CanadaSaint

Yes, I saw them - that's why I started the thread. It's easy to say that we need to stop giving away those free kicks, but they're going to happen regardless. And we need to find a better way of defending against them - especially as teams are putting a left footer and a right footer on the ball so that the keeper is kept guessing where the shot might be going. Gerrard's goal against Everton wasn't top corner but good enough to beat Howard, and a post defender might well have kept Sanchez's shot out. You're making big assumptions in your response ("the wall will not make any difference at all") because the whole point of the split wall is that it gives the keeper a better view and a better chance of getting to the corners - and the players on the posts give some added protection. Of course some shots will still go in, but in the modern game the split wall might well be a better option than the four man wall.

We conceded one against Arsenal and very nearly another one against QPR at a vital time, from very similar positions. With the livelier ball and higher player skill levels, these free kicks have become lethal, and it might be time to address that. What are your thoughts on the split wall - two players on each side (leaving the keeper to cover the middle), rather than a four-man wall on one side (which leaves the keeper to cover the direct shot and hope to god that he can get to the other side if the shot goes there)? This could be supplemented with defenders on each post because the direct shot has IMO become a much greater danger than playing attackers onside.

Much of the focus of this discussion concerns the potential for cheating that would develop if any special sub rules were implemented to cover head injuries, and I completely understand that. It's a very valid concern. However, that's placing the interests of the club and the sport ahead of the interests of the players, which is exactly what the NFL and NHL are accused of doing over here in North America. The stuff coming out is frightening. Autopsies have revealed horrendous brain atrophies that have accumulated over the course of a career and that have eventually resulted in the early death (sometimes by suicide) of former players. Needless to say, with the US being such a litigious society, sports leagues and owners are facing the prospect of huge lawsuits. Even if the leagues and owners weren't that concerned about player wellbeing (part of the accusation package), the lawsuits certainly got their attention. I would suggest that this phenomenon will "jump the pond" and turn up in Europe at some point, and it's not just about injuries like Sandro's on Saturday. While football doesn't involve as many of the "head hits" seen in the NFL and NHL, it does involve frequent heading. The studies suggest that the physical consequences of even this kind of non-major head impact can build over time with similar results. The advent of the lighter ball will have helped to reduce the problem but not completely removed it. (As an aside, I can't help but wonder what would have been found in John McGrath's post mortem if this had been an issue in the UK at the time of his death, at the age of just sixty; he was a frequent header of the ball at a time when it weighed a ton on wet days, and damage was inevitable.) I suggest that we should all take the same attitude to this issue in football as we would to safety in the workplace, because it's exactly the same issue. It's a "not why we can't but how we can" issue.

That's pretty much how I see it. We have to sign him to a new contract or sell him in January while he still has decent transfer value, and signing him to a bumper new contract has a lot of risk attached for the club. As much as I like J-Rod, I don't think it would necessarily be a bad decision to to him go. We have already signed players who can replace what we'd be losing, he may not fit into Koeman's style quite as well, and there's money in the transfer budget. I'm trying to see it from the club's perspective.

Does anyone else think that the decision-makers in the club might have moved on from J-Rod? Based on our signings, I wouldn't be surprised if they have not only accepted the possibility that he will move on in January - they might actually want to see it happen.

Indeed. And sometimes the best perspective comes from people who aren't as close to the club as us: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/36364/

I'd love to know (someone probably will - perhaps MLG!): The "losing from a winning position" and "winning from a losing position" stats for both Koeman and Pochettino (while with Saints).

I suspect that this will be the new injury of the season this year. The new boots are so lightweight that they afford little protection against injuries like this. Perhaps it's time for the clubs to write something into player contracts preventing them from signing endorsement deals to wear unsafe footwear. After all, it's the clubs' expensive asset sitting on the sidelines.

It seems clear that Wenger admires the club, the way it develops young players and our playing style. We're trying to do a lot of the things he believes in, but within a much tighter budget. On your point about their defence, they were certainly rather inexperienced but they are also very quick. Their senior defenders might actually have had a bigger problem with our movement.

My feeling exactly. We can't be looking back at Arsenal or forward at Spurs, or only bad things will happen.

The more I see of Morgan Schneiderlin the more I think there isn't enough money to buy him. Not only does he make his unique four-lung physical contribution over some 60-80 yards of midfield responsibility. He's also the organizer - pointing other players to their marking assignments and 'forcing' players into danger spaces by playing passes into them. If he can keep chipping in with the occasional goal he'll become the best midfielder in the PL, if he isn't already.

Parlez vous francais? Nor me. http://cafe-creme.me/chaine5.html Really good stream, though.

Now THAT is a damn good article.

A decent article from a very average journalist who is, as Alpine suggests, one of the big club sycophants. I'm just a little tickled that Alpine is berating someone for writing us off during the Summer shenanigans.

It's been really difficult to get our full backs forward - such a key to our game. Good to see them pushing Dyer inside after Bony's red. It gives Bertrand the chance to push up and get the Bertrand/Tadic thing going again. We can win this but Moss has a really itchy trigger finger and I'll be surprised if we end up with eleven on the pitch.

I know this won't go down well on here but I'd be inclined to cash-in on JRod, just not with any Townsend connection. For me it goes beyond the very valid points you've raised. I don't think he'll have another season like the last one. All the stars were aligned - he had the perfect players around him and probably the perfect manager, and he had some luck on his side (his freakish goals at Stoke and Palace come to mind). As much as I like the guy, I think we may have seen the best of him.

Townsend's horrendous cameo appearance today suggests that some of the best transfers may be ones that fall through.

[ Maybe the thought on Morgan's mind today is that his world looks a lot brighter than it did a month ago.

Duplicate post

Experts like this one (in the Bertrand signs on loan thread)?

Dragging up old posts is one of the few effective ways for the forum to police itself. Needless to say, those who most often post crap are the ones who react most violently when somebody resurrects it. And, Alps, you are the most violent reactor of all, which says something.

I guess I'm in a minority in having some reservations. One of Forster's primary assets, his height, may also turn out to be one of his greatest liabilities. Sure, he can be dominant with the high ball (and so far has been), but a common vulnerability for very tall keepers is difficulty getting down to low shots. I was rather disappointed with his effort on Sterling's goal, and that was an example of the potential problem - he advanced, stalled, and couldn't get down in time. Sure, he made a great save (with a leg) on Saturday but that was possible because Ideye was so close-in. The PL is very unforgiving when player's weakness is spotted, so I really hope this doesn't turn out to be an issue.

A lot will flow from the media reaction to this, and Morgan may have underestimated it. The same journalists who constantly fawn over the big clubs and push players towards them with rumours will now change sides and talk wisely about this being a symptom of a sick game. Gutless, hypocritical scumbags. It's hard to see Morgan getting much sympathy. And let's not forget that he was the first of our core players to talk about moving to "a big club", last summer.

Okay, make that dollars.

Taking these two posts together: I'd punt a fiver on our interest in Ings being very active.