verlaine1979

Where are people getting the idea that he's already rich enough that money doesn't mean anything to him? I'm sure he's got a couple of million in the bank, which makes him approximately as wealthy has half the right-to-buy lottery winners who acquired houses in zones 1&2 during the late 80s... There's a long way to go between there and genuine f*** you money.

If he does go, it'll be because he's been told that the (seemingly reasonable) £50-60m before reinvestment you propose is more like the £10-20m of previous summers. And while £100m doesn't guarantee anything if you waste it, if you spend it well like Sevilla, Dortmund etc, there's no reason why that outlay (assuming the figure isn't inflated to include salary outlay etc) couldn't make you at least competitive for the last CL place.

Surely it's more likely the case that we've just given him a massive pay raise in return for increasing his release clause to something that would make all but the very top clubs think twice?

Agree, Forster absolutely hesitated because Kane was moving towards the ball. If you have to stop/change direction in order during a passage of play, you're surely already 'active'?

Maybe the fact that his passing was largely woeful, and that with pretty much freedom of the Villa half, he didn't really make a penetrating run into the box until about the 80th minute? Still, he always looks like he's taking the game seriously and he's got a nice salt-of-the-earth nickname, so he must be good, right?

Not sure a couple of Tadic back-heels after 80+ minutes when we (were) 1-3 up really counts as a decent passing game. For most of the match our passing in the final third has been very sloppy.

Yup, as an attacking team, we don't have a problem with style we have a problem with personnel, which means we more or less have to default to crosses from wide as our main source of chance creation. This game has been almost laughably open in the middle, but Davis has been completely anonymous as an attacking force - if he was ever capable of running a game from #10, surely it would be this one?

Would like to see Romeu come on. Seems to be the only one of our CMs who shows up in the box during open play.

Our attacking play in the final third is woeful. So much possession, so little movement, so few penetrating passes.

Besic looked excellent during the last world cup, and I was annoyed we weren't in for him as a replacement for MS. Haven't seen much of him since, so interested to see how he does today.

God forbid anyone's talent should see them descend into cliché.

Nice finish, but the attacking play was almost as comical as the defending.

And one of the main reasons why the machine can be so very dull to watch for large stretches of the season...

I think you're mixing it up with 'pillage'.

JWP seems to be first choice penalty-taker when he's on the field, but that's probably the case less than 50% of the time. Based on ability to strike the ball cleanly and likelihood to be on the pitch, I'd have thought VVD should be asked to put in extra practice as our regular penalty taker. On the subject of Davis, his passing was rubbish today apart from a nice ball that won Pelle's penalty, but as you say, he wasn't alone in contributing to an abject first half performance in midfield.

Good grief, you do love a drama, don't you?

Leaving aside the fact that he's a hugely over-rated propaganda footballer for a moment, I was referring specifically to the run of games since he came back into the team against Swansea. Look back through the match threads - quite a lot of criticism of his wayward passing and general sloppiness in possession.

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.