verlaine1979

Romeu is a vastly better passer of the ball than Cork.

I agree - stats from West Brom say we had 15 shots, 4 of which were on target, but were any of them actually nailed on scoring chances other than J-Rods header? JWP blasted on over from the edge of the box towards the middle of the second half (and most certainly should've done better) but it wasn't a foregone conclusion that a strike on target wouldn't have been saved or blocked from that position. Other than that, it was half-chances at best from narrow angles (Tadic, Mane 2nd half).

He's so crucial to the way we play

You're not a particularly nuanced thinker, are you?

So when you say decent, you really mean one of the most highly sought after managers in world football?

Out of interest, how does an AM who doesn't score or create differ from a DM who doesn't score or create?

You're far too emotional... I'm sure he's a lovely bloke, it's just obvious to see why he's no longer in most people's best XI.

It"s because he's been rubbish for about a year now and we need better, hth.

I think Guan or Monk said that before his injury Clasie was training as the most forward of the three central midfielders, though his playing history and the opinions of the Dutch supporters who contribute here all seem to suggest he's a straightforward defensive midfielder. That said, Davis isn't a #10 either, so we're already playing someone in the wrong position there - perhaps the hope is that Clasie will just be less wrong?

Romeu was immense, did everything well in that game, including some really incisive passing. JWP was decent (and gives you hope that Clasie might flourish alongside Romeu if VW goes), while Tadic and Mane looked great on left and right respectively. Juanmi showed a few nice runs and link up attempts in his ten minutes, so perhaps could do a job in attacking midfield? Oh, and on the evidence of the first half, the right player got substituted for Jrod too...

I wonder if there's any chance that a big slice of his fee will become due if he makes many more starts for us?

Discounting the Villa game as an outlier, in our last 17 games last season we scored 15 goals, and this season have scored 2 in 3 - however premature you might think it, over a whole season those would be relegation numbers. My anxiety over our attack this season is not because I think there's been a significant change since last season, but because it feels like the continuation of a very obvious downward trend. From what I've seen Clasie looks an excellent passer, and I really hope he can come into the side as a genuinely creative force, but our Dutch visitors have been pretty adamant in saying he can't play further forward, which is a worry when we're desperately in need of someone to dictate our attacking play.

It's called an ellipsis, they're commonly used to indicate that something not immediately relevant to the quotation has been omitted. As I've said before, your bleeding-heart outrage whenever anyone dares question whether Davis deserves a place as our primary attacking creator is just baffling - far more so than my reasonable criticism that in the last 18 months he's scored no goals and provided a whole 2 assists. JWP's performances have dipped since he returned from injury last season, and he certainly doesn't look like the answer at the moment, but at least he doesn't waft his corners like a gentle back pass to the first defender. Leaving aside the utter blip of the Villa game, in our last 17 games of last season we managed 15 goals. Over a whole season, that would equate to 33/34 goals, which is basically relegation form. You really don't believe our central attacking midfielder doesn't warrant any blame for such poor returns? You really don't believe we'd be better off with someone capable of taking on players and delivering incisive forward passes rather than high percentage safe balls out to the fullbacks or back to the CBs? You're welcome to your own ludicrously misguided point of view, but the figures don't lie - we're desperately short of goals and Davis neither scores nor creates, so we have to do better in that position.

Nah, for all my annoyance at the club's transfer policy in not buying a decent attacking midfielder, I'm happy to accept that Toby probably just fancied playing for a London club with his international teammates. The idea that he'd feel any loyalty or obligation towards us after a season on loan is just silly, and I'm sure the loan conversion terms always depended on the player agreeing to a permanent move. At the end of the day, he chose to go to Spurs rather than us, and I doubt it had anything to do with us 'p*ssing about' or whatever the accusation is. He said he enjoyed his year here, but you can't read anything more into that that politeness.

Six months or so ago, saying exactly this almost got me lynched on here...

We've struggled in attack since Christmas - this is just the lowest point of a steady downward trajectory. We're hugely over-reliant on all of our attacking play going through Pelle, and we have no one behind him (barring Tadic in very occasional flourishes) who can take a player on and create space that way. As it is, we're trying to create space solely by passing it around among ourselves, but with players who are so slow and so conservative that the best positions we ever seem to fashion are crosses from about 20 yards out. If we can't successfully retrain Clasie to play in Davis/JWP's position, this is going to be a horribly dull season to watch.

Can we put in a late bit for Sisto?

I think it's down to the fact that RK has said explicitly that we're only looking to bring in 1 more in at least his last two press conferences.

I said step out, not bomb forward like David Luiz. Toby regularly moved 10-15 yards forward, compressing the midfield before playing a pass with far greater accuracy than any of our current back line seem to be capable. Losing the accuracy of his distribution alone has probably changed our possession game as much as anything.

Considering people have been repeating the 'we don't play with wingers' mantra since the Championship, it's fair to say that we've been relying on the fullbacks to provide width for a lot longer than a season. What does feel increasingly the case though is that now pretty much everything either goes long or goes wide. Without Toby to step out of defence with the ball, Fonte/Yoshida either go for a hoof onto Pelle's head, or the ball gets cycled through to one of our three defensive midfielders (yes, three usually) who pops it out wide to meet the run off a fullback who will just be passing half-way by the time the ball is released.

The slowness and general lack of penetration in our passing isn't a new thing this season. Aside from a purple patch against a woeful Villa, we struggled to create chances throughout the second half of last season. This team is crying out for someone who can pick the ball up at half way and do something with it other than dolly out a ten yard pass to the fullback. As it is, we're stuck with players who want a look at every single option before they release the ball, and who inevitably choose the most conservative option at the end of their deliberations.

Pace from midfield was the only thing lacking in the Lallana/Lambert/Jrod years, and Mane would add that. I'm sure some will argue that this team has just too many goals and assists in it, so needs a plodder put in in place of Mane, but they'd be wrong...

Unsurprisingly Davis proving as ineffective in his preferred position as he has been in defensive midfield. Can we pleased have Juanmi or Tadic on at half time before our forwards lose the will to live?

I thought not. The only instance where I could remember direct involvement from her with our finances was the conversion of another round of debt into equity.