S-Clarke

We're going through a bump in the road, is it really worth reinventing the wheel to get over that bump? I wouldn't have thought so. Clubs such as Southampton, Stoke, Leicester, Palace, Everton, will all experience 'bumps' in the road. The clubs that sustainability build and budget for the long term are the clubs who come through that bump and go again. The clubs who panic and spend for the sake of spending go through a massive sinkhole. (see Leeds, Skates). I'm comfortable with the way we do things, for a club of our size it really is the only way we can do things. The people at the club won't be panicking, so why should we? Over the last 5 years we have improved every, single, season. I think last year was very much a high point, it was near on impossible to replicate that again this year. Even Koeman said that this season will be a lot tougher because the expectations rose - and that's true, this is a weird year in the PL. We're in January worrying about being relegated, yet Chelsea are below us 4 pts worse off. Freak season. If I had one single disappointment from this season it would be our lack of European football. We worked so flaming hard to get that last year and threw it away before it even started. That will bug me for a while, and almost as much as that Sunderland FA Cup defeat under MP a few years back.

Easily the most sensible idea I've seen on here, since, like, ever. Napalm for Chairman.

A south american from Italy, what could go wrong? He's a name, but still hasn't 'done' it in a big league.

If people wrote off players at 20, there wouldn't be as many Vardy's, Lamberts and co around.

If the club acted like fans wanted, we'd be broke before long. We're not going to spend much money in January, we never really do - 2011 in L1 being the single exception. I'd rather keep the funds in the back pocket until the summer and we can then work out what we need with a much better view over an entire season. Clubs who splash money in January rarely succeed in the long term.

The number one wum-weirdo, Charlie.

I'd rather we got ourselves a proper RB.

A lack of a RB cost us that game. Poor from Yoshida to fail to track Antonio which lead to the 2nd, and utterly horrific from Martina which created that bundled goal. Other than that, we should have won that first half at least 3-0. Ridiculous to lose that.

I had a feeling about this game, even more so after the results today. It's plainly obvious that Arsenal choke, they cannot handle the pressure of expectation. They freeze and lack bottle, every year it's the same. I know many were expecting a tonking, but in reality it was never going to be that. They're good when it's early in the season, they get towards the top, people start to put expectation on them...and then that's it. They won't win the league, not a chance. Onto us - we were terrific. So hard working, so honest in our performances all over the pitch. Shane Long didn't let the 2 cb's settle, and his influence - especially in the 2nd half - shook that Arsenal back 4 up. The important area today was midfield, that was a performance from Wanyama of which we havne't seen this season, and I was also pleased to see Clasie live up to the potential. Those 2 bossed the game today, Arsenal couldn't get any rhythm going what so ever. (even though they had a fair bit of possession, our shape and discipline meant that they were often forced backwards or sideways) Take a bow Cuco though, he'll never hit one as good as that again! Glad I was there to witness it, I was in shock for at least 5mins...! (I'd love to know what the odds were on 4-0 with Martina the first goal scorer..!!!) Overall, I never jumped onto the pessimist bandwagon, we're clearly a good side and Arsenal are clearly chokers - so this was never going to be a defeat. The acid test comes on Monday, let's hope it's not a bit of an anticlimax, as back to back wins at this stage would spring us back up that league.

He's a CB.

Butland Johnson - Shawcross - Toby - Monreal Kante Dembele Mahrez Ozil Lukaku Vardy

I imagine we've just given up on him. Absolute sick note, not worth the resources.

I would imagine we have capitalized on it, but you won't see the results for years and years. I don't know why you'd expect us to see results straight away anyway, or why you'd expect us to to field 9 year olds.

As per any bad patch, a player who is not playing is automatically 100% better than anyone else.

I think ourselves and Swansea are very similar in terms of what we're trying to achieve and the obstacle we've hit. A lot is made of moving to the next level, but that next level for us (above top 6 finishes/Europa league etc) is so hard to get. They've hit the same brick wall as ourselves, trying to go up that notch when the top teams want your best players is hard. The way we both do things is right though, we follow the right principles and neither club really panic - which is why, even after the recent struggles, we'll still be better placed long-term.

You probably couldn't do worse, to be honest. Maybe Pelle at CB?

LVG doesn't know how to use him, no surprise really.

Started the game very well, on the front foot, really aggressive and positive in winning the ball back. They couldn't handle us at the start and we really, really, really should have scored - Mane needed to put that either side. Could have been a totally different game then. The goal went in and that was it though, confidence drained and we drifted away. We were beaten after that and it was a hard watch for the rest of the game.

I'd go with Romeu in midfield most weeks, I'm not sure why he dropped out as he was great for us at the start of the season. Wanyama has been absolute pants, but I'd put him alongside Romeu so he has a bit more physical cover in there. Mane is our best player, so I'd just give him the freedom of the attack. Left, right, central....let him go where he feels he can cause damage and let him find the space. I hate it when he's stuck out wide as he struggles to get into the game, but when he's got a bit of freedom you see him popping up all over the show. I know a lot is being made of our poor form, but that's all it is. We're not a bad side, we're better than a lot in this league. Spending money is always called upon when teams are struggling, but how often does that approach actually work? I'm not one for panic buying. Maybe we'll get an another attacking player, but we do have the tools here already - they just need to get out of their collective slumps. Look at Bertrand for example - he's really struggling at the moment, you have to wonder how a lack of a full pre-season is affecting him. His form has been pretty poor these last few weeks.

TBF we were damn lucky to get even a point from that game, we should have been down and out at FT. A point is a bit of a bonus.

Why is Shaqiri one of the best signings out of interest? Just because he's a name? Bar his showing v Man City he's done very little for Stoke.

Has it ever struck you that the **** results the U21's and U18's are having is because the current group, in all honesty, is utter turd? And I'd imagine that influences the reason as to why many aren't being given a go. I've read a lot of utter bull on this site over the past few weeks about how Koeman doesn't like the youth, we're a far cry from the MP days etc. One difference, and quite a large one at that, the best young players we had under MP have since been sold - there isn't (as yet) the same level from the academy to replace them, so why people want Koeman to throw young players in who aren't quite ready/good enough is beyond me. Is 2008/09 really that far back for some to remember? And what is all this bull**** about Gaston? I'm sure he becomes a better player every minute he's not selected. He's not playing and isn't involved because he's a failed Premier League player, there's no point debating it anymore. Some people have incredibly short memories and an incredible lack of long-term perspective.

I don't think we were as bad as some have been making out. We started the game incredibly well, came out of the blocks like a train. Poor finishing and a lack of composure/confidence in those final moments cost us the win. As the game went on we slumped back a little and lost that intensity we started with and once Villa got the jammiest of goals ever, the heads dropped. It took us a while to get going in the 2nd half, the players looked as if they were walking through mud some of the time. It was an important equalizer though, it stops the rot and can potentially be the starting base for another good run. I like Romeu and he started the season well, but once Wanyama came back on the scene he was out - not sure why entirely, as he's not at the level this year. Ward-Prowse continues to frustrate by consistently doing nothing in a football match. This is a big season for him, lots of talk and lots of expectation, so he needs to start doing something now. Palace will be a tricky match, but we can win there if we play with the same intensity as we started with yesterday.

WTF @ Chelsea this season. Seriously, what the hell is with them.

You can come to that conclusion once he's signed a new contract, before that it's silly even debating it. We've done very much the same in offering Morgan, Clyne, Mane new terms etc. The reality is the same with us. If a Utd, City, Chelsea come in for him, he will leave Leicester city.