saintwbu

I've always liked us more as a side when he's in it. I get why people don't necessarily rate him, he isn't a player that stands out all the time, but he rarely gives the ball away and he is great at moving it around even if it isn't always incisive, creative passing. On the right he provides a great outlet and also the intelligence to slot in and allow Cedric to bomb on without fear. I think it's no coincidence Cedric had his best game of the season with JWP in front of him. He gets in ahead of Redmond every day of the week for me.

Hojbjerg had the only decent game i’ve ever seen him have at home to this lot last year. I personally like JWP on the right, he’s smart enough to fill in for Cedric when he bombs on, and he can deliver a great ball. I get why people aren’t convinced by his contribution but some of our best performances have had him on the right (EFL Cup final in particular).

Anyone who watches Gabbiadini in the flesh would know that he makes great runs all game, only for whoever has the ball to take another touch and mean he's offside, or not give it to him at all. Austin has the same problem. Strikers of this ilk need quick thinking midfielders who can spot the pass straight away, not once it's too late. I also don't think Pelle, on top of Lambert's shoulder's, would get to most of Cedric's dreadful crosses. I've said to a fair few people that I think Gabbiadini would get 20+ goals with Kevin De Bruyne behind him. Unfortunately at the moment I think current Kevin Keegan would provide more pace and creativity than we have had this season.

Still makes me laugh when I think of all the people who said after the Swansea game that ‘well it was definitely better than under Puel’ despite drawing 0-0 at home to certain relegation fodder Course it was lads. At least Puel knew what he was doing, you may not have liked it (I was fine with it) but he had a plan and knew how to execute it. You don’t play one of the most dangerous attacks in the league 4 times and not concede a goal without a bit of tactical nous. I don’t know what Pellegrino does, and I don’t think he knows either.

So it sounds like not even Sam Gallagher at 6’4 is going to be able to make Cedric’s crossing look good

A bit of both. Players certainly aren’t as good as under Koeman, but it’s a manager’s job to get the best out of those players. Puel has even said today in the press that we created a lot of chances under him, just weren’t clinical, which in the main I think was true, perhaps not right at the end of the season. Plenty of games were goalless due to missed penalties and poor finishing. Pellegrino isn’t even delivering that much.

I should’ve clarified, you wouldn’t play a CB at full back and expect him to perform well. Yoshida’s bad reputation among some (definitely not me, I think he’s brilliant) stems from his games at full back which completely stitched him up. Like playing Boufal on the wing. Is this MP’s way of saying ‘don’t ever celebrate at me like that again’ after last week? I’ll stick you out on the wing so you play **** and the fans stop clamouring for your inclusion. Wouldnt surprise me, seems like he left his balls in Spain.

Superb against West Brom when playing down the middle. So only natural that you’d then start him stuck out on the wing... You wouldn’t play a CB at full back, why do it with an attacking midfielder. Then he got his token 65 minute ‘chance’ and to rub salt in the wound he gets hooked and Tadic gets put central, exactly where Boufal should’ve been! He also won the free kick for the goal by actually running at his marker. Tadic is ****.

I remember someone on here arguing with me that Demarai Gray was not better than Nathan Redmond during the summer :lol:

Allardyce has always mentioned having a better club than the ones he’s managed and he’s only going to consider a return to football if it’s of real interest to him. Surely with some of the players we have, particularly defensively, we could get him on board.

Knew from the first game of the season at home to Swansea that he was not the right man. I had to laugh at people that day blindly convincing themselves that whilst we were held to a 0-0 draw at home against an almost certain relegation candidate, it was ‘definitely better than under Puel though’. Well that’s worked out well... We’ve used 19 players this season, the second least behind Burnley. Considering how **** poor we have been all season, I think that’s astonishing. What exactly is he expecting to happen if we don’t ever change anything? Also, Boufal was quiet today, he got 65 minutes and then he got hooked. He won’t start the next game. Tadic played 82 minutes and did absolutely **** all other than dive, on one occasion costing us a chance to break because he’d rather roll around and get the ball kicked out of play. Tadic will start the next game. It’s just astonishing, are we being trolled by this absolute clown?

I have been far more bored and frustrated under Pellegrino than I ever was under Puel. I don’t expect i’m going to be rewarded with a cup final and 8th place finish either. Good luck Claude, hope you do well.

Very pleased for Boufal, must be infuriating knowing what you can do and not getting a chance to show it. Thought Van Dijk was very up for it this week, not that I thought he was as 'half arsed' as a lot of people suggested. Lemina superb as always. I cannot surely be the only person who is absolutely astonished at how bad Cedric's crossing is!? Every time he pops up close to the touchline I am 99% certain that he's going to put it straight out of play. I don't understand how it is possible for a modern day fullback to be so poor at hitting a ball in a straight line into the penalty area. Whilst Cedric is a decent defender, is Pied not decent enough to have a go and perhaps add a more accurate delivery?

For me, his celebration was completely warranted. People say he doesn't deserve to be given a run if he doesn't show he's worth it, but Redmond and Tadic haven't shown anything for the best part of a year and yet still play week in, week out. In the past three games, we've scored 3 goals when he's been on the pitch which amounts to about 60 minutes in total, if that. He played the cross which eventually lead to Maya's goal against Stoke, I think he played the pass to Long which resulted in a penalty against Newcastle and now he's scored with a piece of individual brilliance that Redmond and Tadic could absolutely never do. To say he doesn't deserve a chance in this pathetically toothless side is baffling. The centre of our team is as good as anyone in the league in my opinion. With Van Dijk, Yoshida (or Hoedt), Lemina and Romeu in the middle we absolutely can afford a player who may give the ball away occasionally to sit at the top of that spine. A manager with a set of ******** would've made it happen a long time ago.

It’s on ITV’s page on Sky on demand as ‘Tipping Point: Lucky Stars’ - Series 4, episode 4

Within seconds of entering the field he was stood with his arms out directing and instructing, don't imagine that's the sign of a player who can't be arsed. The guy's a natural leader, did miss a couple of headers that i'd have expected him to win but i'd imagine that can be credited to a lack of sharpness.

My problem is that JWP by all accounts did nothing today, so got hooked at half time and probably won't play next week. Tadic by all accounts also did nothing today, but he'll start for the foreseeable future. Why does he keep getting chances to shine and others don't? He's been dreadful since the day Koeman left.

Where's all the people saying we're playing much better than we were under Puel though? LOL. Absolutely delusional, nothing has changed from last season whatsoever.

Lampard wasn't anything like Gaston though, a better comparison would be someone like Payet, Mahrez, Coutinho, Silva. Lampard was a CM really that was just very good at going forwards, he'd be equally effective when it came to defending a game.

'How do you solve a problem like Van Dijk?' - I dunno, but I reckon we've just done it

I get what some people say about how we don't have time to just let a player play himself into good form. But on the other hand, Tadic has been given that time for about 2 years now, and Redmond about a year, so it's a bit of a contradiction.

People seem to think long contracts are only in the best interests of the club. There are many cases where players reject a transfer because the contract on offer isn't long enough, plenty of players like the comfort of knowing that they're secure for 4-5 years earning the money they are offered, rather than at risk of injury or poor form leaving them club-less. The Van Dijk scenario will not make players wary of signing for us.

Sky Sports News outside the ground just said Virg has reported for training and the club have said even if there is a late bid it will be rejected

I only believe it if it's from Jeremy Wilson

Dominic King of the Daily Mail has tweeted that reports of Van Dijk leaving his agent are untrue and he is still represented by Wasserman. I've got a feeling he's one of the guys that denied Coutinho's transfer request when Sky broke it, only to have to confirm it about half an hour later, but I might be wrong on that.