We won back to back games 1-0 at home in his first season (West Brom and Everton I think). Okaka changed both games when he came on and we scored shortly afterwards.
Got a lot of love for Big Stef. A walking enigma of a footballer. A big lump with an angel's touch on occasion. The immovable object with players bouncing off him one game, falls over when brushed by a feather the next.
It how most teams play but we aren't Barcelona or Man City.. None of our defenders are comfortable on the ball - we probably had better in the GT days !
I think if we were well in the **** he might be forced into action. Though I agree if we look generally safe there's next to no chance.
Another one of our 'OK' performances, played some decent stuff but rarely looked threatening, and are always liable to concede a goal or two. Seen the same game dozens of times over the last few years!
Best team for 60mins but never looked like scoring, we seemed to have more skill, pride and better work rate than last week Gerry D looked ok , not sure why he was taken off Bobby P looked almost ok but still lacking a bit , am starting to think he isn’t all that Hughes don’t think he is as bad as people make out, but wasn’t great today Doucs didn’t think he was up to much at all today, Capoue , if only one of his long range shots would go in Defence looked ok for lots of the game but certainly not all of the game Deeney , I thought he looked ok (am expecting loads of grief for this statement) , think he was causing grief and knocking the ball down to the other players. I think the problem is that he is not a natural goal scorer anymore and we don’t have anybody with the instinct to pick it up off deeney and stick it in the back of the net. What we need is a good old fashion goal hanger but none of our players ever seem to be in the box at the right time 2 games down , no points and not convinced we will ever score , I really hope that Sarr knows where the back of the net is
Very much looked last weekend that other teams had cracked the 4-4-2 with inverted wingers, and this has done little to convince otherwise. Poor start to the season, but I'm not too concerned yet, from the players we bought it looks like we'll try and adjust the formation at least a little bit. Hopefully Sarr will come in and either Hughes or Quina will make a three in the midfield. Naturally I don't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Arsenal and Man U, did Welbz ever lead the line alone? Should be a better option when fit than Deeney
Missed most of pre-season and barely fit to play last week. Still 36 games to go. Looked alright today but hardly had Everton crapping themselves. Probably a combination of all 3.
On train on the way back and must say we weren’t really that bad today, could’ve easily picked up what would of been a fair point. Having said that, I just have this overriding feeling this is the year that Pozzo complacency might take us down. It’s such a competitive division with ambitious owners spending a small fortune chasing Europe, the clubs that have come up are really good and very tactically astute. I just honestly don’t really see three teams worse than us. Foster, Femenia, Cathcart, Dawson and Holebas would all struggle to get into any other premier league side, it’s just nowhere near good enough it doesn’t matter who the coach is. Deeney is finished, Gray will never be a proper scorer at this level as he doesn’t have the touch or composure. The midfield which is probably the only area where we truly have premier league standard players, is horrible imbalanced as a flat 4 and effectively have no hope of controlling a game when they are used as workhorses chasing loose balls to sweep to the fullbacks. It’s their money and they can do what the **** they want, but I’m so sure this is the year. We’re honestly miles off it, however good Sarr *may* be when he gets used to England which could be months. We’re in a prime position to do a Stoke, West Brom or Swansea. Get complacent in this league and ambitious and innovative smaller clubs will overtake you in no time at all. I love the Pozzos and I will be grateful whatever happens - but we are sleepwalking to the Championship and there’s not a whole lot we can do to change that with this coach and this group of players.
By the way this is not a knee jerk reaction to two games as that would be outrageous. But we’ve been pretty awful for a while - we are lucky a strong start last year kept us away from any danger but we won’t have that luxury this time round.
Like others have said, wasn’t awful for 90 minutes although there was some truly laughable defending in there. First things first, Foster + Femenia + Cathcart + Dawson + Holebas = £9 million in transfer fees at best maybe? It’s not good enough at this level. Money isn’t everything as you can find value sometimes but the skimping there is evident in the performances now. Midfield is clearly our strongest part of the squad so let’s focus the line up there. I don’t think the inverted wingers are helping the defence like they’re designed too - no clean sheet in 16 is clear evidence of that. Yes our defenders aren’t top notch but with better tactics I’m sure they’re capable of keeping at least one clean sheet. I’d go to a midfield three. Any one of Hughes, Cleverley, Chalobah or Quina could do a job in between the obvious two. Has to happen ASAP. I also remember last season a few of us saying some performances were masked by us nicking a result with a worldie of a goal, that’s not happening this season. 4-3-3. Uncomplicate the full backs jobs for them and let’s crack on. Not time for Javi to go just yet, he deserves time to change the shape. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
But wasn’t what did for all those ‘complacent’ clubs the fact their fan bases and/or owners demanded changes to their successful (if not dull) formulas and with it they lost the plot? Stoke and WBA chasing a style of football and a succession of more attractive managers and failing completely. Swansea by trying to reach the next level by overhauling their squad too much and buying complete dross. It’s no coincidence WBA (Chinese) and Swansea (American) were bought by new majority owners and went down shortly afterwards.
Overreaction? The teams coming up certainly aren't as bad as the bottom three last year, but they're also not like Wolves were when they came up, and there are teams like Newcastle and Palace who are worse than this time last year. Ultimately our defence and Foster as a whole are bottom half to relegation level, our forwards are average for this level (not including Sarr and Welbeck, we'll see how they get on but I'm sure they'll be an upgrade on what we had last season) and our midfield is very good. I wouldn't worry yet unless we see similar performances with our new guns in the team, and even if we do, I trust the Pozzos have some plans up their sleeve (whether that involves a new manager or new players)
Hit the post, Deeney through one on one and Doucoure missed an open goal. Clearly the first to results are disappointing but your first statement about next to no chances is simply not correct. There were other half chances as well so there definite positives but you are certainly correct about the defence being a tad shaky
It’s just so archaic. We’re in a league full of the best coaches in the world who are fully engaged with some of the most detailed tactical plans football has ever seen. We think they are going to be phased by Craig Cathcart hoofing balls to Deeney. It’s just not going to happen. It’s so predictable and it’s so easy to play against. So many of our goals last year were from pressing and winning the ball high up the pitch as we lack genuine build up play, but teams are playing through our press with such ease we don’t really have any true attacks. Femenia is our best ball progresser over the past year. It’s tragic.
We had little spells in the first half an in the 2nd half we battled with little quality. Thats it really Change of formation needed
Foster looks rickety as a termite ridden bed. Since Arsenal, he's gone from a top 10 keeper to a relegation standard keeper with his assured and composed performance just gone. I don't understand how he's fallen so far so quickly, but while he certainly isn't the only one to have gone off form he is one of the larger reasons I think we're struggling. He's begun to routinely let soft goals in and have more near misses too. The ball he misjudged, bounced over him.and he just managed to hold it before it could be knocked in for a 2nd is something you would be disappointed in a Under 14 keeper, let alone a first team Premier League goalkeeper and would have been unthinkable it would happen to him before thay that fateful game. I'm certain it's a confidence related problem but it's not good enough now. We need fresh blood to try to freshen things up as we cannot afford to waste potential points in this league for sentimentality. His kicking has also gone off the boil. I feel less confident in his kicking than Gomes' which is not a glowing endorsement of his ability on that front. He sweeps well most of the time but even that seems to have dried up a bit.
You'll be fine lads. I know you don't like losing to us in particular for reasons already covered ad nauseam but you were ok today. No need to panic at all.
How dare you come on here with your unbridled optimism. Don't you know that quite a few on here love wallowing in their own crapulence and pessimism? After all 2 games is just what is needed to form an unwavering opinion on how the season and players' performances will pan out.
