Since Diame arrived he has looked one hell of a player, and by Premier League standard great value at £3.5m. That said since he arrived its as if Livermore and Hudds have been told to stay back and not go forward at all. I cannot remember the last time either ran beyond our striker without which Hernendez is fighting a losing battle. The service upfront is non existent. Brucey has got his work cut out as based on performances like Villa and Burnley away we are destined for the Championship. Bringing in 'quality' is one thing, getting them to gel and work as a team is something else, and something that Brucey and Agnew are failing on at the mo. I don't think we've really dominated a team since Fulham at home last season. In overall terms I feel rightly or wrongly that with our failure also in the Europa League and The Capital Cup and players in the squad not getting games its having the effect of breaking down the squad harmony we had have had over the last two seasons. This is were Brucey and Agnew now earn their money, sorting out the mess that is currently in display. Lets hope Brucey is having his 'Pardew' moment and all will turn round in the coming weeks. All I will say about yesterday was I thought Hudds and Livermore would be really up for it and playing for the shirt with Spurs at home next game and wanting to be in the starting 11 for that game.
To be honest I think thudd and Livermore appear to be untouchable and I think they know it, both Quinn and Meyler aren't good enough so there's only Ramirez that could come in and replace one of them. In not sure why this hasn't happened yet. Thudd plays too deep for me because I've said for ages we need a ball winner, he just doesn't effect the game. If I was picking the team I'd struggle to fit him in and come January a holding midfielder would top my list, leaving tom getting splinters
It's been top of our list for as many transfer windows as I can remember, to be honest OLM with what we create I sometimes think costa would struggle to score regular. I. Honestly thought with the arrival of Ben-arfa and Ramirez and diame we'd sort that creativity problem. Midfield is a massive problem for us not only do we need to get Ben arfa and ramirez in and playing we either find a different role for thudd or he's on the bench
We need some more steel throughout the team. A powerful striker like Troy Deeney would be my first choice as someone who can make the ball stick up top. A solid midfielder is also needed to push Tom and Jake to get back to their best, someone similar to Tiote.
