Getting ahead of myself here a little, but next season I would sell Capoue and play Cleverley in his postion. Then buy a top notch CDM who can also pass and link defence to attack and have Behrami and Doucoure as back up, with Peryera making up the third midfielder. Niang and Success either side of Deeney. We also have a roster of half decent but not brilliant CBs so a top notch CB with good distribution would be next on the shopping list and then a replacement for Holebas. Possibly a new GK although Gomes has been back to his best recently and I love the guy too much. So.... .............................Gomes.................................... Janmaat..............Prodl.....NEW CB.................NEW LB ........................NEW CDM...................................... ...........Cleverley..................Pereyra....................... ....Niang.................................................Success... ..............................Deeney................................... Bench : Zarate, Amrabat, Okaka, Cathcart, Doucoure, Kabasele, Holebas
This is why Nathan Ake would be an exceptional signing for us; he can play all three of those positions you have marked as new. Think he'll be too expensive for us unfortunately.
Yes definitely. He has been super for us in transitioning play but his stats just dont add up. Hes played over 2000 minutes for us and managed only 3 assists and 0 goals. Thats 1 assist every 700 minutes. Its a pattern thats been throughout his career.
That being said I think the new formation would suit Amrabat quite well. Don't forget he played RWB during Troy's lean spell.
We really aren't the first team to have a great first half and a poor second half, especially when the opposition takes a nothing to lose attitude. Let's all just be thankful We got the second goal in the first half which we deserved.
But then why are you looking for a replacement for Holebas, who is way ahead of Amrabat in both the goals and assists department? Methink you are severely underrating four of our most improved players under Mazzarri this season...
Sigh! People seem to forget it's a squad game nowadays, the increased demands on player fitness means no longer can you rely on 11 blokes to get you through a season.
My thoughts on the match MOTM, my head days cleverley but my heart says niang...sensational home debut and no signs as yet of him being the horrible ****** the Milan fans describe. Huge smile on his face from the off. Just a great player to watch. Thank God we have mazzarri to attract this calibre of player. Zarate was not quite so stellar but you could see his class. A huge step up from what we had last season. The progression in our squad quality is crystal clear. I'd like to see doucoure starting ahead of behrami. I think this guy will get better and better with more games. Janmaat frustrated again when he came on. He hasn't done anything to justify a starting place, which is annoying because I think he's one of our best players. Success's cameo also wasn't enough for a starting place yet. We should play the same team v man utd. Our defenders are hoofers, and this game proved Britos is not only to blame. That being said, I'd rather they hoofed it clear than misplaced a short pass and give away goals. Holebas great again, our most improved player this year I think. Thank you to mazzarri for that. Sloppy second half but we are simply complacent. We were so superior to Burnley I can't really blame the players for easing up. The result never felt in doubt at any time until the error right at the death. I am convinced we will beat man utd.
I'm big fan of Holebas LondonOrn. Love his passion , and is the best crosser in the squad . Only reason I said to replace him is partly because he's getting on and also that the rumours from the club are they are looking for left sides defender.
What a difference a week makes as someone else said. We are now talking about the strengths and weaknesses of our players and even looking to next season - what a relief.
I also think we'll beat United. Britos in at left back, keep it ugly, let Niang and Success destroy them at the other end.
Gave us a penalty against Man Utd. I actually think he's a decent ref, they get one fleeting look at an incident, not endless, slow motion replays from several angles, which is why a video ref should be introduced to help them.
Only poor decisions I saw was the penalty and resulting booking which with Prodl's other arm flailing may have looked quite different in real time.
I think we could afford Ake, we've got the Igahlo money which would pretty much cover it, but he'd probably have bigger aspirations than us? (Or Bournemouth) we definitely need to upgrade our CBs, that's the part of the squad that now looks the weakest after the recent upgrades elsewhere. Unfortunately ball playing CBS aren't cheap or that easy to find. It's a shame as 10 years ago before teams pressed so much, Prodl would've easily been a top 6 CB, but his propensity to hoof (along with all of our CBs) shows him up somewhat. With regards to Holebas, he can certainly cross, but I don't think I've ever seen him defend anything? So surely we need to have aspirations beyond that if we are to move forward? Plus the amount of bookings he gets just isn't sustainable.
But it's his defending that gets him the bookings and many of them have happened when we've been particularly exposed and they could well have stopped goals. As a former left back I can tell you fullback is a totally different job nowadays, you aren't always expected to be last man on the flanks (your teammates are expected to cover) and against today's tricky wingers you will get easily get done if all you try to do is stop crosses. Denying time and space for them to pick out a head is often all you can do ... Honestly Robbo and Doyley are yesterdays men, even at their best both would struggle as fullbacks today. Lloyd for all his experience can't even get a game in league 2.
A really good win and very happy to see Mazzari’s reaction to not killing the game off completely, shows he has a winner’s mentality and will not settle for just scraping over the line. Though as others have said it is fine margins, Heaton made at least two top saves that I can remember and on another day another ref might not have given the penalty as it is ‘one of those’. I do think he was right to though as although Prodl’s arm wasn’t out to block it, it was on target and could have stopped a goal and it did travel a fair distance before hitting him. If Niang plays like this consistently he will be worth £30m+ easily, it’s so refreshing to see someone play with a smile on their face and looking forward to make things happen as well. Who’d of thought he can head the ball as well as seemingly being comfortable on both feet. What a cross and finish it was, it also shows that Deeney given the supply will be in the right place and as much as I have defended Amrabat’s crossing it does say a lot that Niang has already put one on his head to score. Cleverley and Watford just seem to fit together, a player who Everton fans slated and celebrated his leaving has come here and transformed us. It’s testament to his mentality as well that he could have put his head down and shied away from the challenge but he has risen to it and you can already see how much his confidence has grown in just a few weeks with us. Zarate looks a very good addition also, I think he will be an ideal option. He probably would have been ideal to come on off the bench and help see the game out as he does seem a clever player who can use the ball well. Doucoure needs to become more intelligent with the ball if he is going to be used to see games out regularly as he gave the ball away a few times cheaply. I’d be tempted against United to play Britos left back with Holebas in front of him and bench Zarate or Janmaat on the right in front of Cathcart and move Niang to the left.
I would like a tennis style challenge system where a team could challenge one decision each half. The panel could be 3 ex-pros and you would need a majority to overturn a decision. If challenge successful you keep one remaining. I think this would add to the excitement as it does that in tennis! You could also have a league of referees where the one with the most overturned decisions would be bottom. It would also cut out any bias from referees and would make a more level playing field.
Agree with most of the above, really hope we can get Niang signed before other teams come sniffing. Cannot praise Cleverley enough, what a quality quality player we have on our hands, something many of us knew about but for one reason or another he was never able to show it at United or Everton, their loss is our gain. Already becoming one of my favourite ever Watford players. I'm still not 100% convinced on Doucouré, however, he is a good option to have on the bench/in the squad. Personally I'd go with the same starting XI we started with against Arsenal.
The worry with Niang is that didn't he himself ask for the automatic purchase clause that was originally planned, to be removed from the deal? That suggests he himself wants to keep his options open about joining us, possibly over a bigger club should they come sniffing.
Don't believe everything you read, it's probably not true. Even if it is, I wouldn't want an automatic purchase clause either, lots of things can happen in a few months to change your mind about a place.
But them thar's not the rules and besides that Gomes had it covered ... Are you also suggesting Prodl's booking was right aswell?
I'm not sure the Pozzo's would get him in on loan if there wasn't a real possibility that he could be signed at the end. I imagine there would be some terms and conditions that would have to be met though, such as staying up and maybe a salary/bonus increase and probably a minimum release clause should a bigger team come sniffing after a season or two.
Where did that come from? I would think that having decided he's surplus to the squad the clause would have been at Milan's insistence, not ours ... and for that I can't see that Niang would have had the choice. (yes I know he could have refused but then he'd rot on the bench)
I don't have a link to the article (I'm sure somebody does) but I'm sure Milan wanted an automatic buy clause if he scored 10 goals, but the player himself insisted it was removed as part of the deal.
There were lots of contradictory articles online from Italian media. I don't think we'll ever know the truth.
