Just to elobarate - think that when he was missing that game earlier in the season beginning to think the rumours of a Rafa bust up were true
In what sense? We still lose games by no more than a goal, don't let a great deal in and he hasn't scored from a corner since the beginning of last season anyway. I think he's just lacking confidence like every other player in a team that's been on a poor run. Our defence isn't the issue, our attack is.
Missing Lejeune ? Don't forget - what worked so well last season was the Lascelles/Lejeune partnership
A sea captain he is a shouter and used to her up the defence. He seems to have lost his voice. Same with the fans. He used to come out on social media and engage with the fans. Again he’s silent. Almost as if he couldn’t be arsed anymore.
Hi apathy shield was also stored in my loft ........................ i dropped it round for him a few weeks ago.
Plenty mate .............. ill get a few more down. Now we both know that is not true ................... Pouchy ****ing hates you
Our defence is certainly an issue. We just can not defend crosses into the box whether it's open play, free kicks or corners. Opposing players consistently out jump our defenders to either score or knock down for others.
Mix of things, don't think being dropped helped (injury yeah right), the whole teams form is dragging everyone down and he's missing Lejuene - Florian really didn't get the kudos he should have last season, was absolutely immense and way better than Jamal IMHO. diame's form isn't helping infront of the back 4 either last year he jumped from a 5 or 6/10 every week to a 7 or 8 but this year he's reverted to type, hopefully he gets himself going again shortly.
He is not going that badly but is leadership has been lacking. We haven't had a settled defence all season too. We obviously lost Lejeune pre season which was a blow. Already we've had Schar, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark appearing at different stages. We've also had Clark left back, Manquillo left and right back, Yedlin right back, Dummett left back, Kenedy at left back. We're only 9 games in. Plus Diame has been utter garbage and reverted to type. He is offering zero protection and keeps giving the opposition the ball which is making it tough on the defence. Then you have Rafa's overly negative tactics too which is heaping pressure on the defence. Obviously when you look beneath the surface even a little, you can see why we've been creaking a bit. I'd be very surprised if the bust up has played any part at all. People make way too much of these things, and just don't understand how competitive sport works.
The lack of time the ball spends up the other end of the pitch is impacting too - they clear it, comes pretty much straight back - more pressure on the defence Need to be better at retention - it's woeful currently
Best form of defence is to be on the attack and to have the ball. People talk all round formations, personnel etc but sometimes it is how you set out to approach a game. We currently are entering far too man games thinking lets keep it tight. Regardless of talent we can change this. We know this because when we changed tact for the Man U game, we showed regardless of personnel we can attack with intent. For sure we met a club at a low ebb but nonetheless we got into the right areas when sent out with the right mentality. I keep hearing we can't afford to be gung ho because of goal difference. Can we dispense with this bollocks? We stayed up last season because we won games by attacking teams in the 2nd half of the season, not because we kept it tight. Of course though the players have to play their part and as you say the players are underperforming, not least by just turning over ball for fun. Whereas some of that is filling their heads with negativity in terms of tactics or the managers assessment of their talents, some is lack of talent, but some is its lack of application. I don't think the spend is the reason we are bottom of the table by any stretch. I think that is just ostrich syndrome. Lack of spend and a poor squad meant the managers job was difficult, and we would be back in a relegation battle. That is a given. I just think we have to be careful to use the whole Ashley thing as an excuse to not perform to the best of our ability. Fans, manager and players. None have been on their game this season. That is Ashley's fault of course, but at some point you have to get stuck in regardless.
