I havent been on here since half time yesterday so apologies if this has been covered... Turn your mind back to deadline day and the excitement of signing these 2. Now if someone had said then that by the end of November not only would neither of them have made an impact but neither wouldve been given the chance to make an impact, we'd a) struggle to believe it and b) think 'whats the point in signing them then?' Probably 2 of the (potentially) best players in the squad. Its really, really ****ing baffling.
Honestly not just being wise after the event here. It baffled me at the time that we used our two loan spots to bring in both of them, when we were very obviously short of out and out forwards. Have a slight feeling Brucey couldn't resist at the time, but had no real plan how to integrate them into the team, and has simply resulted in another player he paid good money for only a month before (Ince) going down the pecking order almost before he got started. Ben Arfa has been given some chance - played 3 games in a row when he got fit. I don't think SB thinks he can play both of them (which takes me back to the original point) and I suspect Ramirez hasn't looked fit enough to justify a start instead of Ben Arfa.
Both came needing to get fit ... then after getting fit needed match time, HBA is slowly getting up to speed but hasn't sparked as yet apart from isolated bits .. ramirez I believe when we got him was still making his way back from a lengthy injury so it's gonna take time to get the best out of both of them. However putting Aluko ahead of both this weekend was a mistake I'm afraid.
Even more baffling when you consider Aluko was chosen over them vs. Burnley. Gaston has done nothing so far,but HBA as shown some quality and has to start.
play them in their best position and we'd see the best out of them.. Rosie_Davies_Chester_Robertson ______Meyler__Diame____ Ben Arfa__Ramirez___Brady _______Hernandaz that is how you get the best out of 2 of our best attacking players... but no, Bruce insists on sticking with the wing back formation which doesnt allow ben arfa or ramirez to play in their natural position..
I think that's harsh, Diame's been good so far and looks a bargain, as I've said before Costa would struggle in our team with what little we create so don't be to hard on Hernandez. Bruce has now got to get hba and Ramirez into a formation that suits them and give them a run of games
Its easy naming them but there's no way in the world HBA Ramirez and Brady will play together, all left footers. It all comes back to we should never have bought Ince HBA and Ramirez.
We haven't though, HBA and Ramirez are loans and I presume SB thinks Ince is not quite ready yet but hopefully will be by the time the other two have gone. I can only assume that we had enquiries in for HBA and Ramirez with a view to getting one out of the two and felt like HBA was just too good to turn down even though we'd already agreed to take Ramirez.
No need to split hairs is there? Its like buying 4 left backs cos they're all really good players. They just dont fit and you cant make them fit.
I didn't think I was, I just feel like SB signed Ince in the summer expecting that he'd be in and around the first team but maybe thinks he's not quite ready, so decided to see if he could get someone else in on loan until January and hope that by then Ince would be nearer the first team. I do agree we've got too many of the same type of player but surely if HBA and Ramirez are not match fit/sharp yet alternate them in games. I think we have to try and find a system that gets the best out of what we have at the moment. We might either have to abandon the 3 at the back or at least push the wing backs on, so we get a bit more presence in the opposition half.
Benni can be a right lazy bastard fellas. Not the type you need playing if youre backs are against the wall.
I fell asleep at half time yesterday(around 3 am) watching the TV coverage. Woke a couple of hours later when the cat jumped on me(she wanted the chair!)
A bit off topic but when was the last two me we had a one on one? Palace at home a year ago is the last one I remember. We have great players in the side but they're set up to play in a terrible way.
I'm grudgingly beginning to agree. When we went back to 3-5-2 against Palace I was stoked because it was the best with the players we had available. However, with only one fit striker, it seems strange to me to have so much attacking talent on the bench and play with three CMs in Livermore, Hudd and Diame. Like Man City, I think we need to revert to a one striker set up and stack the midfield. I like the formation you suggest.
Huddlestone and Livermore won't be rested for Spurs because of the international breaks, the problem Bruce has with Ramirez/Hernandez is they are travelling epic distances for International games so it is making it very hard to integrate them into the team whereas Hudds and Livermore are fresh. Bruce will be thinking they have points to prove against Spurs too. Hernandez is good enough but he is running flat for me
