Pukki created a chance - inch perfect 6 yards out in acers of space and Rashica blasts it over. Smash and grab was on! Solution: clone Pukki
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a midfield be so poor and tracking runners, even when they were told by the defence whee the players are. Twice in a set ball I watched someone shout at Gilmour to drop in and mark a player and he just stood there as the ball was clipped over his head to the player he was supposed to mark
We lose that game if we don’t have Hanley, he was a rock. Gio did quite well considering he hasn’t played much at all this season. Rashica and Pukki completely isolated all game
A cardboard cut-out would be better than Gilmore I am afraid. I want the chap to do well for us, but how many chances do you need?
We defended well most of the time and though Brighton had 28 shots only 3 were on target. Krul pulled off a stunning reflex save to deny their best chance. A point away from home and a clean sheet at least broke the run of 6 straight losses. We're down now, but there was at least a fighting attitude out there and we came away with something after the heartbreak at Leeds.
Honestly think the lightweight Dowell could do a better job. There isn’t even the argument that he’s a good passer, he was terrible on the ball again today, the amount of passes that were straight to a Brighton player was incredible, even McLean was better at passing than him today. I know he’s young and it’s harsh to be jumping over a 19 year old but it’s the fact that every pundit blindly talks about him being this amazing player when he looks like the worst player in the side at times. Even if he were our talented youngster we would be saying he isn’t ready
The fighting spirit today came mainly from Hanley, a player who some posters on here continually tell us is 'not PL quality'. Without Hanley, I honestly think we might have five to ten points in total this season. Apart from Byram's inexplicable boob, the defence dug in and fought hard. The midfield, in contrast and as usual, was woeful (but nothing, of course, was done to change it). I admire your dogged positivity, Rick, but let's face it - we're f*cked. And not just this season, but for a long time in the future because the terrible decisions made this year will haunt us for several years to come and no one at the top seems remotely interested in trying to put things right.
I'm not feeling overly positive, Gozo, but I expected little from yesterday so a draw meant escape from a seventh straight defeat and the depression that would bring. We're down now and our planning should shift to next season now. We spent over £50m this season with little to show for it now. Rashica is the only new player showing PL potential. Normann has had his moments but has lacked the impact I hoped for when he came back from injury. He made one beautiful Buendia pass up to Pukki yesterday but there wasn't much else. Williams has also developed well this season and should do well for United, but Gilmour has never lived up to his hype and neither has Kabak. Lees-Melou has been ok for the £3m we paid for him and he and Sargent should do well in the Championship. Hugill returning could provide a fourth striker option and Rowe looks a real prospect and should develop further next season as should Mumba and perhaps McCallum. No need for much spending next season then except perhaps a quality DM.
I think both Sargent and Tzolis have shown PL potential. This season was clearly too early for them -- as was predicted by people who knew them, when they signed.
Sargent and Tzolis are both young enough to have considerable potential for development but neither has shown PL capability this season except for the brace against Watford who will likely go down with us. Tzolis has now been dropped back down to the Greek U21s, so clearly has a way to go and a season in the Championship could provide a platform for both him and Sargent. I certainly hope so.
Where have I ever suggested that players cannot improve with age? My opinion, quite simply, is that, irrespective of how much he may (or may not) have improved over the years, Hanley is not, and never will be, Premier League quality. He simply lacks the necessary attributes. If you ask me whether I think he has improved since he signed for us, I don't actually think he has; the difference this season is that he has avoided injury, so we are seeing Hanley at his best. Does that mean he is EPL-quality? Sorry, but no, it doesn't.
That’s not true, you specifically said previously you thought he had hit his peak at 26 and could not improve after that. I repeatedly pointed out that many (not all) players do improve after that point and you rejected that. It is blatantly wrong that he hasn’t improved since he’s been with us, given he went from a bit part player to second or third on the team sheet now. You also only need to hear what the manager says about his presence in the squad (I appreciate you always think you know better than the manager so this won’t be persuasive for you). As for the debate with respect to his premier league quality, his stand out performances this season demonstrate that is untrue. He’s definitely not in the top half of the Premier League in terms of quality, but he has received enough plaudits from third parties and been virtually faultless. By your measure, not a single player in our squad is Premier League standard (including Pukki), which by definition is a ridiculous position to take because they got promoted and have won matches - and that means if he’s in the top three he’s more likely than just about any other player in our squad to be at Premier League standard. But I know you’re too stubborn to ever change your mind (and much too proud to admit it even if you had), no matter how overwhelming the evidence, so I don’t propose to have the same debate again.
