Which brings us back to the question of us over relying on Michu for goals. Wigan meant we had to work our chances better but when michu is up front it seems to be that everybody tries to give him the ball to score a goal!! Basically taking the soft option ! Forget DG that bloke done himself no favours and was shipped out for a reason, im looking forward to some much needed team strengthening in the summer, a summer where we will hopefully be quite stable in terms of star players going out.
The only embarrassment is the reaction to a fluke result. This thread is an open invitation to the people who can't wait to criticise the club and to those that don't have the 1st clue about football. I know you're disappointed but I'm surprised you didn't think of that yourself Norway. 9th in the league, the league cup won and European qualification secured. Well some of you may be embarrassed and that's your choice but not me. Perhaps you were the ones walking out with 10 mins to go even though they'd announced the team would come back out for a lap of honour
Your obviously pissed and haven't read the thread through properly, have a look in the morning when your sober fella
Very disappointed with the result, thought it was a little unjust, but Fulham had the perfect game plan - let us pass it around and then caught us on the break; and they played the ref (a very poor display again from Mr Mason) superbly! What was missing was an out and out striker - we created some beautiful chances but had no-one clinical enough to put them away. We all know that this has been our problem this season - if it wasn't for Michu who knows where we would be. You couldn't fault our commitment, but that killer instinct in front of goal was missing. But don't agree with some who say that our 9th position flattered to deceive; yes we finished the season in relegation form but thankfully we are judged over a whole season! It has been said many times that the table doesn't lie and I agree with that - we were worthy of our ninth place and, end of season disappointment aside, I am very happy with that. And our poor finish could actually be beneficial in the long run - ML can now see with absolute clarity what he needs to do in the Summer and will hopefully complete the deals he wants to in the close season. A couple of strikers who can work with Michu to convert all the chances we make will see us in good shape for next season. We have coped without an out and out striker all season (Moore - too lazy, Shecter - too lightweight, Party Boy Graham - too pissed and crap and Leroy Lita - too Leroy Lita!) Also put into the mix that Laudrup hasn't really had the time to build his own side - made some great signings but on the whole has had to work with the inherited players left him by Brenda Blarney Stone! Would love it if we could sign Aspas, and if we manage to get Lukaku on loan would be overjoyed - would also love a bit of a beast in central defence! But it's really not all gloom and doom, will remain optimistic and, although I totally agree with most of the opinions on this thread, am really looking forward to some surprises during the Summer - Europa League next season could make it our hardest yet, but it is also something that could attract a higher class of player. Yes, our run in has been poor in terms of results but, on the whole, not in terms of performance (the woeful first half against Wigwam being a notable exception). So let's put it behind us and celebrate ninth position and our first major trophy in ages!
Very disappointed with the result, thought it was a little unjust, but Fulham had the perfect game plan - let us pass it around and then caught us on the break; and they played the ref (a very poor display again from Mr Mason) superbly! What was missing was an out and out striker - we created some beautiful chances but had no-one clinical enough to put them away. We all know that this has been our problem this season - if it wasn't for Michu who knows where we would be. You couldn't fault our commitment, but that killer instinct in front of goal was missing. But don't agree with some who say that our 9th position flattered to deceive; yes we finished the season in relegation form but thankfully we are judged over a whole season! It has been said many times that the table doesn't lie and I agree with that - we were worthy of our ninth place and, end of season disappointment aside, I am very happy with that. And our poor finish could actually be beneficial in the long run - ML can now see with absolute clarity what he needs to do in the Summer and will hopefully complete the deals he wants to in the close season. A couple of strikers who can work with Michu to convert all the chances we make will see us in good shape for next season. We have coped without an out and out striker all season (Moore - too lazy, Shecter - too lightweight, Party Boy Graham - too pissed and crap and Leroy Lita - too Leroy Lita!) Also put into the mix that Laudrup hasn't really had the time to build his own side - made some great signings but on the whole has had to work with the inherited players left him by Brenda Blarney Stone! Would love it if we could sign Aspas, and if we manage to get Lukaku on loan would be overjoyed - would also love a bit of a beast in central defence! But it's really not all gloom and doom, will remain optimistic and, although I totally agree with most of the opinions on this thread, am really looking forward to some surprises during the Summer - Europa League next season could make it our hardest yet, but it is also something that could attract a higher class of player. Yes, our run in has been poor in terms of results but, on the whole, not in terms of performance (the woeful first half against Wigwam being a notable exception). So let's put it behind us and celebrate ninth position and our first major trophy in ages!
Its not doom and gloom at all but its a welcome end to the season for me. As the OP said, we always have this way of ****ing up against teams that are our equal,teams that we should be getting something against,very frustrating. Now we could say that Fulham took their goals well but we could also say that we were sloppy as **** at the back, which we were!! you cant have your centre halves playing attacking midfield and expect to keep your shape, you will become ragged because your focus is not on the job 100% Laudrup is going to bring in a few players and I get the feeling there may be a few suprises in the summer, mental application is lacking in games and motivation is an issue.
I'm torn - a lot to like about the performance but at the same time if someone would ask me who the man of the match was then I'd be hard pressed. It felt liek, consistently throughout the team, there was something missing for everyone. Chico was taking too many risks, could have given away a penalty very early on, and Ash was ploughing upfront whenever he could. The three wingers did some good stuff - Hernandez had a pretty good half hour in the second half - but the final ball fell short. The crossing does need work - too often they are having to cut back onto their stronger foot to cross and the ball goes behind the attackers or Michu was having to battle with Hangeland in the air. Really we should have been playing around him rather than challenging him in the air. There were some strops, understandable when the ref was as weak (one sided) as he was, but that meant discipline went out the window.
Haven't had a drop. No one likes a defeat and I know you care passionately but a title like that invites trouble. From now on when I write a serious football thread I will choose my words very carefully considering some of the people we get posting on this forum.
That pretty much sums up our inept forward line, not a lot to shout home about aye, hope all that lot will be gone this summer, agree with the rest of your post too Cartoon!.................... PS: Dilli what do you know about football? write a seriouse article? oh my sides, stop it will you!.......................
You write what you like mate, as I said to Bony(hence why I said you aint read the thread) Emmbarrasing was a bit harsh,dissapointing was better !! It was emmbarrasing to see how poor we were at finishing and it was also embarrassing to see how terrible our shape was at the back resulting in 2 goals conceded, now I know for a fact we don't normally defend this way so please tell me what possessed chico and ash to keep running up the other end of the field trying to score 30yrd shots into the top corner etc,etc ? Dissapointing to lose the game of course, but like many have said, overall we have to be thankful for a good season, trouble is that there are a few of our team who have exactly that attitude and its gonna sting us next year if they think they are good enough to play in Europe and grind out results in the prem league. Its important they don't get a whiff of "too good to go down" Ash certainly has that about him in the last few games so do a few others, nothing wrong with keeping the players honest
[/Quote] Now we could say that Fulham took their goals well but we could also say that we were sloppy as **** at the back, which we were!! you cant have your centre halves playing attacking midfield and expect to keep your shape, you will become ragged because your focus is not on the job 100%.[/QUOTE] Agree NJ - Ash was missing in action for the first goal, and we got caught out far too easily for the second and third. But if we had equalized during the 25 minutes of the second half when we were totally dominant then we would have gone on to win the game - but we didn't, and we didn't (if that makes sense!) But if ML gets what he wants over the Summer then the start to next season cannot come quick enough!
the problem is we have been very poor for a long time and its worrying that in all that time laudrup and the players always say the same things in the press after a bad game that we must improve and nothing happens....that is not a good sign for a manager that he cant change the way we have been playing or recognize why we have been poor.... Im not convinced our football has improved at all from last season, we look a lot worse...
He reckons he aint touched a drop Dragon .. He hasn't touched a drop because anything under 1 litre don't count I reckon
You must be watching a different team to me fella, I think we have seen a development of the team over the season. Sometimes we are sublime sometimes we are average, our patchy performances are normally within 90mins and very often Laudrup has made changes that have changed games so to say he cant change the way we have been playing is total fantasy IMO. I have seen a massive improvement from the Rodgers "keep ball at all costs" type football, everybody knew we couldn't go into this season playing that way or we would be relegated by Xmas!! we needed to move it quicker and play it faster and overall we have done that very well. compare how a team would play us under Rodgers end of season, we would play it in front of them from side to side until the opposition got bored and made a mistake,under Laudrup the idea is to play it through teams one moment and then around them the next and then behind them after that!! There is a big difference in the chances we create under Laudrup to the chances we created under Brenden,surely you can see the difference Dai ?
De Guzman would be an improvement on what we currently have, but I trust in Jol to find us a suitable CM for next year. Add us to a long list of clubs hoping we can sign next years Michu. I think Jol will be here next year and I hope he is. The next few years will be difficult as we complete the transition for Roy's team and we need stability. One very bright spot though is our under 18s winning a second national title - we have quality young players in our academy and hopefully we'll start to see them next season. Seems the Swans have just as many doom-mongers as we do. Stay positive guys, you had a great year (we'd love that cup you have!).
I was thinking, and comparing the two styles of play under Rodgers and Laudrup, and while I like the greater emphasis on attack we have now, it has come at a cost, and I should imagine to our historic passing stats and possession, which is why we have had so many draws this season, plus we no longer keep the ball as we did, due to the increased offensive tempo!....................
