CanadaSaint

I agree with you.

Well, NA said he was going to use the squad over the busy period, but I tend to agree with RobM. Trying to match Stoke at the game they play so well is risky, to say the least. But then our tippy-tappy wouldn't work so well either against that lot. Damned if we do, damned if we don't, but damned nonetheless.

Asset protection. When we were all excited about signing Ramirez, I'm sure the last thing we were thinking about was Stoke away.

I wouldn't bet on that. The high ball slung to the far post is a Clyne weakness.

Other than Lallana, that was pretty much the West Ham away line up, wasn't it? Dominant first half followed by cave-in.

We don't do "tough" so I was hoping for a stronger ref, but that's not going to happen either. Has anyone mentioned that it's Clattenburg yet?

Etherington not so much.

I think he's been preoccupied with concentrated defensive duties, which takes away a big part of his game. He's young and he's learning but in my book he's better pushing forward than when he's got to "stay at home" most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if he looks a lot better at Stoke because they don't have as much pace down the flanks.

Why does pretty much everything you post have this air of "I'm smarter than the rest of you"? It's childish, wearing and highly misplaced. Anyway, WRT Ramirez I think he's the kind of player who's accustomed to having his club side built around him, whereas here he's being used more as a cog in the wheel. It'll take time for him to find his niche within that set-up, all the more so if NA keeps changing his role around, depending on the game and our injury situation. The quality we'd expect for that kind of money has certainly been there in flashes but we need to see a lot more of it. His shot today was superb, but he needs to pick this side up and carry it, especially over the next eight weeks.

I'm a little old for this but I so badly wanted someone to flatten Berbatov. "Keep calm and pass me the ball" - Jeez, one of his own team should have done it.

We are not the same side if the opposition has some strength and pace down their left side, because it negates one of our biggest strengths during the recent good run - the Puncheon/Clyne combo; Clyne has to err on the side of caution and not push up as often. Having Lallana on the left - with Shaw pushing forward more and more as his confidence grew - meant that we could attack down both flanks. That threat on both sides tended to pull the opposition our of shape, create space for others and enable us to look like a pretty decent side at times. Both Sunderland and Fulham threw width at us down their left side and we've lost Lallana - possibly for quite a long time. So we've gone from very threatening to "powder puff" down both sides. Punch switched flanks today, which IMO helped a lot, but some others - particularly Ramirez - need to step up their games.

Don't get me wrong - out of the three I'd pick Gazzaniga, but I worry that it's just too much of a pressure situation for him to "learn his trade" without lasting damage to his confidence. In time I think he'll be a good keeper - as long as we don't over-expose him. I suspect that he was brought here as "one for the future" but circumstances forced us to play him well before we intended.

Boruc sh*t in the nest, Gazza sh*t in the net, Kelvin by default I suspect.

With his history of clangers, this forum would be in permanent meltdown. In fairness he's made some absolutely stunning saves as well, but he's much more a reaction keeper than a box dominator.

I know one thing. If NA and co. aren't telling Ramirez to shoot more, they deserve a kick in the groin. That's exactly what we thought we were getting when we bought him - the ability to cut in and split a defence with a pass - or rocket one at a top corner.

Robinson needs to shed about 20 pounds, but he's needed to do that for five years+ so I can't see us changing that too much. I can't see Villa letting Given go to a relegation rival. Back to the drawing board.

I'm not surprised. I couldn't see Spurs letting him go.

Not much point having a post match thread if we're not going to talk about how people played today, is there?

I hope to god that they view a quality keeper as a high priority because that put us behind the eight-ball from the get-go. And a quality CM is critical IMO because I get the serious willies whenever Davis is playing, and Schneiderlin works his butt off without injecting much real quality.

They really ground out a result, which was good to see, but I thought we had enough to have won it. Good to see the Ramirez we thought we'd bought start to show more of his high-end talent. The horrible Sunderland result doesn't look quite as bad after they beat City.

THAT's the guy we thought we bought!

Fulham set up to hold on and they didn't. If there's a winner today I think it'll be us.

Fulham shutting it down so hopefully one way traffic.

I have no idea how he got there but his pace through the gaps could really "do" Fulham.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but the kind of player who could give Fulham fits is ... Mayuka.