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Pretty poor game last night. Can't keep the ball, passing appalling in the first half, Caulker doesn't look good, Yoshida looks out of his depth, Pelle was whinging most of the night, dear oh dear!
It will be a long season and I am not expecting much at this rate. Being knocked out of the Europa League could be a blessing.
It will be a long season and I am not expecting much at this rate. Being knocked out of the Europa League could be a blessing.
I thought Caulker was hit and miss. Disallowed goal was a joke, it should have stood (would in the Prem). Yoshida had a howler of a first half, presumably because he's a left-footed centre back being asked to play RB, when we have RB's sitting on the bench. Second half he did his best (as he usually does, in fairness), but Martina would have been much better. Pelle had a similar game to Everton - not doing anything wrong as such, though his touches and flick ons didn't come off at all. Mane was everywhere, but sadly lacked his shooting or even his passing boots. Romeu had a better game, but he and Vic really need to get to know each other.
Ward-Prowse will struggle to get game time this season IMO, especially when you consider Clasie's yet to return, Davis is usually always guaranteed a start and we often use J-Rod, Mane and Long in an attacking midfield role anyway. Then there's Juanmi and Tadic to contend with. Wouldn't be an issue so much if we played three or four across the park, but we don't - we usually two in DM and three in AM. No space that I can see for JWP unless you play him as a CAM (like last night), which doesn't work because an attacking midfielder tends to need to be able to do more than take a good free kick or pass it sideways to the player closest to him, which is all JWP does. Not sure what's holding him back, we'd all be delighted to see him suddenly kick it up a gear, but I really don't think he will.
As for the Prem, I think we'll finish 11th or 12th and get knocked out of EL on the away fixture to midgetland, or the group stage following it. Mane & Big Vic to leave next summer (Reed to fill Vic's spot), along with J-Rod if he gets his form back this season, which is too early to tell at the moment. Swansea, Palace and West Ham are going to give us a run this year, Everton will get their form back, Loserpool and Spuds will pull away and that'll be that. Doesn't bother me as long as it's not a result of not trying on our part - if we do our best and that's all we can achieve, we should be happy and look to kick on from there.
Ward-Prowse will struggle to get game time this season IMO, especially when you consider Clasie's yet to return, Davis is usually always guaranteed a start and we often use J-Rod, Mane and Long in an attacking midfield role anyway. Then there's Juanmi and Tadic to contend with. Wouldn't be an issue so much if we played three or four across the park, but we don't - we usually two in DM and three in AM. No space that I can see for JWP unless you play him as a CAM (like last night), which doesn't work because an attacking midfielder tends to need to be able to do more than take a good free kick or pass it sideways to the player closest to him, which is all JWP does. Not sure what's holding him back, we'd all be delighted to see him suddenly kick it up a gear, but I really don't think he will.
As for the Prem, I think we'll finish 11th or 12th and get knocked out of EL on the away fixture to midgetland, or the group stage following it. Mane & Big Vic to leave next summer (Reed to fill Vic's spot), along with J-Rod if he gets his form back this season, which is too early to tell at the moment. Swansea, Palace and West Ham are going to give us a run this year, Everton will get their form back, Loserpool and Spuds will pull away and that'll be that. Doesn't bother me as long as it's not a result of not trying on our part - if we do our best and that's all we can achieve, we should be happy and look to kick on from there.
Everton game was dire. Usual story, go behind and can't wrestle the game back. When we score first we usual go on to comfortably win at home. Didn't watch last night, but at least we didn't lose.
Newcastle was pretty good , as was the last Europa game.
I'm staying positive, although think we will be behind where we are last season. I fear he has bought a few too many average players, which is fine to step in when there are plenty of injuries, but they lack much needed class.
Must get centre back. Come on Van Dijk.
Newcastle was pretty good , as was the last Europa game.
I'm staying positive, although think we will be behind where we are last season. I fear he has bought a few too many average players, which is fine to step in when there are plenty of injuries, but they lack much needed class.
Must get centre back. Come on Van Dijk.
Total guff. Going to be a long season! We've only played at 75% of capacity once this season, and that was against Vitesse at home. Away we ran at 50%, but that's all we needed to do.
Everton, Newcastle, Watford....been s
te against them all. Not confident going into any game at the moment. Yes it's early days etc, and yes we were spoiled a bit last season, but right now my prediction is half right - that we'd be out of Europe last night. The other half (finishing 11th or 12th) I'm really not sure about. I think we'd do well not to finish in the bottom three right now!
Last night? Pelle was pretty good with the scraps he was fed. J-Rod (understandably) off the pace, but even I was surprised how much given how I saw him play against Espanyol in the friendly. Martina was ok, and Maart didn't especially do anything wrong (not sure what Owen Hargreaves issue is with him! Did he fk his Mrs or something?).....erm......the rest were terrible really. Midfield were mostly passengers, even Fonte had a bad day. Yoshida and Fonte's positioning was dire, all JWP could do was shoot just outside the box, right at the legs of a defender instead of trying to take a touch and catch them on the turn before shooting, and every ball that fell to Pelle was at chest height. Fine, Pelle's good at controlling the ball with his chest (not his fking hand, ref!) but somebody needs to be there ready to pick up the scraps. I have a feeling Long would have been that guy, but he didn't come on until 70th odd minute so couldn't do much.
Genuinely, I've got no issue being knocked out. We've been punching above our weight for sometime and it's been a brilliant ride so far. But what really fks me off is playing that badly, whoever the opposition was. Worst bit is Koeman blaming the ref. Yes, he was crap, but it doesn't excuse the way we played.
Like I said, guff.
Everton, Newcastle, Watford....been s
te against them all. Not confident going into any game at the moment. Yes it's early days etc, and yes we were spoiled a bit last season, but right now my prediction is half right - that we'd be out of Europe last night. The other half (finishing 11th or 12th) I'm really not sure about. I think we'd do well not to finish in the bottom three right now!Last night? Pelle was pretty good with the scraps he was fed. J-Rod (understandably) off the pace, but even I was surprised how much given how I saw him play against Espanyol in the friendly. Martina was ok, and Maart didn't especially do anything wrong (not sure what Owen Hargreaves issue is with him! Did he f
k his Mrs or something?).....erm......the rest were terrible really. Midfield were mostly passengers, even Fonte had a bad day. Yoshida and Fonte's positioning was dire, all JWP could do was shoot just outside the box, right at the legs of a defender instead of trying to take a touch and catch them on the turn before shooting, and every ball that fell to Pelle was at chest height. Fine, Pelle's good at controlling the ball with his chest (not his fking hand, ref!) but somebody needs to be there ready to pick up the scraps. I have a feeling Long would have been that guy, but he didn't come on until 70th odd minute so couldn't do much.Genuinely, I've got no issue being knocked out. We've been punching above our weight for sometime and it's been a brilliant ride so far. But what really f
ks me off is playing that badly, whoever the opposition was. Worst bit is Koeman blaming the ref. Yes, he was crap, but it doesn't excuse the way we played.Like I said, guff.
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