Oops,too late Dave,heard it yesterday but don't think he was season ticket so hopefully he'll be at the Emirates or similar next week.
Palace have lost again, so they are either ripe for being beaten next week, or rubbing their hands with glee that they are at home to us. Let's hope it's the first option. Mind you, it sounds like Palace were kept out by some inspired goalkeeping, so maybe they have some forwards that get the ball on target. That trumps us, then.
I 'liked' this, not because I like it, but because I agree with you. Not panicking yet as far too early and things can turn round, but our present inability to score is seriously concerning. Think it's time to build a bomb shelter behind the sofa.
Why , is Dr Who on TV ? ** Just trying to cheer you up Fran ** You are one of the most positive posters on here , if you are not happy .....
I think some are overreacting really. Don't get me wrong we were really poor and there are certainly concerns at present but we're a long way from panic stations yet imo. The reaction if Palace turn us over next week... In a kind of perverse way though part of me is glad we're struggling to score still as it proves to the Puel doubters that it was and is more of a personnel issue. Though @Skylarker said yesterday that in the toilets at half time he heard someone blaming the first half on Puel Genuinely. Words fail me sometimes.
Team vs Palace should be this. Anyone but Forster Cedric Yoshida/Hoedt Stephens Bertrand Lemina Romeu Prowse Tadic Gabbiadini Austin
Could make the point that a year of supposedly bad coaching/alienating some of the players would still be affecting the teams mentality at this early stage in the season.
There's not much I could disagree with there, to be honest, but the challenge is to detach the poor scoring record this season from that of last season because clearly is being addressed on the training ground so is a work in progress for MPo. He has rightly taken a 'softly-softly' approach to managing change in the style of play but he can use yesterdays performance to say loudly enough is enough; now we do it my way. I do agree that we miss a Rickie / Pelle type figure to lay off those longer balls. Gabbi does not play that way. So we need to look at the players we have and adopt our style to their strengths. Your view on how far up the table this squad could finish is as valid as mine so wouldn't want to challenge that. It depends of course not just on how well MPo can get us playing but whether the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal can live up to their fans expectations. Not all of them will.
I just don't think that Steven Davis fits into our team anymore, he is an old fashioned CM, not really a DM or an AM, I think that its time to try the team without him.
Potentially an excellent point. (I say potentially, because we don't yet know if MP has an alternative that is "his way" and, if so, whether he will use it). I always thought that Puel tried to implement the diamond too early. What we had before worked so well (which I think is why Ron had so much success - Poch didn't leave because we were broken, so Ron broadly just continued in the same vein albeit with different players), that coming in and changing it from the word go was unlikely to be the way to go. Even if, in the long run, it might have had success. Whereas Conte went the other way. He stuck with the same Chelsea set up for a few weeks, and was then able to use the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal as the evidence for why a change was needed. And clearly the players - a completely disillusioned bunch for almost 18 months - bought into it, and the rest is history. Maybe yesterday was our 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.
I'm not saying that Puel is the reason for how we are playing, just that it may just be a hangover from the previous season. I said to my Dad after the game that if this start wasn't a continuation from last season maybe some fans wouldn't be so quick to boo, which is still wrong to do regardless. Adds nothing to the team.
I suppose we'll see in the next few weeks what our new manager is made of. A squad containing Gabbiadini, Austin, Redmond, Long, JWP and Boufal really ought to have goals in it. We have plenty of options in midfield, including a promising addition in Lemina. The problem appears to be one of cohesion, and possibly belief. Sort it out, Mauricio
This is the biggest reason Puel went. He lost way too many players. I just hope MP can sort them out. If a few can't be ****ed, then drop them.
The sooner we get VVD back into the team the better, he is top quality and adds a big threat at offensive set pieces.
Gonna name any names there Beef? It's not always easy to tell from the stands who can't be arsed, some players are deceptive like that (Tadic, for instance, who always looks like that. But so did MLT).
I was more on about last season, but I think it has sort of still carried over into this season. Bertrand was the worst last season. MP needs to work at getting rid of it and drop people that don't responed.
