S-Clarke

I'd argue that his off the ball work is consistent, that's why Ralph picks him as he’s reliable on that side. His problem is the lack of consistency in an attacking sense, that's where we need him to play those killer balls, drop his shoulder and beat a man etc but it's few and far between he does that. It's great that we have a '10' who can close, work hard against the ball etc, but ultimately he will be judged on his attacking output which is pretty awful overall.

Arsenal tired massively in that 2nd half, but we needed to react to that which we did. We pushed up better, but I felt we were aggressive all game (especially the CB's), which set the foundations 'if' we could get the attack closer to the rest of the team. I need to see more from Aribo though, a good touch aside - he seems like a passenger in games, and we cannot afford that. Armstrong gave us much more in the 2nd half, that's what we are crying out for - movement, bit of running into space from the wide which we did much better in the 2nd half. The best area of that team for me were the CB's, for the entire game. I like the cut of DCC, good positioning, gets stuck in, strong as anything and Jesus just couldn't get a sniff most of that game really. Totally frustrated him. CB is one area we have clearly upgraded on in the summer in my eyes. Shout out to Elyounoussi for his work today, this is why Ralph picks him - against the ball he's probably our best 'number 10', just need to see more from him consistently in the attacking third. I feel sorry for Adam Armstrong to be honest. I think he knows he's well out of his depth, we looked better once Edozie was coming off of that side.

How can you drop JWP when we have no midfield as it is?

The problem is pretty obvious to me, we only have one third of a team. Defensively, Lyanco (should have been better on the goal tbf), DCC, Salisu decent. Getting tight and being aggressive against Jesus. The problem is 1) how easy arsenal play through our middle third, and 2) how we are struggling to get out via the middle third. We've left ourselves incredibly light in CM with the sale of Romeu, just weak and meek - nothing in there. Easy to play in and around without much effort. Attack is what you expect it to be, they're too disconnected from the rest of the team to start with and we don't have anything in the middle to bring them into the game. Our attack is very, very limited and bordering on shambolic quality wise, but the midfield doesn't give us a chance to compete.

Yet another pearl of wisdom from Charlie.

Bit harsh lumping Elyounoussi and Armstrong into the same category as Perraud. At the end of the day 10-11m isn't going to get you a world beater, no matter how good your scouting is. It just won't happen. Forest paid a £6m fee to get Lodil - just on loan. What you want/need from Armstrong and Elyounoussi is totally different than Perraud. As a full back we need someone who can provide width and cross (which he does) and also track back/cover multiple gaps, which he does. He tires because he's often having to patrol that entire left side himself, but his grit and determination seem to get him through. Elyounoussi and Armstrong on the other hand were bought to score goals, provide goals and create attacking opportunities, of which neither are able to do.

Hopefully that clean sheet will give him the confidence he needs. It's always going to be risky taking the approach of a young kid in goal, but we've pretty much committed to that approach, so we need to live through the ups and downs it'll bring (as with any young players). I do like him, I think his demeanour and attitude on the pitch defies his age - which is very impressive I think. We do have to expect errors and misjudgements from him though.

So, ABK had a dislocated shoulder in that game. He has supposedly opted against getting surgery at this stage, as it would pretty much kill the rest of this year for him (and his WC chances). So he's trying to manage it over the next few weeks with a view on playing the last couple of games for us before the WC break. Lavia is back in training, but tomorrow will come slightly too soon. I imagine he'll be fully back in the fold for Palace. KWP out until 2023 by all accounts. It's a 6-week hamstring injury. To be fair I wouldn't have put KWP in the in-form category, one of our better players yes, but not really in any particularly good form.

I like Perraud to be honest, he's limited technically but he doesn't half put in a shift. Always described him as a bit of a terrier type player. He does tire a bit quickly, but I like his application and grit he brings to the team. Been a decent signing IMO.

What a massive blow for KWP. With Trent being dodgy, Reece James being injured, he had a chance of a WC shout. Hopefully we don't miss these guys too much what with the world cup in the middle, so there's only a handful of games. Still shit though.

We feel as stable as the government right now.

Absolutely. Everyone can see that a GE is the only option from here. Id hope that any new ‘prime minster’ does this as their first job, call a General election and let the country decide. They can’t seem to make the right decisions themselves and have lost any authority to govern in my eyes.

Agree with your views, although I quite liked the look of Caleta-Car. Strong, physical, got himself in good positions etc. He had a few odd moments with bouncing balls, but both our CB's were on equal footing of decentness last night I felt.

Now I've remembered that AMN cannot play against Arsenal...! Supposedly Larios can play both sides, so maybe he will come in at right and Perraud continues at LB. Like you say we don't have enough in CM to be moving people around, and given we'll be without Lavia the only option we have alongside JWP is Diallo - so we can't afford moving either of those imo.

I don't think people are digging him out too much, I think he gave a good shift and stretched the play quite well at times. People are just aware of his limitations.

yeah, realised my mistake with that suggestion!

doh'. good point, forgot about that!

Absolutley, he was much better on the ball than AMN was in my opinion. Calmed us down and helped us carry it. He was somewhat aided by the fact that there was a tiny bit more space as Bournemouth had pushed up, and by taking off Billing they'd lost their physicality in the middle area. But the subs we made helped us retain the ball in those closing 5.

AMN RB, I personally think he's a better player there than CM. He's too risky on the ball in CM for me.

It was never going to be a comfortable win after being on such a shitty run, you just have to get a win by any means. I didn't really feel like we were on the brink at any stage to be honest, they had a fair bit of the ball from time to time but we seemed to have their number in terms of the 1 on 1 defending and CB positioning. They were fairly toothless I felt.

Adams. Honourable mentions for Perraud and the two CB's, who were very physical and dominated their attackers most of the game.

Our first win in god knows how long was always going to be like this, nervy, backs against the wall for periods. We were fortunate Bournemouth couldn't really muster much quality up top, as we kept giving them the ball back. We did defend well against them though, I don't remember many 'clear cut' chances. My main criticism of our game - our ball retention was horrendous. Key players like KWP, JWP just tossing it away time and time again in really dangerous positions. AMN looks too casual on the ball; I don't know why he thinks he can dally around on it. Adams clearly the best forward we had, put a shift in, run their defenders around and got the goal. Adam Armstrong put in a shift, he ran around but he hasn't got the physicality to offer what Adams does and he also doesn't have the ability to offer anything else...so he's a pretty mute player really. Not a great game to watch, not much to be excited about - but we needed to get a win by hook or crook and that's what it was at the end of the day.

Yeah, it's been shocking on match days since the start of the season. Seems ok on the day to day for other bits that I use it for, but in terms of 3pm kick offs it has been pretty pants. Not sure if it's a capacity issue or if they're being 'targetted', but it's not the same reliability as it once was. The lack of comms and removing our ability to talk to them is a bit shit as well, it's not like they're giving it out for free. They've got customers at the end of the day.

He's not afriad to take a shot at goal, seems more direct then anyone else we have. It wouldn't take a world beater to be better than what we have, so nothing to lose. ABK could be a long term one, depends how bad the ligament damage is as by all accounts the shoulder did pop back in. Glad we seriously strengthend at the back in the summer, that's probably the only good thing about us this season.

We'll give him until January, let him spend £20m on his son, Patrick, and then sack him in Feb 😉