DrunkenSaint

Was again very poor today, never should be captain. Almost threw my beer at the tv when he got the ball in the first half was a massive gap for him to run into to get the team going fwd but no, he passed it sidewards to a player that was marked by 2 players so he lost it. That folks is your captain, clueless! I even called the miss before he took the pen, lucky on the rebound though. We really miss Romeu and we need someone to replace him and play alongside lavia and have someone else in midfield other than jwp who is more creative and can get the team moving fwds, sorry for all the WP lovers on here, if we are to survive we need to sort out our midfield, jwp shouldnt be in there on his current form.

Our midfield need help big time! We miss Romeru, JWP isnt that midfielder who everyone thought he was, ive said for a very long time he's not that good and now ppl can see it quite plainly, he's very very ordinary he shouldnt be captain either. Elyonoussi, Djenepo and Mailtland-Niles should never be anywhere near the first team and Lyanco should never be in the central defence but i would like to see him in a def midfield role just like Romeru did or us. If Lyanco isnt the answer to our def midfield problems then we need to find one quickly, Lavia isnt the answer, he prefers the box-box type of role. Sort out the midfield first because if we go for broke and get in 3 strikers, they still wont have any effect as the midfield cant muster up sh!t atm. Lavia in his role will help a lot but we need someone good beside him, jwp isnt that player, Stu.Armstrong might be a better option but id go for a new player imo. Edozie was our only bright spark again today, he would be the only one from midfield/fwd id keep in the squad from january onwards that played today. Btw, what the hell did Jones do for the 4 weeks when he had basically his whole squad apart from 2 with him? he's playing the same team as Ralph did with even worse results, how on earth have we gotten worse after a new manager, normally we would see somekind of improvement, but we have somehow got worse and the players look lost what to do.

Playing 3 at the back for our current team is just a no go, we are full of defensive minded players. Your supposed to have the midfield go full attack due to having the 3 that always stays behind. Maitland-Niles is a defender (a very poor one at that), playing him in midfield just wont work in that system, Jwp is to backwards and sidewards and Elyounoussi is just to bloody slow to do anything. Change them for Lavia, Diallo ( is ok when he's not a def midfielder) and Stu Armstrong and you'll see a different result as they are more attack minded. Edozie would probably have to fit in as a striker or playing just off Adams, he needs to start more. Or Jones can tell the board where to shove their proposed 352 system and go back to his 41212 formation he likes to play and try and find a new def midfielder as well as a striker in the window.

he's useless thats why, WBA didnt want him and he couldnt get into their side which were relegated, Arsenal have been trying to offload him for the past 2 seasons, why we even went for him i have no idea.

We desperately need 2 cm's one defensive and one box-box, Lavia will get injured again so we need cover. Jwp needs to be moved further up, thats where he's more effective. A new striker is also really needed, i'd offload AA and maybe a loan out for Mara, get rid of Diallo and im praying i wont see Elyounoussi in a starting lineup again with Tino and Kwp back soon and Edozie doing ok again when he's given the chance. Defence is really a major problem, im hoping during the WC NJ can work some magic and get it all sorted.

agree, Ely is too slow, AA cant hit a barn door and Diallo is just crap

Need a real defensive midfielder as well as a striker imo, this would allow Lavia to play more of a box-box which is his best position and push jwp/Stu.Armstrong or both behind the striker(s).

He likes the 3412 formation, sadly AMN is our only RB, good news no space for wingers so no Elyonoussi although i feel for Edozie since he was our bright spark against Wednesday. What ever the result i wont judge him after only a few days of training. ----------------Bazunu ---------ABK -----DCC------Sali------ AMN----------JWP---- Lavia --------- Perraud -----------Stu Armstrong/Edozie?----------- ----------------Aribo--Adams-------------

We miss Armstrong badly, everytime he's out we seem to struggle in midfield.

pretty sure it is but im sure they can still own us without changing our name like they normally do, they could always sponsor the stadium to get around the name issue. Anything is better than the Chinese bloke anyways...

because without creativity through the center its hard to unlock defences with a high line, away from home teams like to attack infront of home fans so the home team is always up against the counter attack. We need a better central midfielder who can create something or an attacker with pace and flair to run with the ball like Mane did for us.

I would be tempted to try either Djenepo or Boufal upfront in hope they run central with the ball to open things up thats what we miss really.

Yep, both needed to be replaced in the summer now they seem to be our main midfielders now, no wonder we dont have any sort of creativity down the center.

Agree with dropping jwp but he's the poster boy so he wont get dropped thats our problem. I dont like Romeu as a Dcm, he's just to slow and cant pass, i would be tempted, like someone has already stated, to try Stephens there. But yeah i like that, Djenepo and Boufal needs to be playing on the wings week in week out imo.

I hope for the next game he chooses more than 2 fwd thinking players. If he's going to play with 3 CB's drop Romeu and Jwp, place Hoj as the anchor midfield man and play 4 fwd thinking players, Boufal, Adams/Armstrong, Redmond and Ings, just try something new instead of this ultra defensive formation which invites teams to attack us. I'd hope Cedric will be RB and Vokins for LB.

Again the same 3 poor midfielders that havent done anything all season, 2 or 3 of them need replacing, Jwp defiantly shouldn't be starting. I do agree that we should go back to that formation though.

Thats all he's done in his whole career, only looked good in the early days as he had better players around him. I'm afraid that if Ralph keeps picking him and Romeu we are doomed, both are to slow, lack any creativity and cant bond any type of partnership in the midfield. Ralph also needs to stop playing so negative, we only have 2 fwd thinking guys on the pitch.

That midfield is probably the main reason why we are struggling, jwp is utter gash and offers nothing but a good free kick now and again, Romeu cant pass for toffee and hojbjerg cant seem to play with any of the other 2. Since we cant really do anything about our shocking defence, why don't we drop all 3 of them ( or at least 2 of them ) and find something that works? Smallbone, Slattery Danso? Playing 3 CB's we don't need to play 2 Dcm's, we could try Danso at DCM and try playing Boufal instead of Jwp to inject a bit of pace into the midfield, the 3rd could be Hoj/smallbone or someone else. I was always told when i was young that the midfield is the engine of the team, they need to do all the running and inject the energy to get the rest of the team working, all 3 of them are slow and sluggish, time for a change! Vokins did ok in preseason why not give him a run out, its not like we have any other LB.

tempting to try this: --------Gunn----------- ---Yoshi--Vest----bednarek-- Valery-----hoj------Berty ---Sims---Jwp---Redmond ---------Ings-------- Need to go full attack like we did in the 2nd half yesterday. Win it and get a draw against Liverpool I think we will be safe, Cardiff have a hell of a run now and that would put d daylight between us

Well it's now a must win game, I feel not strengthing in the window might backfire on us.

Reed- Very good player, a much better all-round player than Jwp (yes I will probably get flamed for saying that), would fit in the pressing system as he does that for Blackburn and he has some engine in him, the lad just keep going. Would play just behind the 2 strikers in RH preferred formation. Possibly not an every match starter but hes good enough to stand in or to come on to close out the game (pack the midfield) He's certainly better than Elyounoussi. Sims- Again very good just needs a run of games, a good preseason under RH would do him good, probably not a starter but would bring something from the bench or a good option to bring in for injured/tired players. Jones - A very good promising player, I would like to see him play cups games next year to see how he gets on and which would allow a defender valuable rest time. Mcqueen - Better than Targett as a wingback but need to see what he is like after he returns from that bad injury. Smallbone - Not on that list but a player that has very good quality and I think he could break through next season, one to watch! Others either need more time being young or just not up for it, Gallagher seems ok not quite sure if he's premiership though, defo needs a run of games, Heskith, not sure if he's premiership either im afraid.

Pains me to say this but he's Improved under Ralph been playing well and derserves his spot in the team, still needs to improve a few things though to really win me over.

We need space to get better players in and/or promote some of our 22 year olds so if he don't fit into the new system so be it. I personally never liked him as he really is just a deadball speciallist and in modern day football you just cant carry someone like that now. His style would of suited the 1990's-early 2000's punting early balls in the box from the wing, but nowadays you need to do alot more work and hes just not fast enough or strong enough for what midfielders need to do. He probably needs to drop down a division and get regular play time but he's certinally not premier standard.

I hope not, really hoped he would come back here.

Get in!! I had a good feeling this week that we could get something from today, great result play like that all season and we will be fine.