CanadaSaint

The pitiful Mason I almost feel sorry for, because he’s like Bambi on ice with a whistle. Okay, “almost” is an exaggeration. But Dean is in a totally different category. For years he has exhibited a strutting, arrogant approach, meting out his version of justice at will. Almost always, any doubt goes against the player, and (arguably) against some teams in particular - proving what everyone has long known; he views himself as more important than the game itself, and immune to sanction. He even intimidates his gutless peers. I think they WILL take him down because he would be the only fall guy that most fans would accept. NOBODY will lament his disappearance.

I agree, but better to keep some positional depth than to throw a kid into the Old Trafford cauldron or ask Stephens to cover Saint-Maximin. And, with no real alternative, Bertrand isn’t exactly shining - defensively or offensively.

I think they are embarrassed, and I suspect that they are looking for a fall guy - or two. Even they - notorious for doing it - can no longer function with their heads in the sand.

I’m almost entirely positive about Ralph, but with one glaring exception. He just doesn’t seem to realize that, while our style (HIS style) is arguably our greatest strength, it also becomes our most damaging weakness when the chance is there to steal a point or turn a draw into a win. Throughout Ralph’s tenure we have been our own worst enemy - chewing up the clock with meaningless, no end product passing. Every team in the PL knows that they just need to sit back and let us fart-arse around. I certainly don’t see him as arrogant but he is frustratingly obstinate, and he needs to change that because it’s killing us.

Too much in love with our own style when we’re chasing a result. It is Ralph’s biggest failing. Our greatest strength is also our biggest weakness, and it’s killing us.

It doesn't really change the point, though, does it? We surrendered depth in several short-depth positions, in the midst of an injury crisis, to add it in one where we were reasonably okay. That is a surely a money-driven decision rather than a football-driven one.

After that abject disaster I'm trying to focus on the bigger picture, and there are some even more troubling signs: Why would we weaken an already very shallow squad, further ravaged by injuries, by sending players out on loan at the deadline? Are we THAT desperate to get wages off the books? Is Danny Ings effectively already gone because we're desperate for the money, and we're just trying to negotiate the break fee as high as we can get it? I'm normally an optimist, but I have a horrible feeling that things are falling apart financially inside the Club. I can't think of any credible alternative answers to those questions. There's another question I'm grappllng with personally. Why do I keep watching a sport I've loved since I was a kid, when it's now run, officiated and largely played by arrogant, self-centered, greedy bastards.

This sport is being destroyed by faceless, self important bastards and big money, and the more I watch it the more it nauseates me. It isn’t just about today but the sense that football exists to benefit everyone except those who pay for it - those of us who have loved it since we first started walking. Fuck them all.

Okay, this is a bit of a stretch, but some time back we lost a player to an early Dean red card, got the shit hammered out of us, and then went on the best run we’ve ever had in the PL.

After that start, and with Prick Dean refereeing, I think I’ll be mentally safer watching the Aquarium Channel.

No doubt in my mind that Dean has a bias against us. Harsh red on Bertrand in the Leicester game and now that!

I agree, but he doesn’t quite have the “bite” that JWP has. Either way, covering the counter will be key today.

I think he will, too. He’s very good at covering the other team’s danger man. But what worries me is our vulnerability to a Grealish counter when JWP takes opposite side corners and fee kicks.

In fairness to Bertrand I think he is, as others have said, totally unsure what Djenepo is going to do next. He looked better after Armstrong came on. Djenepo is like a football version of Tourette’s.

I said after the Arsenal game that we’re too in love with our own style. I really like how we play, but that’s three straight winnable games – Arsenal, Fulham and West Ham – where we’ve opted to pass it around and keep recycling in the late stages rather than go for the three points. Even when Bertrand finally started to push up, after Djenepo thankfully left, we turned back and left him up there waiting. We need to sort out the left side because a Theo/KWP-type partnership over there would transform us. The answer is not Djenepo.

I don't disagree with what you're saying but I wasn't talking just about today. Our style serves us well for the majority of most games, but I think we have a tendency to stick with it in the late stages when we need to find some final-third penetration. Bednarek, in particular, is apt to keep the ball at the back regardless of the score and time remaining, Redmond has lost his zest for taking defenders on, and Bertrand no longer seems as willing to push up. The bright spot is KWP. This isn't about how we play generally, but how we play when we're chasing a result.

It seems to me that we've fallen in love with our own style. Don't get me wrong - I'm really enjoying it and full of admiration of Ralph for instilling it. But when there's a game to be won - or tied - in the last ten or fifteen minutes, we need to find a higher sense of urgency. We need to do less turning and recycling, and start looking for more of the higher risk passes and take-ons, especially in the final third. Still, the club has made massive progress and most of the time we're a joy to watch.

I might just repeat my Father’s unforgettable words as we left Wembley at around 5:30 on May 1, 1976 - “You can take me now, Lord, you can take me now”

I’m still slapping myself for writing off a guy as a total screw up, and then watching him become a rock defensively, an attack launcher, and a goalscorer. I don’t know WTF Ralph puts in Vestergaard’s coffee, but I’ll have some of that. How good are those long diagonals he hits!

The natural instinct at the start of the season was to view this as a game in which scraping a point could be key to avoiding relegation. And it still looks like that. 😎

Watching Arsenal trying to play out from the back, as per Arteta’s instructions, makes me think that Ralph’s press could cause them some serious problems. I’d be inclined to go for the jugular early.

It's an extremely demanding style - especially if (like us) a club doesn't have the depth. It's a vulnerability in the micro context of an individual game, but it's also a vulnerability in the macro context of an entire season. The danger is that we'll have a really good first half of the season followed by a really bad second half. I'm not looking for high-priced signings in the window - just good players giving us more depth in key positions.

I think we REALLY need Redmond back - with an improved attitude and commitment level. When the utterly unpredictable Djenepo plays, Bertrand becomes tentative and lost without his interplay with Redmond. Giveaways in really bad places are the result. I thought Bertrand was very poor today. Adams, however, was outstanding.

And, not wishing to tempt fate, I think we suit him perfectly. Very few of the elite players at the top clubs are willing or able to commit the effort necessary for Ralph's style. Plus, I think he's an honourable man who places a premium on commitment and loyalty, so I don't see him looking to head out at the first opportunity.

This is an incredibly "all on the same page" team, and what makes it even more impressive is that its cohesion has survived significant line-up changes. Ralph has drilled an instinctive pass and move style into them which, if they do it quickly, is extremely hard to counter. Every game it's difficult to pick a MOTM, which says everything.