Kept cutting back onto his right all the time. IMO Raylor is pretty good on his left so I'd keep him where he is.

 

He played in a terrible italian league, this is a culture shock for him. Look at others who come in from italy, it takes them time to settle (e.g. Super Mario at Citeh)

 

Hopefully Mario will help him settle. Best mates them two apparently

 

I'm sick of Simpson now. From the (very short) highlights on the League Cup show, I noticed that the first two Blackburn goals came down his side, where there was a MAHOOSIVE space. Terrible positioning. I really can't be bothered to think of any more excuses for starting him. Apparently Santon was a lot better at RB and we all know that is where he is going to play in the future so we might as well start playing him now.

 

I've never considered that actually, seems a decent idea as well.

 

As has been said a number of times Perch was awful and Simpson was really poor. It was strange because for me Cabaye wasn't as influential as I thought he would've been. Throughout the game a number of us were commenting on how he looked a little off and how Guthrie looked the more dynamic player (and this was just for this game don't forget, don't want the usual idiots accusing me of rating Guthrie over Yohan). His free kick was superb but I feel this glossed over a quiet display for him.

HBA was anonymous throughout, barely even noticed he was there to be honest. He's been out for a long time as we all know but it has to be said on pretty much every appearance since his return he has either been ball greedy or completely off the pace. Really hope confidence doesn't become an issue with him because he has an amazing amount of talent.

Oh, and Obertan is ****.