CanadaSaint

All along Ralph’s weakness has been his own arrogance. He refuses to recognize his own errors and, as a result, repeats them. That’s why he waits an eternity to change a lineup that wasn’t working (and was never likely to work) from the get-go. It’s also why he persisted with two front runners after we went a man down, and consequently ended up shipping nine goals each time. Our record against bottom-third teams is appalling, but Ralph ignores that because we picked up some points from the big teams. The ego boost he gets from those successes allows him to brush aside the reality check he should get from the many shameful days like today. I’m tired of it and, judging by their half-hearted effort today, so are the players.

Agree completely. As long as we play KWP on the left we will be dangerously unbalanced; it was abundantly clear as far back as Norwich away because I voiced concerns about it then. Salisu gets sucked out to a wider covering role, and the reactive, un-anticipative Bednarek is left with too much space for his limited brain to process. KWP is a better RB/RWB than Tino, Perrauld is a better LB/LWB than KWP (not a better player), Salisu is a more composed CD with a left-footed LB/LWB alongside him, and Bednarek is less of a defensive clusterf*ck if he has less space to cover. That balance leaves Romeu and JWP with much more manageable defensive roles. With just ONE change we become much less vulnerable defensively, but Ralph just won't accept the blatantly obvious. It's really hurting Salisu individually, and exposing Bednarek even more. All I can imagine is that Tino's automatic RB/RWB selection is the product of agreements made when we signed him. And while I'm venting, I would love to know what semblance of twisted logic rests behind the recurrent decision to send Salisu 75 yards away from the area of his defensive remit to take a useless, lazy parabola of a throw-in. That is likely to end up only one way, as it did again yesterday - with the ball coming back at us while we scramble vainly to get back. Ralph has many talents but his arrogance and obstinacy have always been his Achilles heel. The players notice this stuff - as they do when the wrong players are taken off and the wrong ones left on, and they end up looking as uncommitted we we did yesterday. I've supported Ralph all through, despite his arrogance and obstinacy, but the ice is cracking under his feet.

Bednarek wouldn’t be a major loss - he’s half decent defensively but extremely uncomfortable with the ball at his feet. We can do much better, but my fear is that Ralph has got it into his head that Valery is a right side CB. He isn’t - often weak positionally, and nowhere near good enough in the air. If it’s a choice between Bednarek and Valery, god forbid, I’d reluctantly go with Bednarek.

A new right side CB who can defend (unlike Stephens) and pass (unlike Bednarek) and a new keeper who communicates and can distribute (unlike McCarthy) and dominate his six-yard box (unlike Forster) would transform us defensively. Forster’s ludicrous contract has been a millstone for years. If the McCarthy contract is signed, I hope it’s at backup wages, because that’s what he is - at best.

It was more clumsy for me. Under our system, with wingbacks pushing forward so much, the CDs are going to be exposed to one-on-ones, and Salisu needs to improve with them. But this is his first full season - and that was Man City.

I knew you weren’t capable of an intelligent response. 😂

Watch the game again, and then post a response that has a modicum of intelligence and objectivity behind it. Melt.

Some of you aren’t going to like this but Forster has now reverted to type. Despite being 6’7” he flaps at a cross he should have caught or punched and it goes out for a throw (goal 3) and gets beaten low, near-post (goal 4). City have ruthlessly exploited our known weaknesses. Every gooal has come from a clear error.

Plenty left in this. City aren’t sure whether to hold or push but they’re still lethal on the break.

It all came from Mo’s indecisiveness when we had them on the break.

With subs we can improve more than City can with theirs, and City’s goal came from a major clanger rather than us getting taken apart. We may have missed more clear chances than them. So it’s definitely game-on.

GTFIT

I agree. He’s snatching at all his chances, and has been for a while, which comes with lack of confidence.

If we can just hang in there, I can see this being a game of two different halves.

Bednarek can defend but not pass, Stephens can pass but not defend. We desperately need someone who can do both adequately. He doesn’t need to be Salisu quality, just not a recurring source of screw-ups.

Remind me, what are the sub rules for the FA Cup? The style we need to win this is unsustainable, so we really need the bench to maintain it.

Excellent, thanks! I've been looking for it all week - did it just appear?

Any streams, folks?

We really, really need a right-sided CB who's comfortable on the ball, because Bednarek certainly isn't. Every time he defaults to someone beside or behind him, so we seldom break out from the back on the right side. He's an okay defender but we won't see the best of this side with him in it. I think the origin of the Wood goal was a Bednarek giveaway on halfway, but he doesn't get the blame because it was thirty seconds or more before the ball hit our net. The over-elaboration in the last twenty minutes was doing my head in. We were back to the side that's in love with its own style and tends to forget that the objective is to score. I really like how we play but we need to throw an early ball in there from time to time to keep the defence guessing. Otherwise it's too easy for them to sit back and let us fart about.

On the Blue Moon poll, we were second behind Chelsea on the teams they DON’T want to play.

The way we’ve been playing - and not against crap teams, I think we can suspend our inferiority complex for a while. For 3-D perspective, I don’t think Pep will be resting many of his starters.

By “still ongoing” I assume you meant that you’re still not a dad yet. Hang in there. Our first arrived as a result of my wife laughing so hard that her waters broke. She was laying on the sofa when our dog went up to the TV screen to investigate a program about dogs. He got a static shock from the screen, thought he’d been bitten, and ran behind the sofa yelping. 😂 So get her laughing. Maybe show her Djenepo’s cameo from today. Good luck. The arrival of our first was the most incredible moment of my life, a whisker ahead of the arrival of our second, and - just behind that - May 1, 1976.

I’m having a really weird feeling I’ve literally NEVER had before - and that covers more than half a century. I don’t care who we get in the next round.

You'd have to think that if Theo couldn't get into that starting lineup he's now low on Ralph's depth chart. And with Ralph pulling Djenepo at half time after another of his "fart in a thunderstorm" performances you'd have to think he might be joining Theo down there. For me, sad to say, it makes us a better squad if those two are OUT of consideration rather than in it. Addition by subtraction.

Jeez, Perraud sure strikes the ball crisply. Tonight's howitzer and the rocket against Spurs were top drawer. He's not far behind JWP on that front, and I'd love to see both of them standing over free kicks outside the box. Righty and lefty - nightmare scenario for keepers.