shurlock

If there are any games in which Ramirez would feature, it's not this one. Not away against the top sides where the onus is on us keeping things tight and closing down space. Had we not scored so early, he might have come on. If there's a game set up for Ramirez, surely it's at home against the lesser sides that come to park the bus, don't ask as much offensively and we need to find a way to unlock them.

Agree think Davis is a miss - would take the pressure off Wanyama and Morgan, drops off into good spaces, rarely concedes possession and keeps things flowing. Ramirez has more upside but lacks consistency. Lallana could also play in the middle but theres no obvious replacement on the left hand side. The result is that there's too much space between Victor/Morgan and the front four. Don't think Morgan and Victor have worked out when one should push forward and the other stay back. With Cork the division of labour was relatively clear, freeing up Morgan. Victor can go forward and would love to see him use his strength more and drive with the ball but he's happy to choose the easy option which ultimately caps his value and contribution.

??? When poor or mediocre games exceed your good games, is that still form? Jrod has had many more poor games for us than good games. Perhaps you need to consider the concept of a 'blip' or 'reversion to the mean'. To be fair, Jrod does offer us something we don't have but that probably says more about the lack of depth/balance in the squad.

Nothing to do with Wanyama or Cork IMO but the movement of the front four who apart from Osvaldo are too static and spread apart. There is very little on for our midfield. Jrod and to some extent AL are the weak links. AL is solvable - he looks much better in a central position; Jrod's form is more concerning.

IIRC there was a lot of optimism around the game - we had just played Derby off the park, a team that had been tipped to go straight back up. We hit the post and missed a number of sitters in the opening period before we got hit by the inevitable sucker punch. Should have won the game which made the result all the more deflating for such a young team. Arguably one of the first big nails in the coffin, at least on the pitch.

Woy set up for the point - got what he wanted.

Milner can't cross.

Because Rickie and Balotelli are very similar players....

Large parts of the City are an overpriced marketing outfit - we're not talking about blowing up the system, one-off events but day to day business - fund managers who charge high fees and create unnecessary products when the vast majority can't beat the market on a consistent basis. It's a suckers game - that's why insiders will put their money in indexes for many, though clearly not all, activities.

Lambert's performance supported the case/need for more pace in the team. Welbeck's pace allowed him to drop into deeper spaces and play the balls he did. Too many times when Lambert drops deep for us, the box is either empty or he's having to wait and take an extra touch for support to arrive. Yesterday's third goal would never happen with us.

Let's just hope he does better against James Collins this time around.

Very true and there are tougher tests in the Prem from which Lambert has hardly come out with flying colors of late.

Not to pee on the parade but its Moldova ffs and it would be nice to see some more of this for us.

Not against Wham but over time he'll be back in contention as the second CB. Obviously you don't rate him.

From the horse's mouth - Rodriguez has said he would like to model his game on Sheringham's. http://soccerlens.com/jay-rodriguez-profile/18355/ By 'rest', I mean it euphemistically - Lambert hasn't been at the races for the while -admittedly nor have any of our attackers. So I would like us to try something different, especially against a team that has managed to keep him quiet, dating back to the Championship. Indeed, iirc, it's Rodriguez who's given them more problems, even during his lean spell (he was excellent up at their place last year).

Like parts of the team, though think Yoshida will come in at some point. And can we really play without Lambert? You're right: JWP doesn't work out on the right, however much he's tucked inside. If he's going to play, it will be in CM with either Morgan, Victor or Cork as the single holding player. I can see him starting some home games where the onus is on us to attack -see the second half against Sunderland; but he has to do more to win my trust and dislodge a very strong midfield, including Davis who IMO still offers more from an all-round perspective. Most important, despite what people think, we are not afraid to go long and sometimes that's all we do. Lambert needs a rest but will Jrod or Osvaldo provide his aerial ability and hold up? Jrod has been compared to the next Sheringham in Jrod but not seem much of that to date; while Osvaldo won virtually nothing in the air against Norwich. He likes quick balls into feet, though we don't do much of that. The direct ball is food and drink for Wham; they are vulnerable against pace, however. That is, they are exactly the kind of team against which we need a plan B. With Shaw and Clyne probably back, MP won't have any excuses. It will be an interesting litmus test of whether their pace/width alone is enough and how we set up.

The Monkou - Groves double signing was a proper coup and I thought the club couldn't outdo itself after capturing Speedie and Dixon. Seriously, though, the Berkovic/Ostenstad deals were class. Who needs Jim White and some pencil-necked mongs when you had Teamtalk and Clubcall to run up calls to Mars on.

So we were actually in for anyone today?

Ozil - another cookie cutter player which will condemn Arsenal to playing their same toothless, predictable brand of Barcelona-lite football.

Why is it building - there are rumours that Spurs might let him go but are there any links to us?

Our last deadline day specials - saving the best till last.

How much of it MP or key attacking players not turning up and our dependence on them. As much as I like him, Rickie's been poor for months -and we rely on the direct ball to move the ball quickly. AL has struggled for even longer -indeed our dip last season coincided with him returning to the team at the expense of Punch at Newcastle, though he has shown signs of improvement. Jrod has been boom and bust and faces little competition as our one only pacy player. Finally MP inherited the Ramirez problem and nobody's figured out how best to deploy him. It was evident from last season that we were very dependent on the fullbacks for width -and Chambers and Fox for very different reasons are limited backups. With VW and Morgan in the side, there are doubts whether we really need JWP who, setpieces apart (though they were poor yesterday) doesn't offer enough IMO. Didn't do a very good job protecting Chambers yesterday and seemed averse to do much in the final third which is typical of his play. If he's going to start it should be in CM with one of Morgan, VW and Cork.

As you would say - why 9 games? Cherrypicking, no?

Would you like the McInnes or the facepalm?