Farke takes some of the blame on Saturday. The main one was his defensive set up on set pieces. It was a disaster waiting to happen. However, until that first goal we had looked fairly well drilled. We also had the Struijk header and Dan James really should have taken his man on instead of shooting too early a couple of times. Our defenders and midfield were very reluctant to play the ball quickly out wide and were happy to play the safe pass. I dunno if this was an instruction from the coaches or the players ducking responsibility. If those 5 or 6 easy passes out wide were done then we may have caused more problems for Arsenal. We certainly played those passes all last season and against Everton. The 2nd goal before half time killed us and the third ended the game. The worrying thing was how quickly our heads went down.
I’d prefer losing to Arsenal away 5-0 than Burnley away 2-0. Sunderland fans are a bit like us, some aggrieved others shrugging it off, the difference is they all thought they’d signed top drawer players and after the Burnley defeat a few are asking questions. We signed Bijol, Bornauw, Longstaff, DCL, Okafor, Nmecha six new players who never started the game. If they are no better than what we already have then huge question marks, Farke wanted PL experience and he left it on the bench. Now if it’s fitness all is forgiven but with Wendies coming up let’s get these new players integrated, if at least 4 of those players are better than those who started on Saturday we have hope Arsenal, Liverpool, all top 6 teams are free hits, as long as we gain points against bottom half teams we’ll be okay and not forgetting we’re hoping for at least one new attacker The board showed faith in Farke for this division, he in turn showed faith to the majority of those that won us promotion, the board won’t continue that faith so the sooner Farke learns not to the better it might be for all
Bijol - first choice but missed first game… I’d have picked him for second game but can see why Farke stuck with struijk. Bornauw - squad player/back up Longstaff - challenger for first choice but not automatic DCL - fitness- expect to be first choice if/ when fit Okafor - only just joined, expect to be first choice or strong competition Nmecha - squad player-back up, possible upside if stays fit that’s how I see it/them
100 percent pal. I think Longstaff is a little better than we think. Bijol, with his height and premier experience should have been the first player on the team sheet....
Believe they had doubts re tanakas physicality for the prem. I think he helps us control tempo in games where we are likely to be front foot… otherwise we’re better with longstaff who has consistently been one of the PLs hardest working midfielders. In other words Tanaka at home against lower half sides… otherwise longstaff. Assuming it’s like 4 like systems.
A bit like last season when Farke used to play Gruev AND Ampadu together away from home. Same deal, different players.
probably less good on the ball tbh - but you get a sense his defensive instincts are better. Looks a cool customer too… but we’ll find out soon enough when he’s running around plugging holes in the leaking ship in the midst of battle. Or something.
exactly - fans loved rothwell and tanaka… but record with them away from elland road sucked. I was surprised he went with tanaka over longstaff on Saturday. I guess he felt it was less risky in a midfield 3.
Just about spot on and if my recollection is right we conceded and almost went straight up the other end down the right and if James or Bogle had more composure and got a good cross or pass into the middle we could have equalised and a complete different game. Unfortunately we screwed up again and go 2-0 down and game over
Don't think Bijol let's Gyokeres walk in to our area to score like Struijk did. Don't get me wrong, Bijol probably dives in and gives a penalty away but nonetheless Bijol makes it harder for him.
Stach played mainly as the DM in Germany and would have thought for this fixture he should take on that role. He should also not be taking dead ball kicks he should be getting on the end of them. He was also captain in Germany maybe he should reprise that role so that Bijol starts in place of Struijk
I would hope: - Bijol would have played him offside… - or met him earlier and not backed off so he could foul him outside the area. Maybe wishful thinking. It might be the camera angle but looked like bogle bottled the tackle too (maybe because he was on a card) pi*ss poor defending all round
Yeh, it’s been a surprise to me that he’s been played box 2 box. Looked suited to it v Everton and like a lumbering cart horse against arsenal
Think he can do both. Arsenal aside, he always tries to pass forward. He scored against Milan and his shot won the penalty vs Everton. I understand the reluctance to drop him back for Arsenal. Given the way it played out, i'd expect Stach to be holding with Longstaff coming in for the Newcastle game.
Evening all. I have some concerns about the game on Saturday. I think many of us were proposing Nmecha to start. As it unfolded that was the right call. Many also called for Bijol. I'm not sure if Farkes plans changed after Ampadus injury because Struijk is his vice Captain. My opinion is, as I've said before, that Struijk is too quiet, you can see Amps talking to the players during the game. We missed his influence. I think Farke replaced Amps with Gruev because that's what he did against Everton. There's also the good points about Darlow. I don't think he does much, if anything, wrong but he's not picked. My point is that Farke has his favourites. I see that as a weakness. To put out the same team against Arsenal.away as you did at home against Everton is stramge umless you have no better options. Maybe he doesn't, maybe Bijol is not as good as Struijk, maybe Longstaff, with his 170 PL appearances, isn't as good as Gruev or Tanaka... Why did we buy them. My fear is that Farke won't utilize his squad. Against Arsenal we needed damage limitation, we needed to Farke the bus. He said he doesn't want to do that and we got butt fkd. Their MF is worth about £250m. They will rip many teams a new one.
