We played far too deep against a team with an even worse attack than ours. If Sagbo/Gedo/Brady are going to scorn (I'll omit Graham....he's slow and completely useless) we need the midfield to push up, make runs into the box, and open space for the strikers like Aluko did when he played. Boyd was the only one who attempted to do that today. Koren was awol again and Thudd prefers to lay back. Meyler is about our only CMF who makes those runs and he can head the ball too. Get him in there SB. Also we definitely miss Quinn's creativity and willingness to take a shot. Can't fault Davies, Macca, and Figgy. They did their job. But Elmo is woeful at RB...either RW or the bench for him. Should be dropped for Liverpool along with Koren. If Macca is injured bring in Faye...he's great in the air and pushing up with Davies on set pieces. Our weaknesses...lack of speed and creativity...have been exposed the past two matches. The back five are going to be busy. A good striker with pace is critical in January. Time to roll the boat out for Long. Defoe is not going to come. MOM? I can't think of anyone who stood out today. Agree the protest was brainless and distracting. Save those for when the games are not in progress or you'll lose whatever support you still have. The commentators spent more time talking about the banner nonsense than the game. What a farce!!
This worries me. When someone is shouting for Meyler to be included in the first eleven, even at the expense of Koren, I start to get concerned as, for me, he hasn't shown that he's capable of playing at this level, no where near, his passing is awful, his man marking is awful and he's always a *** paper away from a yellow card every time he puts in a tackle.. Basically we've lost Aluko and Brady hasn't re-discovered his early season form after his hernia op, and without those two, or at the very least one them, being at the top of their game we look very vulnerable, and at a total loss with regard to carving teams open. Graham was a gamble that certainly hasn't paid off, and I'm starting to get a bit concerned that SB is still keeping him in and around the first eleven, Prossie never got any where near as many chances as Graham's had, not that Prossie's the answer either. Like others have already alluded to I am a bit mystified as to why so many square pegs were put in round holes today, and I certainly feel that this was the main reason for our loss today, effectively we beat ourselves! Our defence has been outstanding this season, especially at home where we've only conceded two goals, however the midfield and forwards are letting them down badly, to the extent that our players heads are going to start to drop if we concede an early goal as we don't look like scoring ourselves at the moment!
There's a difference between been mathematically safe but have always been down there and in a relegation scrap. I mean in a bottom 3,4 or 5 position with the others pulling away and opening a 3 point plus gap above you. Like in our first season last time we just got pulled into it because we put in a series of performances like todays.
I'm going to take issue with this comment. If McShane had still been on the pitch, Palace wouldn't have slalomed past our entire defence to stroke the ball across the box for a simple tap in. He was one of our best players until going off with a hamstring injury.
Macca got done all day long by Jerome. Sagbo was invisible and only improved slightly when Graham came on
You see, that is bullshit. McShane and Jerome were only on the pitch together for 22 uneventful minutes.
Oh sorry for not being specific. If you cant see that Jerome was their most dangerous player then I'm sorry. He won every header against Macca. He did continue after Macca went off and as I remember did Davies for the goal. This was in no way a go at Macca but he got well done. I cant understand why SB didnt swop Davies over with Macca
That deserves a LOL. McShane was quality, had he been on the pitch for the full 90 - Palace wouldn't have scored. Jerome did at least 2 players in putting the ball across the area for Bannan.
Elmo was out of position (surprise surprise), he went past Figueroa with ease, slotted the ball across and Rosenior sliced his clearance straight to Bannan.
Elmo played him on without marking him, although I think that was in part due to Davies who was marking him buggering off all of a sudden and Elmo not reacting quick enough. Davies should never have been on him. He was Elmo's man. Watching the replay I keep willing Rosenior to stay at the back post during the build-up, he gets sucked into the middle and forgets about his man who eventually scores. We were let off when Figgy did the same thing in the first half.
Elmo was horrible, and that's all that can be said for him, really needs a spell on the sideline to wake up to himself. Why he was preferred to Rosey at RB I'll never know. As for why the rest of the team couldn't score, I have no clue, defended way too deep.
We need a classic right midfielder. Would Elmohamady be available for a loan or is he too far into Brucey's good books?
Elmo has been poor most of the season and that's a shame because he was brilliant last year. We need to pick Gedo - I don't think Graham or Sagbo look like they're going to score many/any in Graham's case And as for the protest - completely moronic to do that during the game. I don't understand what doing that during the match was meant to achieve - there were very few things that could have happened positively from that protest. Just ridiculous - it simply looked like some overweight and pissed blokes wanted the cameras on them so they could brag to their mates about it.. There are times and places to protest - during the match is never the time - remember when we played the Geordies during their protests - we won....
In current form, I'd actually consider loaning him out for a month or two just to regain some form and confidence. Especially if we sign Amrabat.
I think you meant "Sorry for being completely wrong". In no way at all can you call 22 minutes "all day long" - and in fact, by naming the two players, you were being very specific, which was your downfall. Back on the subject, the polarised opinion on McShane yesterday is interesting. I thought he was caught out quite a bit, tbh - but what disturbed me more was that Faye didn't replace him when he went off. Why on earth move a LB inside and play a RB at LB when you can make a straight replacement instead?
****ing hell do you want a bibliography and references too?? For the time on the pitch Jerome dominated Macca in a way that Chamakh did not. He also dominated Figgy who as you say shouldnt have moved across. Do you agree Jerome was the thorn in our side? If so, how? By beating his marker consistently, as he did for the goal when Curtis backed off him.
