sydney_saint

United are absolutely here for the taking. Just need the ball to drop a bit more kindly for us when attacking. There has been two where it was almost within JWP striking range

Way too early to say. If you ask the various fanbases, there are quite a few that in crisis or expecting relegation. Off the top of my head Everton - look absolutely dreadful and are weaker than last season Bournemouth- probably not strong enough to survive Villa - have spent alot last few seasons, but look a mess under Gerard. Whilst you wouldn't expect them to go down, it's not an impossibility Leicester- Again don't expect them to go down, but not impossible. They are a shambles. Wolves- I personally think are in real trouble. Fans don't like the manager, and their squad largely feels stale. West Ham- too good to go down, but there is discontent Add in Forest, who have had quite an easy start but could struggle with all their new players. Brentford had a bad loss on the weekend depsite their United performance (which let's be honest, United gifted them a couple of goals as good as Brentford were). Fulham have started well but recent history shows they can really capitulate. I could quite easily see three of these sides struggling massively. Or at least, I don't think at the moment there are signs that this will be a season where you need an unusually high amount of points to survive.

Quite alot of positives out of that. Thought all the back 4 did well. Shakey moments of course, but Leicester have alot of good players so that is bound to happen. KWP is just ridiculous, I just love the way he dribbles forward, it's so smooth. I like Djenepo. We all know he isn't quite good enough, but he gives it absolutely everything he has. Of all our attacking players, he is the one I would have had last to filling in as a defender, yet he is the one who has put his hand up and got stuck in. He could easily have sulked from the bench. Mara really looks like has something about him. I like signings like this. You can see exactly why we have taken a punt on him. Who knows how it will work out, but can see the logic behind it. It was the same with Salisu when he joined and now Bella-Kotchap. Which brings me to Moi, who is the opposite of that. I've never really been able to see those raw ingredients. For a player with supposed high technical ability, he scuffs the ball alot, and just doesn't ever really look that dangerous.

Poor from Bazanu. Still, we last 8 minutes into the second half. Technically moving in the right direction?

Just one of our little tactical time outs. He's learning fast!

Assuming a 4-2-2-2. Armstrong and Aribo are first choice. Then Mara. I would also have Djenepo above him if he's not playing fullback. At least Djenepo gets stuck in and sometimes makes things happen. Then there is Redmond as well who I would play before seeing Moi again. Failing all of the above, I would have Lavia and Romeu as the holding mids and push JWP into the 10s. That's how out of the way I would go to avoid seeing him play for us.

Pretty sure this is just about the side most would have started with....

I've always been more in the Ralph in camp. I think some have over exaggerated his performance. He has kept us clear of trouble on a relative shoe string. He has overall been a decent manager for us. But he is done. The identity is clearly gone. We don't press or anything anymore. The players look clueless. The change of formation is clearly an example of him not knowing his squad. He has to go before things get toxic

Time is up

Okay fuck off with this formation. JWP literally had no one to pass to

What's the point of playing 3 centre backs and stifling our attack, if we can't pick up a single player off a simple cross

Cross, Bednarek clueless on who is around him. Every. Fucking. Week.

The kit clash is absolutely dreadful. Who on earth thought it was a good idea having a light yellow colour away kit to go with a white home kit.

I know it's very popular to put the boot into Djenepo. And yeah he isn't good enough for us. But he gets twice as much stick as Elyounoussi, and yet t I would have him in the side every week over Moi. Djenepo at least he looks like he might occasionally make something happen like he did against Spurs. Moi goes missing for 30 minutes at a time, and then pops up to do a weak ball into the box.

He is completely anonymous until he does something shit.

Ref is having a shocker here. I get they want to let the game flow. But that doesn't explain why Leeds are getting the niggly freekicks

The red card was a tricky one. It's a foul as he goes right through Armstrong. But because by giving it, you have to give the red, it wasn't given.

That was really difficult Negatives Defending obviously. No one knows quite where to be. KWP was tucking in too much at time (which I can't blame him, he used to playing orthodox fullbak). Bednarek doesn't look like he wants to be here, and I don't want him here either. Formation. Maybe it will come good, but I hate the way it makes our play so predictable. Once the centre backs have the ball, their only option is to either pass it straight down the middle, who will then pass to the wingbacks, or straight to the wingbacks anyway. Made all the worse with no presence up front Valery- he's okay for like a 6th choice cb, but should not be starting. It's like Ralph wants to prove a point that his coaching can turn someone around. Valery lacks the discipline to ever be a true starter. Positives I didn't think Djenepo was too bad. Okay he's not good enough, but he always gets stuck in. Clearly got a decent midfield, even if they were overun today against a good side. I liked seeing JWP playing more advanced and think he can get more goals like that from open play. I've always been more in the Ralph in camp. But he's lost me on one of the things that kept me on board. We had a clear playing style under him with a high team press and quick balls if we overturned it up high up the pitch. I look at us today- and I have no fucking idea what we are. Are we a defensive team that tries to score off set pieces? Are we a counter attack side? Are we a pressing side? What the fuck are we? Without that identity, then I don't know what Ralph brings anymore.

Bednarek marking the keeper there....

Really need Che to come on. At the moment it's hard to attack anywhere other than the wingback without the ball sticking to a centre forward. One of the positives I do really like is JWP getting so far forward. I think he can score 6-8 from open play in that position, on top of the 5-6 he will get from penalties and freekicks.

I know he's not to blame entirely. But ever since Bednarek came into the side a few seasons ago, we just seem to have conceded so many goals from crosses which ends up with a free header and our defenders looking around cluelessly. It's not that I think just that he loses his positioning, but he also causes others to lose theirs as well. Doesn't really matter who partners with him either.

A real issue with this formation is there really aren't many places to pass the ball. If we are playing out from the back, then it is getting spread to the wingbacks most of the time. So easy to then squeeze us to losing the ball.

This match up between Djenepo and Emerson is one of the greatest I've ever seen. A stoppable force meets a movable object

I've watched a fair bit of Rangers this season, and not overly impressed with him. He's a big physical presence, but you need lots more than that to succeed in the Premier League. Can occasionally land one in the top corner, but that's after he's knocked out all the fans behind the goal. Decision making also seems slow, which is fine when you are Rangers with the opposition camped out on the goaline, but not here. Also a bit unsure about attitude. The second half of the season he was going through the motions and contributed to Rangers losing the title. How will that attitude work with our press? On a positive, definitely some decent raw ingredients. Power and some technical skills.

Hmmm not sure about this. I'm not quite with everyone else who thinks we need to sign quality and experience throughout the side. Buying a player with both of those that instantly improves our team is most likely going to cost a tonne of money, especially in the forward positions. Or we have to take a risk on an injury probe player like an Ings. But the keeper position is one area we can easily bring in quality and experience without breaking the bank. 10m is a fair chunk of money for a keeper. For that amount, or may a few million extra, I'm sure we could bring in a very good keeper from Serie A, La Liga, or other top European leagues. Do we really need to take a risk here? 5m to come in as back up-no brainer bring him in. But 10m?! If it goes wrong, we are stuck with McCarthy as first choice and our entire defence unsettled. If it goes well, even the resale value (which has to be considered for our sort of club) probably won't be all that. How many keepers realistically get sold for 25m plus?