Can someone tell me what his actual job was when he was with us? and please don't say he was our defensive coach!!!!!!!
Newcastle are stumping up £45 million for Anthony Gordon!!!!!!!! Madness. I'd like to know how much our budget is for January signings. It has all gone very quiet on our targets. Hope that our fax machine is in good working order if it goes down to the wire. The good news is that Ounahi looks to be headed to Marseille. That could have been an expensive mistake of Slimani proportions.
Not a classic match, very FA Cup. In the hat for the next round thanks to another Iheanacho Cup goal. Also, Tete is apparently having his medical today and we've put in a bid for Harrison.
Thought Mendy and Amartey played well today. Fully deserved the win, but Walsall gave it their all. Not sure how KDH got man of the match and Barnes was below par again! Kristiansen got stuck in and got forward well. (I wish Youri would stick his pens the other way!)
Banana skin avoided. We can’t be that wasteful in the league or we’ll be in trouble. Mendy seemed to want to get the ball forward wherever possible and try and beat his man from time to time, which when it comes off gets the attacks going quicker, and with Maddison playing today we looked a bit more incisive. Kristiansen looked decent too, it was only a 30 minute cameo against a league two side, but he did most things right and picked out some good passes in the final third. Hopefully some of the signings being touted happen, then I reckon we’ll gradually get towards safety.
Not sure Rodgers can do much more to keep Tielemans at the club. Although after his performance today I'm not sure I can be fussed whether he stays or goes. I think Daka gets worse with every game. His movement is okay but his composure and decision making are woeful. Needs to take a leaf out of Nacho's book. And that game should have been ideal for Barnes to show what he can do but, as Harborough said, he lacked the confidence to take his man on. Having watched Man City v Arsenal last night there was something that stood out today. Whenever there was a break in the game last night the teams were both over to their manager to get instructions. Today when Daka was getting treatment, the players went over to the touchline but Rodgers never spoke to one of them. Instead they were talking to other members of staff. Presumably he'd got no ideas how to improve things.
Hoping (feint admittedly) that Brenda might just keep faith with Daniel Iversen in between the sticks to day ...lad has 3 clean sheets in 3 first team appearances and deserves a go ...
Well what a game. All the talk is about Tete, and rightly so but I thought Kristiansen was outstanding. For a 20 year old to come into the Prem and play like that was unreal. Things are looking up at last
Iheanacho was head and shoulders above anything Vardy and Daka have provided just lately. The ball for Tete's goal was pure class and he showed composure all match. Great all round performance considering so many new faces. The back four and front three almost pick themselves if they stay fit, although getting Harrison would have been good to give Barnes a kick up the backside. KDH and Maddison look to be our go-to creators. So do we leave Tielemans out and replace him with a proper defensive midfielder? We did look a bit light at times in that area and have 3 to choose from.
Barnes made two of the goals ... rather than the kick up the bum what he really needed was not to have the continued pressure of being our only real hope of beating an opposition player ... ... but very encouraging performance all round ... although, and at risk of becoming boring, I still have more confidence in Iversen between the sticks ... and I note we are being linked with the young Sunderland keeper today ...
Barnes is so inconsistent. Most likely it is down to confidence, particularly when things aren't going well like at the moment. But he needs that mentality and self-belief that makes him get more involved rather than less if things aren't going right, because he is a potential match winner when he's on his game. With him on one side and Tete on the other we can start to be effective down both flanks rather than the lopsided approach we've had so far this season. Having Tete on the right will also take pressure off Castagne if they can establish a partnership.
I'm intrigued to know what (if anything) Rodgers will do to shore up the defensive side of our midfield tomorrow. He seems to have painted himself into a corner over Tielemans. He's trying everything to keep him at the club by starting him in every match and making him captain in Evans' absence. But a midfield of Tielemans, Maddison and KDH isn't going to cut it against Spurs. We need a proven defensive midfielder and Tielemans ain't that player. But will Brendan be brave enough to drop his captain? Tielemans is slow to get back and he can't tackle to save his life. Wilf is also too slow around the pitch, as is Soumare if he were available. So I'm hoping we get Mendy in for the job. And please let us not try and play out from the back every time. As Man City found out, the Spurs press and quick break can be pretty lethal. We need to fight for every point we can get at the moment, with more difficult games coming up, so we can't be gifting the opposition goals.
Apart from Ward (I'll keep banging that drum ) same team deserves to start ... you make some very good points btw, but it was a good win and all round performance, so it would be harsh to drop anyone ... KDH will have to do the hounding in midfield ...
If we had everyone fully fit right now I'd quite like to see us experiment with a back 3 of Faes, Souttar and Ndidi with Pereira and Kristiansen as wing backs ... KDH, Maddison and Soumare in midfield with Tete and Iheanacho up front ... but, in fairness, there are other potentially exciting options ... a front 3 of Barnes, Daka and Tete would be rapid and cause all sorts of headaches if we were to play much more on the counter ...
