KWP did enough to show that he deserves the remainder of the season to prove his point. We will be buying a RB in the summer - regardless. We have the chance to trial a young RB with some PL experience for the next 7 games - we would be crazy to not use that opportunity.
The remaining games need to be used find out what we need. Its now moved on from important to critical. I'd stick Angus back in, just to punish Alex even if its just for one. KWP a starter. Oriol, unless he's been told he's surplus. And lets give some kids game time. We cannot limp into next season, we need a plan. Vesti has been handed a opportunity, lets see if he takes it.
MOTD jump straight from our highlights, to an interview with Liverpool players ... no analysis at all. What a joke. And people say the media aren't bias?
First goal McCarthy fault, had easy option out wide and for some reason tried to go through the middle. Would’ve been a hospital ball even if it reached Hojbjerg with his back to any on coming Arsenal players. Poor decision making Second goal KWP fault if you have to attribute blame. Everyone else got out quickly and he was too slow and played Willock onside Was a red for Stephens, terrible pass by Hojbjerg so didn’t have much option but to dive in One thing not mentioned is the potential penalty for Redmond. He didn’t make a meal of it but he got the ball first on the edge of the area and Pepe booted him afterwards
Not impressed by Valery at the mo. Seems to think defending isn’t the first job of a full back. I feel KWP looks much better and that showed in this game You don’t get the big picture on a screen though MOTM Bertie, Bednarek did well, Stuart’s worst game in a while, we didn’t put them under enough pressure but you’ve got to say with a lot of injuries all their younger players have a bit of quality about them
As did BT Sport's live coverage of Chelsea v Man City! I know quite a few Chelsea fans who were fairly unimpressed that their performance last night barely got a mention
I think the last two games have neatly summed up the current squad and manager. The performance against Norwich was cold, professional and ruthless, showing the full potential of Ralph's teams. I listened to the match yesterday and the two goals seemed to have stemmed from careless errors with the attack somehow becoming disconnected from the midfield. This was the tenth home defeat this season which, I am afraid to say, is totally unacceptable. I think Ralph is something of an enigma. I cannot understand why the away performances are so much better than the home ones, not only in terms of piking up points. It does seem to be that some players do not understand his concept whereas we are too prone to errors. I am not convinced that the manager is to blame and just feel his players are the ones letting him down. The lack of home wins is obviously a phycological problem and we need a leader on the pitch to address the problem. I would be expecting the same level of clear out this closed season and we expected last summer. We need some steel in the defence.
I am still of the opinion that Obafemi only becomes an asset to the team if we are already winning; he will stretch an opposition defence as we counter attack. But unfortunately he contributes very little to getting ahead in the first place. I'd far rather see Long or Adams start the game, and Obafemi come on later in the game if we are winning Agree with everyone who said how much more assured KWP looked than Valery
Valery was flavour of the month before his illness. He and KWP should be competing for that shot. Or play both, one as attacking mid?
The players we have are of a standard that they make careless errors at times Stuart has been our best link of defence with attack. Without the benefit of a full pitch view I don’t know why that didn’t happen last night Lots of good passing 2nd half but not where it would really hurt them Shane and Danny hardly saw the ball
I think the terrible start to the season, culminating in the 9-0 game, showed that we don’t have the players to play the exact system Hassenhuttl wants. Since the 9-0 it appears to me that we have reverted back to a simplified version of his style (which he also used when he arrived mid season). He had a full pre season to drill in exactly what he wanted with this group and they couldn’t do it. We all know he can’t just go out and bring in 10 new players who can play his style so we are stuck with what we’ve got. Despite not being a massive fan earlier this season (mainly down to me not thinking he would adapt and ditch his system) I’d say that he has done a good job overall with the squad at his disposal. This is pretty much the exact same squad (minus a few big money signings) who have just about stayed up the previous 2 full seasons prior to Hassenhuttl arriving. Until we can have a big clear out I don’t really know what anyone is expecting.
That leader in midfield used to be PEH, but he’s gone missing this season. Head is elsewhere I believe.
Our problem, at SMS, for me, is that we still don’t know how to breach defences that sit tight. Away from home we press high and win the ball back as the home team is transitioning from defence to attack, which means that we then have space in which to pass the ball around the few defenders that are still sitting deep. This doesn’t work so well at SMS when teams sit back, especially when, like last night, we don’t press as a unit. I thought I had read that one of Ralph’s tactics, in Germany, was to play the long ball and be willing to concede possession, just so that the high press could be used. It’s not something we do that often here, as we go with the slow build up that allows the opposition to set up in defence.
Oh dear oh bloody dear.......our home form against us again!!! Valery had his worse game for me. As for the goal keeper he still seems to be making the same or similar mistakes as the last time he was taken out. Next match against Watford should be interesting........Saints might/should get a point..............
Yesterday's game encapsulated so many of the issue's we've had for several seasons, primarily being slightly deluded regarding our defence. Excluding Bertrand (and KWP) everyone else is championship standard at best. People seem to flip-flop on their opinion of Stephens, but for the large part he's a complete liability and seems to have a significant lapse in concentration at least once a game, two basic long balls yesterday - one from the ****ing goalkeeper - and he was nowhere to be found. Ralph's pressing system is reliant on CBs who are good at one-on-one defending and who can effectively distribute the ball - Stephens can at least play a decent long range pass, unlike Bednarek. We have 4 or 5 CBs? They're all ****, no denying it really. Jan is the best of them and could develop into something better given his age, but I don't think his attributes will ever make him an ideal fit for Ralph's system. Won't even bother spending time discussing RB. Valery needs to be loaned out and given regular game time and we need an upgrade urgently in summer. Hoj showed why so many supporters will not be overly upset in seeing him leave. I still think we could do with a decent attacking CM, sometimes we struggle to carry the ball from inside our own half into attacking areas of the oppositions half, forcing Ings to drop deep. Ralph probably will experiment with Armstrong in CM when Djenepo is allowed to return. Not sure what's going on with Che, I'm still not convinced Obafemi knows how to effectively use his best attributes, but right now he looks way off what we want/need him to be. We'll probably be heading into next season relying on a similar run of form for Ings if we're hoping to survive the drop. I sound very negative, I do think there's a core in the side worth building around, (JWP - Armstrong - Redmond - Ings) but it needs a lot of additions and I'm not sure we're going to have the finances to do so.
Important to remember that we were plqying arsenal as well. I know theyre a bit of a meme club at the moment, but that was the most organised they've looked for ages last night. Holding is a good CB, its a shame he was back.