shurlock

Or he might come on when we're chasing the game or need a fresh pair of legs. Or he might not come on at all or come on with 23 mins to go. The world works in mysterious ways.

Lambert was poor - not jumping, sloppy touch, slow to react when balls were played in. Jrod was also poor though he did more tracking back.

West Brom fans were terrible- practically metres away from us yet sat there quietly apart from a few barely comprehensible references to us going down with the Villa and knowing that they're dopey midlanders. The Zoopla half time game was decent tho.

Mayuka is more of a Cortese signing than Rodriguez.

I've also heard that he must come on when we're chasing games or need a fresh pair of legs. Very suspicious stuff indeed

Just got back - thankfully, the ticket conductor took mercy on us for jumping trains. Nothing to add except that we started with a 4-4-2 (Jrod/Lambert upfront and Ramirez on the right and Lallana on the left). Punters got what they wanted and it made no difference to us offensively or defensively - indeed we were better (once again) after we switched things in the 2nd half. The personnel didn't help either - couldn't understand why Ramirez was stuck out on the right for the first half rather than in the middle- he's our play maker and we want to get him on the ball as much as possible - not have him isolated. There are scapegoats in the team but there are also sacred cows. Lambert and Lallana -esp Lambert- have been poor in recent games but they are virtual shoe-ins. With Ramirez back, maybe there's dsome flex to experiment. IMO the defense wasn't too bad - can't remember them creating too many clear-cut chances or Gazza having much to do. Thought Maya and Fox's distribution was confident and incisive and should have encouraged our CMs to push forward more. Many of the problems on display aren't new - exposed fullbacks was a recurrent problem last season (under the diamond) and so was a lack of pace. People bang on about our failure to recruit defenders but, just as importantly, we still haven't found a half-decent replacement for Oxo. We play in front of teams and sideways, illustrated by the bizarre sight of Lallana picking up the ball in space and running away from goal/defenders towards the sideline. I've lost faith in our CMs- one reason why Ramirez's directness is so refreshing, even if he was rusty tonight. The few times we got behind defenses or created a 2-on-1, the results were predictable- Lallana and Lambert both pulling off to the side, supported by one of the fullbacks, though this usually meant Lambert was a position to inflict any damage. Their second goal demonstrated perfectly the benefits of pace - a quick, blink-of-an eye ball down the channel punished our high line as we had been pressing - it was especially fitting that it resulted from a spell of significant, if toothless possession by us. Btw, West Ham away was our last goal from open play - not quite six games.

Not at all. Pure wishful thinking. Our fullbacks were also very exposed in the NPC under the narrow diamond we generally played. Doing that in the premiership would lead to similar, if not worse results.

I can see that, though it assumes a few things (i) that the full-backs do push on and support -probably truer down the right with Clyne than Fox and (ii) that the three CMs wil; get forward and support rather than pass the buck - both JWP and Morgan's first instinct is to sit back, though for different reasons (JWP still strikes me as risk-averse). Davis has been very good since he joined but it hasn't been for his box-to-box qualities. We played v.well against Man U but remember we put out exactly the same side against Arsenal and that's probably the worst we looked this season. While Arsenal definitely took their foot off the pedal in the second half, we picked up after we took off JWP and brought on Ramirez -obviously, Ramirez is a better player but also the midfield didnt sit as deep, creating space for Puncheon and AL further up the pitch. Its a difficult balancing act between being defensively solid and being too negative that we invite teams on and paradoxically becoming more vulnerable. Away from home am inclined to think there are more Arsenal than Man U performances because the onus is on the home side to squeeze up. Conversely, I reckon 3 CMs would work much better at home.

Yeh starting Guly for JWP and in close to his proper position for once.

As I said elsewhere, I feels quite narrow and reckon it will encourage us to play very deep without going anywhere a la Arsenal. You can imagine Brom's defenders sitting on the halfway line and squeezing play. It would help if we had runners from midfield to stop the 3 CMS and front 3 getting too isolated and provide the penetration and energy to get behind defenses but none of our CMs have shown any appetite to gamble or look up. We tried 3 CMs last Xmas with Hammond, Cork and Morgan and we looked lethargic and predictable - it also coincided with our poorest run of the season. Think pace is a definite requirement away from home, allowing us to stretch defences back and give the midfield more space. So yeh, I would consider Mayuka - think he potentially offers more away from home than at home. Alternatively, I would consider taking one of the 3 CMs out -probably JWP and starting Guly - he works hard defensively, is physically strong, difficult to dispossess in possession and will push forward.

This

Understand the thinking; but reckon it will look less good on the pitch than on paper - you lose more than you gain with it.

Never got as far as Newham - tops was living in Surrey Quays (good times there, though). FWIW, I think horse-lungs Carroll is quick. At the very least, he does a job of moving defenders around with his ability/willingness to work the channels - obviously you then need creative players to exploit the space it creates. Clyne has looked our paciest player -and we've looked dangerous when he's been able to drive at players or the space in front of him. With our defensive frailties, its not something we really want to rely on, though.

And why Stoke are one of the lowest scorers in the division. Funnily I read somewhere that Andy Carroll is one of the fastest players in the division -no sh*tting. http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/football/west-ham/west_ham_shocker_who_is_the_fastest_hammer_1_1660790

We need pace in the team -just think with AL and Ramirez playing off Lambert, we'll become very narrow and play very deep, making it easy for defenses to step up and squeeze. It would help if we had runners from midfield but to date Cork and Morgan have shown little appetite to gamble or get forward. Maybe Davis is the man to step up but I would hardly call him box-to-box. Our poor run last Xmas coincided with playing 3 CMs and having no pace in the team to counteract the lack of movement from midfield.

Not convinced by a midfield 3 of Cork, Davis and Morgan with AL, Ramirez and Lambert up top but each to their own.

As its Guly, he'll get a slightly longer reprieve - the bring back chappers campaign, now that's a different matter.

Good news but will still take Ramirez a game or two to get match fit, so not expecting him to turn on the magic right away.

It worked because we played only two in the middle of the park and had width in the shape of Punch and AL. You would get none of that with a defensively-minded midfield 3. Lambert, Lallana and Ramirez would become bunched together so as not to getisolated and defences could squeeze up and play a high line with impunity. We tried a midfield 3 last Xmas when Hammond, Morgan and Cork regularly started and without pace we looked narrow, predictable and very easy to defend against. Playing Jrod instead of Lambert would offer a partial solution given his greater pace and movement but IMO you lose more than you gain dropping Lambert.

Yep, I know- just think the side isn't big enough for AL/Ramirez if you want to strengthen midfield with Cork, Morgan and Davis. AL hasnt convinced on the wing. The alternative is for AL and Ramirez to play off Lambert but we would become incredibly narrow and everything would be played in front of opposing defences with no threat in behind -kind of what happened when Connolly was in the team or during our sticky spell last Xmas. Runners from midfield might mix things up but to date Cork and Morgan have shown little appetite to gamble or make runs from deep.

Mayuka's pace is a must - If sacrifices have to be made, I would drop AL and play Mayuka/Ramirez/Lambert with a midfield 3 of Cork/Morgan/Davis.

True but maybe that's part of the English disease -lot of f**kwits masking their limited ability with fire and aggression or assuming you have to be fiery and aggressive to be successful. Players have to be driven but I'd rather a player -Bergkamp, Yaya Toure who's icy cool any day.

Or mad dogs that have to be muzzled and chained. Got no problem with Boruc as long as he plays well and other members of the squad can appreciate his 'idiosyncracies'. The latter isnt always the case.

Morning fella Yep that is my interpretation - we had narrowed down who we wanted, had spoken to clubs/players but, for whatever reason, hadn't pulled the trigger. After all we were being linked with a number of CBs all summer -one of whom, Yoshida, ended up signing, so I'm pretty sure the wheels were in motion. The relatively early signing of Clyne and the timing of the Buttner deal suggests that we were after defenders from the get-go. There are any number of reasons why we didn't move earlier and ultimately didn't secure anyone. Keeping your options open makes business sense but Im happy to accept that it is a risky strategy, that by not going in earlier, we were left high and dry and out of time when no deal materialised. I'm also willing to accept that we couldn't make our minds up, that we failed to sh1t or get off the pot and are paying the consequences of our indecision. On the other hand, maybe, we saw something we didn't like or found it difficult to choose between our targets because there was no clear standout choice -and, rightly, weren't going to spend a mini fortune and spunk money up the wall without being totally certain. Or maybe we had identified a clear, no.1 target but the selling club or player couldnt make their mind up, so we shopped around, hoping the no.1 target would come back to us. Or maybe Nixon was simply guessing, that he wasn't clued up on every transaction and actually some things were advancing behind the scenes. Each of these scenarios is possible and depending on which one occurred, you can make a case for or against the club. Either way, we don't know. But what I'm pretty sure is that we didn't come to this late in the day -and I don't see anything in Nixon's tweet that suggests that.