captainchris

What can Ralph do to ensure we are ‘at it’ after a long lay off. We seem to be off the pace straight after gaps in fixtures?

Errrr not sure but didn’t Sims score two with asssists too in his last U23 game? How many first team minutes has he actually played to be very fair to him. In any case statistics don’t tell the whole story. Wins and general contribution count too. Sims does tend to affect games pretty well and shows very well for the ball which is massively important in momentum terms when in possession. Armstrong is still often not involved enough in that phase so he can quite often be anonymous for long periods. Hopefully he can become more consistent in this regard. By all means be offended by that analysis though if you wish. Btw Valery similar and to be honest Ralph is coaching him more in occupying space rather than being marked so it’s coming along and two goals is obviously superb stuff....

Errr weird logic.... They don’t ever play because they are useless, st least Ings plays and plays well as and when it’s better than never !!!

This is not a game for Armstrong to start. Sims a better option, he has more awareness and energy ...

Well you sound very sure he is good enough. Personally I haven’t seen anything to suggest he is. I’m doubtful that he is actually as good as Long and Austin either and I wouldn’t throw him in just for the sake of it. He just doesn’t put enough into his game .... A game of opinions though....

Whether they have a hard game or not we are usually dreadful after a long break. It better to be playing that endure long lay offs often resulting in lethargic performances.

Yes true but Gallagher really is short of the requirement and Ralph clearly agrees as he isn’t using him.

This statement is just plain rediculous in its absurdity.

To frank it is BS that we are a pressing closing down team. Most games we do not do that at all !!!!

Certainly need something very different. Hodj not really been playing well for a while and should be replaced however Armstrong is not good enough yet for this level. Back four needs to be a serious consideration....

Ahhhh sanity - very well put... Agree I saw 20 mins of the under 23s last night and Ramsey played well in that period. Didn’t see the penalty incident.

Sue You read posts like you watch a game, forgetting the detail and extracting your basic agenda only.

Very true post without hype and only actually assessing the player in all he does and that’s very little! Nowhere near good enough for this team. No positional sense outside of his own half. Man U will block off the service to Bertrand and Valery will be nowhere to be seen. Not so bad at defending but the rest is plain terrible.

Objective opinion outside of the extreme ‘Happy Clappy’ rose tinted glasses spectrum is strictly forbidden on this site.... You make a very valid observation born out by the number of late goals and pocession we concede in the last 15 - 20 mins of games but don’t let that get in the way the occasional happy ending masking the aspects of our game that are there for all to see which are causing us problems.

Do people actually watch games in any depth? Valery touched the ball about 4 times in the first half. He is never available, he hides by standing next to usually their left back so he is marked .... He does one or two decent things in a whole game which stand out because he actually does very little else at all... Apart from that a good win with a better personnel selection. Yoshi and Bertrand make a big difference. Would like to see Sims on the bench as might as well bring him in as Long or Elly...

This is what will happen-Valery will pushed far too forward pushing their back line deeper and thereby preventing our forwads from running into the channels or having any space.

Wtf really.... Where is Sims? Not a look in and yet Ralph persists with Elly who is diabolical???? Elly must be Ronaldo in training, how can he persist with him - for what? Ralph seems to have ‘issues’ with many players which is starting to be alarming ..

Actually they played out from the back a lot in that game. I did not mention Everton or Leicester.... We did not press Cardiff.... We could have done but didn’t. We have have pressed less and less as the games have passed. Whilst you can say Cardiff got plenty behind the ball (much of it forced by our right back playing far too high) They did not kick it long all the time. You have to watch the game and just tar a team with no football brush... We allowed Cardiff to play quite a bit of football in that game.

Cardiff played out from the back most times and there was no press at all...!

Certainly agree - why has Ralph stopped the pressing - just odd....

Admittedly we have a very mediocre squad but.. Ralph did do well, however now he has dropped away.... We are not pressing any more, that has virtually stopped altogether, tactics and team selection have been odd too of late... It’s ok starting well, however it’s where you finish that matters and performances have certainly tailed away .... Why has Ralph also allowed himself to let his guard down for his own performance has dropped off too.... It’s time for Ralph to step up to the mark again, be bold and sort it out. I know the squad is poor but he has chosen to leave out our consistent, experienced players and most potent striker and been less than convincing in his justification. For me Ralph has dropped the baton and needs to pick it up again quick ...

No point in playing three at the back with Valery because he is no wing back/midfielder - in fact he cannot do it at all. For me Bednerak was poor against Cardiff and was evidently poor against Arsenal so he is by no means a sure starter. I would agree agree bring back Yoshi for definite. Armstrong flatters to deceive and needs to be much more agressive and make himself available more. In a more solid midfield we can accommodate him perhaps but definitely not with a three at the back. Maybe time for a fresh approach and Sims certainly comes to mind, he needs to be at least on the bench if not playing otherwise we have zero pace and even less creativity unless Armstrong is performing well. Bertrand needs to be back in with Targett used only in a wide forward midfield role where he is best suited. What we cannot do is press the ‘repeat’ button again because that will produce the sum total of F all and another Cardiff debacle where Ralph was left seriously wanting....

Slight exaggeration!

Yes certainly you would have to say that Elynoussi has been useless and question why Sims has been cast adrift ..... This picking Ling over Austin picking Elynoussi ever and dumping Gabbi make me think - hang on a minute is this guy really as good as I thought he was.... Add to that some quite suspect tactics against Cardiff and I am looking for a very strong performance this weekend ....