West Brom at home...

Debuchy deserves to come back in and that gives Pardew a tough choice when selecting our two centre halves.

I'd go for Mbiwa and Williamson. We always struggle against Shane Long due to the fact he's so quick and Mbiwa is our one defender with natural pace which is why he gets the nod. Williamson is undroppable at the moment (never thought I'd say that) so Colo should miss out.

Other than that I'd go for the same line up again. I just hope we mix it up a bit for Swansea away, especially in midfield. We have a squad for a reason and some good depth in midfield so there's no need for all four to start two games in four days.

Anita should start at Swansea for either Tiote and Cabaye and so should Ben Arfa in place of either Gouffran or Sissoko. Finally at Swansea my last change would be Cisse for Shola.

What would everyone else do for the next two games???

 

Cabaye isn't up to speed, so Anita could come in for him, wouldn't drop Goufran or Sissoko for Ben Arfa, he's not quite up to speed yet.

 

west brom are going to be tough do well to get 3 points, as long as we dont get beat

 

Swansea will be the toughie.
Fancy a draw though.

Baggies, a win.

 

Play the way we can and we should beat both of them.

 

First names on the team sheet:
Krul
Debuchy
Willo
Tiote
Remy
Santon

Next:
Gouffran
Sissoko
Cabaye

 

Back to the team before Debuchy's suspension. The only thing that Pardew annoyed me with on Saturday was messing with the defence. It showed, we looked shakey all day. Willo was again on form though and got some crucial blocks in. Willo has to play, he is playing the best football of his career by quite some distance. He has had solid periods in the past but nothing of this standard. Debuchy must play so I think it has to be Colo stepping down for me.

Swansea will need changes. You have to use your squad and lets not forget they play Valencia on Thursday followed by Man City away this week. That should ensure they have some heavy legs so we need to freshen up to take advantage. The likes of Colo, Anita, HBA, Jonas (maybe even Saylor) can all give us a bit of help there. Cabaye, Mbiwa and/or Willo, Gouffran, Sissoko will all have done a good stint. This will give them a little freshner for the xmas period. Also we have Man U in the early kick off on the Saturday following Swansea.

 

Shola will start on Saturday. Debuchy back at RB and Colo on bench with Mbiwa back at CB.

 

Santon?! Think he needs to be reminded he's a defender first and foremost. Out of position so often, would prefer someone more solid at the moment.

For me we did actually look less solid at the back without Willo/MYM as the centre pairing, which is a bit of a shock. Can he really drop Colo though?! As for Cabaye not being "up to speed" - he looked pretty up to speed for France the other day, he was fantastic. Wish he'd produce that form for us more often.

 

To be honest I think Cabaye has been in fine form for us this year. I thought he played quite well on Saturday. Certainly worked his socks off. His closing down was the main reason we got a grip of the game.

Santon still has plenty to learn. He has had a few good weeks like Debuchy, but both still have their moments. The key for them is to learn when to attack. Their selection of this has been suspect in the past.

We have improved and are doing well. If we can get a top 10 finish I think you'd have to be very very happy and say that Pardew has done well over the 3 years. However we are only a third of the way through the season, there is a long way to go for him and the team.

 

West Brom have only lost once away, having played at Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea this season, having won 2-1 at Old Trafford, this one will be tougher than people expect.

 

Why do we have a matchday thread then this one?

 

If you lot beat WBA and as expected Chelsea beat Southampton and you go above Southampton, do you reckon the arse-licking pieces of **** that work on Gillette Soccer Saturday will give your team any credit or just continue to rave about how good Southampton are?

 

We'll find out how good Southampton are for ourselves on Sat 14-Dec.

 

Aye Le Tiss does love pissing up Southampton's back. Only natural I suppose. I have been impressed with them but this "pressing" mantra is getting on my nerves. Pressing the ball high up te pitch is nothing new. I remember under Sir Bobby this was our biggest asset. Shearer and Bellamy worked their socks off to pressure the defenders and then you had high energy players like Jenas, Speed, Dyer behind them too. FFS we'd talk about this in our Sunday football team. Its not like they are Barca esque, swarming areas of the pitch in numbers in a seemingly kamikaze fashion. They are just pressing the ball, trying to get it back quickly and defending from the front.

I hope we continue to receive zero credit. I think the stealthy approach is always favourable. Plus its best we don't get carried away as we are two or three injuries from tough times with our squad. Not that Southampton have massive depth.

We're ok though and on our day we can give any side a game. Pardew is doing a cracking job at present and just making a lot of good calls. Its easier to do it with confident in form players.

 

Wouldn't expect you to say any other.

 

looking forward to that game big time.

 

They always seem to find it remarkably easy to blow with the wind. The Spurs "they'll win the league" love in crumbled, yet I didn't see one apologist. I think more "experts" predicted Spurs to challenge than Arsenal. Wonder how many will say "see, I told you it was a good idea to manage the same club twice" when Jose picks up another trophy.

 

Looking forward to the Crystal Palace game on Sat 21-Dec.

 

The belltops on soccer saturday only **** over teams south of the M25.
They think the north East is in Scotland.