verlaine1979

We're lucky Gray isn't a more selfless player.

He lunges in a lot for one of (presumably) Europe's best readers of the game...

Davis came on and did well in the second half against Bournemouth, and that's practically the only contribution of note he's made all season. The inescapable fact is that our run of low-scoring, tedious games has now stretched on for long enough that even with heavy rotation, pretty much every midfielder in the squad has had a chance to make a mark, and nobody has. Now don't get me wrong, JWP has put in some abject performance of late, but its not as if we've done much better in the league when Davis starts.

Don't remember a huge number of golden chances for us. Tadic hit two wide of the far post in the first half, but you'd have been annoyed to see Forster conceding from those angles. Good save from Sims at the end, but the initial shot from JRod probably should've been pushed further away anyway. Bit weird seeing a consensus emerge that we created loads and were only thwarted by the spurning of easier-to-score chances - not the game I watched at all.

We're obviously not favorites for relegation, but if we keep averaging less than a goal a game we're unlikely to resist getting dragged into the upper reaches of the dogfight.

Not enjoying JWP's performance so far. Looks very uncomfortable trying to play on the left-side of midfield.

Reminds me of the Spurs game - Liverpool camped on the edge of our box and no out ball when we clear it (only without the hell-for-leather first 20 minutes this time).

I see what you're saying, but unfortunately the part of his game you're highlighting is also the most important & difficult to improve. If hard work was enough to to turn you into a creative, incisive passer then presumably there'd be a lot more of them around.

He's not quick enough or a good enough finisher for the top five.

We've looked utterly toothless from the start of the season. This isn't a Christmas slump, it's the continuation of a performance level that has persisted since August with only a few flattering scorelines decieving the optimists. Reminds me of after the boro game when the view that it was a rubbish performance papered over by a world class strike was widely derided. Can the truth of that verdict really be denied now with half the season played and the team averaging a goal from open play only once every other game?

Are you happy with the quality of football we're playing at the moment? If not, do you genuinely believe it is simply a case of the players all unanimously deciding not to put any effort in? Even if that improbable situation were true (rather than the more likely issue with formation & tactics) why would they all suddenly decide to down tools so (un)spectacularly?

It increasingly looks like we're just not good enough to play 4-3-3. We lack the players and the confidence for this formation, so it turns into a turgid 4-5-1 with heavily congested midfield, no options when pressed, and no creativity. There's clearly a reason almost all the mid-table teams in Europe settled on 4-2-3-1 a few years ago and have rarely deviated since... Koeman also turned in some rubbish performances last season, but he wasn't afraid to try different tactics when our standard set-up didnt' seem to be working - it's worrying that Puel doesn't seem to have the same willingness to adapt.

This captures the team's problems pretty well. We're a possession-based team who are scared of being pressed, and it shows in our absolute inability to create chances. When we have the ball, we tend to play it around at the back for fear of someone giving it away, and when we're pressed we just send it back to Forster, who is expected to give it away most of the time, so that's okay. Spurs put us under sustained pressure for periods of five or ten minutes at a time, and even Everton managed it once they improved the quality of balls into Lukaku. I know we've had a few games where we've torn out of the blocks early and put opponents under pressure, but when was the last time we really camped out on the edge of the area the way other teams are doing to us at the moment? We just don't seem to have the nerve or technique for it.

Their young midfielder Davies already looks a fair bit more influential than most of our CMs.

Can we maybe put our best attacker on now, please? It's okay if Boufal is a bit tired on his flight to the AFCON.

Rubbish, Davis was caught dallying in possession more than any other player. Not that JWP did much - midfield lacked strength, pace and drive all game.

Presumably you'd agree though that the margins of success are much wider and more secure with a 4-1 win than a 1-0 win, so it's better to aspire to the former rather than rely on the latter?

Like a lot of our players, he wants a look at every possible pass before committing, which more often than not leads to the easy backwards or sideways one being the only one left open.

Davis, Tadic & JRod all a bit hit and miss as finishers - I'd imagine VVD probably strikes a clean penalty, which is half the battle.

Clasie also put in another good performance, and Boufal once again did his best work centrally. With his close control, link-up play and ability to shoot, he needs to see as much of the ball as possible.

Always great to come from behind to win away from home, especially with JRod getting the deserved reward for his improved performances over the past couple of weeks. Davis put in a better performance than I've seen from him in two years, and if he played like that week in week out, I'd be happy to see his name on the team sheet. Oh, and a special mention for PEH, who was utterly abject in the first half and a powerhouse in the second - impressive to have the character and ability to turn it around like that.

Credit where it's due - lovely from Davis.

Peppering the opposition box with crosses seems to be more or less our only attacking tactic at the moment. It wasn't working particularly well before Austin got injured, and is working even less well now. We're boring because we've become predictable - you could argue that as ineffective as they usually were, Pelle's flicks from long balls at least occasionally carried the potential to wrong-foot the defence and create overlaps. Having Martina and Bertrand lob in hopeful balls from 25 yards out on the wing against a well-set defence is only ever going to lead to comfortable clearances, as we saw for 99% of the game on Wednesday night.

Our movement is pretty poor up front. It all seems very reactive rather than anticipatory - lots of standing still and waiting to see where a pass is going before making any sort of move.

Despite the fact that JWP's passing and movement have been far more incisive than Davis's?