verlaine1979

If Vic comes back, drop Davis and keep Romeu & Clasie in the side. SD has been toss in possession for the last couple of weeks, one well-struck corner aside, so it's not as if we'd lose any attacking potency.

The first successful cutback takes the ball onto his right foot with the goal completely open The hesitation isn't because he's forgotten what country he's playing in, it's because he doesn't feel confident striking the ball with his right, which you can tell because he takes a further tiny touch on his right before he tries for the second unsuccessful cutback. Criminal lack of confidence in what should be basic technique.

That is f-ing unbelievable. Not confident enough with his right foot to place the ball 5 yards into an unguarded net.

Blimey, even one of his flicks just came off!

Isn't this the exact formation we played against Chelsea when they comprehensively steam-rollered us for about 70 minutes? Playing five at the back with a midfield containing 2 DMs and Davis is just too conservative against sides with decent creative players. No outlet and no central attacking threat invites constant pressure, which is exactly what we saw with Chelsea camped on the edge of our box for the majority of the game (65% possession and more than twice as many shots).

The issue comes when people start mistaking a great run of results for a great run of performances.

Pretty abject, apart from a very crisp finish at the death. If you put VVD in central midfield or up front he'd probably be our best player in those positions too. Says a lot about his talent, and a lot about the rest of the squad.

This is dire so far.

We were on a good run, but to say we bossed the last 6-7 game before these two losses just isn't true. We had good results against Watford and Palace, and then went on a run of sneaking wins and draws by the odd goal, helped in no small amount by a couple of superhuman performances from FF. Last night is what happens when the defence of a team that doesn't score enough goals stops performing miracles.

Crosses have been our main/only offensive weapon pretty much all season (and the latter half of last season too). We don't have anyone with the skill or composure to run a game through the middle.

Of course, the only reason this is being commented on is the fact that Pelle consistently chooses to go for the elaborate flick rather than fight to hold up the ball. If Saturday's error was just a one-off I'd imagine most people would be forgiving, but in Pelle's case there's a clear pattern of behaviour that he refuses to learn from.

All the criticism of Pelle I've read subsequent to this game has been about his repeated decision to go for a poorly executed flick rather than trying to control the ball and then fight to keep hold of it. At that juncture in the game, you send on a good solid 'old school' centre forward because you want the ball to stick rather than immediately coming back after every clearance, so to play the way he did on Saturday was basically either lazy or stupid.

The most egregious thing yesterday wasn't the flicks (which he's been doing without success for about the last 18 months in case anyone hadn't noticed) but the fact that it was such a simple pass to Cedric that he ballsed up - it was a five yard sidefoot to an open man, and he managed to underhit it allowing Kenedy to intercept. Pelle's biggest problem is that he's careless, which is forgiveable if you're a 1 in 3 striker, but not if you're the kind who can go ten games or more without a goal.

Did we create any chances of note other than Long's header over the bar, and the goal (which was an absolute gift from Baba)? I thought we looked comfortable at the back in the first half, but disjointed in attack throughout, which worsened when Pelle came on. Lots of hopeful crosses, not a lot of quality. Davis had two bright moments in attack, but was a complete liability in possession. Once Willian and Hazard started getting on the ball in the second half, they pretty much battered us for 40 minutes.

Yeah, the flicks are a bit of a joke at this point. It's probably getting on for a year since one of them even ended up with us retaining possession, let alone resulted in us slicing open the opposition defence.

Davis giving one of his non-performances. Bring on JWP for the additional set-piece threat?

Not sure mobility is the main issue with Pelle. He's been in position to see plenty of the ball over the last two games, but almost nothing has stuck to him. His first touch has either been technically poor, allowing his CB to nip round the side and snatch it away, or he has deliberately attempted an incredibly low-margin flick which he either muffs or which doesn't find one of our players. The latter is something he's been guilty of the whole time he's been here, but of more concern is the fact that he now seems to regularly get bullied in absolutely straightforward hold-up situations.

He seemed to be attempting yet another first-time flick. When was the last time one of those paid off? I remember one during the first couple of games of last season (did Schneiderlin score it maybe?), but since then his insistence on trying to be a one-touch target man invariable seems to end in us surrendering possession.

I hope this Davis at RWB experiment doesn't last beyond half time. On this evidence Cedric would offer more both in defence and attack.

I watched it again on the off-chance that I'd missed something, but you're wrong. As Wanyama's legs slide between Payet's legs, the studs of both boots are clearly visible (if you want to check for yourself, it's the second slow-mo angle on MOTD). Doesn't really matter whether the challenge was ill-intentioned or just poorly executed, if you end up with both legs outstretched and you so much as clip the other player, 9 times out of 10 you're going to get sent off for dangerous play.

Watching it on the stream, I didn't think Wanyama deserved more than a yellow, but seeing replays, the studs of both boots are showing as he follows through on the tackle. You don't have to actually break someone's ankle for it to be classified as dangerous play, and he deserved to go. Byram should've gone too, but was fortunate insofar as neither he nor Bertrand went to ground, making the whole incident look a bit less serious than VW sliding for a couple of yards with both feet off the deck.

Some great individual performances, but didn't think the performance was that good, except insofar as resisting a battering is always good on some level. Last 25 mins of the first half and up to the sending off in the second, we were under the cosh. Lovely to see Yoshida get a goal, but in possession his instinct is always to go long or go back to the keeper, which invites pressure as often as not. Pelle also hugely off the pace. Still, a win, so who cares?

Most annoying this was it all came about because of a ball that he should've controlled easily, and which would've given us a real attacking opportunity with a simple pass.

This really isn't any different to how he's played since about September.

But for two world-class saves they'd be 2-0 up.