Feels like 2013 all over again really. Just a load of sub par signings done late, and not up to standard. The commentator on my stream pointed out that Caulker, Fer and Mutch were all with clubs last year who were relegated from the Premier League. So we've just bought players in who have already been in teams that are not good enough, and they showed it today. So disappointed this evening, Redknapp just hasn't got together a good enough group of players to make it.
I agree. As soon as I saw the team I was worried for us. Not one holding midfielder on the pitch, when that position is so vital to the 3-5-2 system was ineptitude of the highest order imo. I didn't see any of the game, but from reading through this thread it is clear that Dunne should NEVER be picked ahead of Ned.....never, ever!!!! Harry clearly has a blind spot concerning Dunne and he also clearly doesn't rate Faurlin. I don't know exactly who played where in central midfield, perhaps someone could let me know? Phillips was up top with Remy, but who was in behind them, Mutch or Fer? We would have been better off playing Henry and Faurlin as the two holding players, as they would have given the back 3 more cover than Fer, Barton or Mutch, none of which is a holding midfielder. The sooner Vargas is available the better, as Phillips is not good enough imo to play there. We are back to Harry making dire selection choices I'm afraid.
That's more than a bit harsh, it has almost been unanimous amongst posters on here that the signings we've made have been good ones. Only two games in so lets not get carried away.
Yes, a couple of things. Harry tried something different and it did not work and then he reverted to a flat 4. It is just possible he knew this was a game that he was going to get a point from at most and used it to try out the new guys to see how good they really are. Also, the transfer window is not yet closed but we know that is not really the answer. We were playing a team who are leagues better than us at present and likely to remain so for a fair old while. So we lost.Did anyone really expect to win? We can only hope that we improve with time but our 'friend' from Norwich is basically right. It will be a long old season.
Mate your welsh ..... You can't say anything I would rather swing from the nearest tree than be you .
come on Dave - it might be a cliche but they need time to gel! Genuinely though…you can't write off the whole lot based on one performance, especially the new boys. Not encouraging though.
Gutting. Second half was much better, especially after Ale came on (I think we can safely say it's not just sentimentality calling for his inclusion). For me, Sunderland was always going to be a bigger indication of where we really are - Hull were a couple of games ahead of us in preparations and Pochetino(?) will have Spurs playing good stuff - they'll do that to a few other teams but we should definitely have given then a better game. There was a big difference in first touch between the two sides and I think it was hasty bringing in Fer to a new system so quickly (especially when not fully fit).
Lineup: ---------------Green---------------- -----Caulker-----Rio-----Dunne------ Isla---------------------------Traore ----------Barton----Fer------------- ---------------Mutch---------------- ----------Remy-----Phillips---------- Faurlin should play imo, he's got the ability and he cares. Play a mobile pacey player beside him and he will dominate. Ned must play, nothing new there, showed why in the second half. Lets hope Harry saw it that way too.
Yes, one other. We now have a proper coach at the club, one who should be able to get better performances out of the current players rather than just running off to buy a load more. Van Gaal said it would take 3 months to get the Man Utd players to fully understand what he wants them to do, I'm sure ours are no brighter than theirs, but in Hoddle we do have someone who can do so. If we rush off and sign a few more players it will be just the same as Hughes signing Cesar after Green had a bad match. We must stop resorting to the transfer market and actually improve the players we've got. Sure we can't make Dunne or Hill any faster but we can make them understand the system better and therefore not be out of position. If we do panic and buy a few more we will just be repeating mistakes that we all remember far too vividly.
