verlaine1979

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.

Can someone who has actually gone through the accounts released in the past few years shed any light on whether the owner has actually taken any money out of the club?

Absolutely this. The entire back-end of last season we struggled for goals, except on the odd occasion when the opposition were so abject that we could help ourselves. In the first half of the season the defence were incredibly good (and we got incredibly lucky with some penalty decisions etc) but we weren't especially high scoring, and I remember at the time thinking that some of the results were pretty fortunate with us scoring an unusually high % of our chances (Swansea, Stoke, Hull). This season looks like more of the same, with the majority of balls either going long or wide, and generally taking an age to get there in the latter case. The team is crying out for someone who can pick up the ball on half-way and drive to the edge of the box, as without one it seems we'll continue to pass in front of rather than through teams.

Yes, that's exactly what everyone is saying. With two years still left next summer there's no chance of his value being reduced just as a function of contract duration, and there's every chance that with another good year his value will increase further compared to today.

Pione Sisto, the young player mentioned in the article above, has a pretty good highlights reel.

I think mostly it's out of blind hope that he'll create more there than the current incumbents in that position. From his cameo last weekend, I'd be surprised if Romeu lost his place alongside VW any time soon - he seems to have a combination of physical presence, concentration and reasonable mid-range passing that make him a bit of a cut-price Schneiderlin. Clasie on the other hand has a reputation for hard work, defensive tenacity & excellent passing that at least, on paper, make him sound like an upgrade on our current first choice 3rd CM, who has the hard work but not the passing quality. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally players do get signed with a different position in mind (e.g. when Man Utd signed Anderson he was being hailed as the new Ronaldinho, but they converted him into a defensive midfielder).

Why couldn't Clasie provide defensive quality while being a much better passer of the ball than Davis? If anything, the Dutch contingent questioned Clasie's attacking qualities, not his work rate or defensive capacity - I'd still play him ahead of Davis once he's fit though for the simple reason that Davis already doesn't score or assist, so if we're not losing out on the work rate by playing Clasie, we might as well *try* and find out if he's got a goal or a killer pass in him...

Defence was poor, but we know that's going to be reinforced. Missed quite a few decent chances, but they all came from set pieces. The real problem for me is the absolute lack of connection between midfield and attack. When we pick up the ball in midfield, 9 times out of 10 the same thing will happen - whoever has it will look around for a few seconds, then inevitably dump it wide. Compared with the way Everton played today, there's absolutely no variety in our attack. Everton used their fullbacks when appropriate, but the likes of Barkley and Kone weren't afraid to turn and drive at our defence, committing players and creating overloads elsewhere. We've had this problem for more than two seasons, and haven't looked to address it at all this summer unless Juanmi converts from the on-the-shoulder striker he appears to be.

Reminds me of that West Brom game from a couple of seasons ago. We just seem to have no answer to their running power in attack - Lukaku & Barkley seem untouchable. We've also been typically indecisive in attack, with the usual suspects moving the ball far too slowly & always looking to push it wide with no variation (compare how many times Everton have already attacked centrally).

I think we've been caught on the counter from our own corners more in the first two games of this season than we were all of last. Clyne used to stay back for those, right?

I doubt Schneiderlin's highlight reel would be all that exciting, barring a couple of good goals in the last two seasons. Romeu looks strong, determined and can pass well with both feet over short and medium distances. Long range passing looked a bit hit and miss - some excellent MS-esque diagonals, some overhit - though on a game by game basis I don't think Morgan hit every single long ball attempt to feet. If Romeu is genuinely fit and unaffected by his prior injury, I think he'll fit in to the team very well. However, since he doesn't have much of a scoring record compared to Morgan, it means Davis or whoever gets that third CM slot will have to contribute a lot more to the attacking stats than they did last season. It's a moot point while he's injured, but I wonder if they are going to try and convert Clasie to the role Davis has been playing - as a former DM he'd certainly know how to press and tackle and provide the energy Davis is known for, but by reputation he is a far more incisive passer, so might create more than Davis has managed the last few seasons.

Why would they oblige though? Generally speaking, the less players cost in transfer fees as they approach the end of their contracts, the more they can ask for in signing bonuses. If you were confident of a move to a big club in the next year and you knew your remaining contract life had approximately halved your transfer value (as it did with Clyne), signing a new 1 year contract would be the equivalent of handing over several million pounds in return for a salary increase that might amount to 1-2m maximum.

Looks strong and a reasonable passer with both feet. Wonder if we could move Clasie further forward in place of Davis or JWP, where his ability with through-balls etc might be better utilised?

Doubt it - Mascherano is pretty much the only DM I can think of who has successfully converted to a regular CB.

Worth remembering that we robbed them in that game with more or less our only two strikes on goal. Newcastle have spent heavily this summer as they have a new manager and needed to catch up with squads like ours and Swansea's, as have several other lower-mid table teams.

I see you comprehend facetiousness about as well as you understand football. I'm slightly curious as to why you haven't noticed that you expend an identical amount of energy responding to every one of my criticisms, but I fear your answer would get weirdly emotional and I'd prefer to spare you the upset.

It's cute that you think I must have some kind of personal vendetta against him, but I don't. I just think he's hugely overrated on this site, and somebody needs to point that out whenever all the mystifying 'he's so important' rubbish commences. Davis is a decent pro who has had a decent career without ever being exceptional, and certainly without ever coming close to being the most underrated player in the league. Over the last year he's made an increasing number of defensive mistakes, giving the ball away and not covering his man on crosses, so the defensive/hard work arguments that used to prevail when his lack of attacking productivity was raised no longer hold water. In his Premier League career, Davis has produced a goal or assist once every 10.2 games; Gylfi Sigurdsson's average is 2.6. Maybe I'm being unfair in asking that we maybe reach parity with Swansea in our attacking central midfield options, but hey, you've got to dream big, eh? Perhaps your footballing ideal is incredibly hard working British players of limited talent, but if so, you might be supporting the wrong club. After all, our greatest icon was known more for his skill than his graft...

Funnily enough he was on the field last season for West Brom at home, Man City at home, Burnley at home, Swansea at home, Liverpool at home, West Brom away, Everton away, Stoke, Sunderland & Leicester away and pretty much every other game where as an attacking force we were missing 'something'.