ohmelads

We're playing at a very slow tempo, need to release the ball much quicker. We've looked hopeless so far. I think he is going to have to change something because this tempo of game is playing right into their hands. Incredible that we have 2 DM's on the pitch and another DM on the bench, against Reading who are bottom with 1 point. In our entire 18 man squad we don't have a centre-mid capable of a clever forward pass? Just hoping Ben Arfa, Ba or Cisse can pull something out of the hat for us second half because we've been awful.

Disappointing and slightly unlucky defeat but there are positives: decent performance. Ferguson's assist. Cisse off the mark. No injuries. Colo and Tiote back. Thought Tavernier and Elliott had decent games too and Bigi put another good shift in. Negatives: Obertan and Marveaux should have done a lot better today, there was loads of space down those flanks and their defenders were backing off all day. There was strangely loads of time on the ball in their half. Ben Arfa would have had a field day today but I suppose you could say the same about a few Man Utd first teamers.

Decent performance. Gosling was turned too easily by Anderson, even if it was a hell of a strike. Vuckic and Ameobi is too pedestrian up front. Ameobi's done OK with the service he's had, they are vulnerable to high balls, so I'd swap Vuckic for Sammy second half and get some more movement up top. Save Cisse for the weekend, seeing as we have only 3 forwards to take us to January.

This one for me... Jonas needs to be on the field, he is one of our hardest workers and seems to get involved in everything. He's important to the morale of the team as much as anything else imo. Agreed. For me Gutierrez has to be a starter. Anita looks like he might be our best right back option has looked much more comfortable there than in centre mid with it all happening around him.

I don't think he's actively touted any of his players in the press (the only one under contract he has acknowledged to be open to offers was Simpson iirc), and Demba Ba would be one of the last players he'd want sold. He is a quality striker guaranteeing goals that you'd struggle to replace for £7m, nevermind the reduced amount that we'd actually receive after fees etc. I agree, I'm just saying how Ashley would see it. Pardew hasn't touted specific players, but I thought it was unnecessary to repeatedly talk about losing them in an open window. I know he's asked questions by journos and quoted out of context but he seems more shrewd than to just blurt it out unless there's a reason.

I have found some of Pardew's comments strange, he almost seems to be touting his players around and inviting offers. I wondered if he had been told to sell to buy, and saw one or two as replaceable if he could get big money in. In the case of Ba, I reckon we'll happily sell if a good offer comes in January or the summer. He only has 2 years on his contract, his knee worries will only get greater as he gets older and plays more games and his value will deteriorate with age. We have an owner obsessed with resale value who knows next summer will be the last chance to sell him and a player who apparently won't sign a new deal. On top of that these release clauses and statements by his agent etc are going to be seen as a pain in the hole for the club. You also have to consider that he and Cisse haven't really clicked as a partnership and don't look like they will either. It all depends on what sorts of offers come in, really. Having said that, I thought Ashley would have definitely sold and replaced Simpson for the same economic reasons and he didn't.

Difference is Liverpool spend far more than we do on transfer fees and wages, and most of their players know they can't get a better deal elsewhere. They have lost some big names in recent years when players did smell a better deal. Owen, Alonso, Torres etc. In addition to their history of trophies long ago, they have also won trophies in recent years and constantly finished above us. And though they have recently fallen, people see them as a club making a go of it and failing due to major mismanagement of their resources. But nevertheless they are seen as a club with the resources to compete regularly for the champions league. People look at our 1 top half finish in the past 5 years under the current owner and our lack of investment and they don't see a club with the resources to compete that Liverpool has. It's got nothing to do with Pardew or our fans. We may have finished above Liverpool once, but unless we do it year on year it will not change attitudes. I'm sure players, much like the majority of fans, believe ambition is backed up by spending. And Liverpool do much more of than than we do. Their past glory and biased media connections help as well, like.

Shocker from Harper, it's hit with power but it's the middle of the goal. Really soft goal. We are pressing at a high tempo, we'll tire first unless we keep the ball and stop hoofing it under pressure. I think we're showing them too much respect, camped around our box at times.

Had actually forgotten he was still at our club. Our striking options are so limited and we have so many fixtures that it's not impossible he'll get minutes this season, especially if we're unlucky with injuries. You have to wonder what he's done to not even be part of our pre-season while we're paying him big money and there's just three forwards on the books. He could be just shite but we have harboured many crap players in the past without excluding them altogether.

Haha just spotted that Meant to put Gutierrez in the middle with Cabaye and Tiote!

With the notable exception of Ben Arfa, our big players have not got going for us. It is early days but Cisse and Cabaye in particular are yet to get going, and Tiote was poor against Spurs as well. Perhaps this break has come at a welcome time. There is clearly lots to work on. I think Pardew knows his best XI but seems confused on the formation that suits us best. OR he is pandering to player power and putting Ba central to keep him happy. I normally don't bother with unfounded gossip and rumours but reading between the lines of Pardew's pre-season comments about Ba being unhappy out wide and the strange fact we've reverted to 4-4-2 suggests something is up. We went on a seven game winning run with a 4-3-3 and our efforts to play 4-4-2 have seen us playing very poor football. All the form suggests it's a no-brainer. It would be nice to have options and switch to 4-4-2 when required, but we didn't give ourselves that chance in the transfer window and now it's shut. We don't have the luxury of options and we're trying to play a new system which isn't working. The first half against Villa and the first half against Spurs were awful, we risked losing both games with the 4-4-2. Ben Arfa is too deep and too wide to be effective, Gutierrez does not get the assists and goals an out and out winger should and Cabaye has to track back more without a dedicated DM. The two centre forwards fancy themselves as number 9s, both want to play central and be in or around the box for chances, neither is willing to work the flanks. Both games when it wasn't working we changed it around and got ourselves back in the game with an improved performance, so Pardew must heed the lesson by now. If fit, I'd go with the following: ------------------Krul------------- Anita---Taylor----Colo---Santon -------------Tiote---Cabaye------ Ben Arfa-------------------------Ba ------------------Cisse-------------- I think it is too early to drop Cisse and Ba. There might be an element of complacency after the transfer window saw us bring in no competition for places but I really think our players are struggling to adapt to this system. I'd go back to basics, back to what worked for us before. We played this way in the second half against Spurs when we were the better team and scored twice. I would give Anita a go at right back even if Simpson is fit. He didn't get a thorough test defensively as Villa were poor but he looks much more composed on the ball and seems to give us better width going forward. He actually looked more comfortable there than in centre mid where he was anonymous in the first half up until the switch.

We didn't really get to see his defensive side at right back cos Villa were awful but going forward he's an upgrade on Simpson. If Simpson is injured (and even if he's not) I think this lad needs to be considered at RB, especially when Tiote is back. Or left back for that matter with Santon right.

Yep, once again we switched to 4-3-3 for the second half and once again it paid off. I thought Pardew had learned from the Spurs game where he also switched at half time and it paid off then too. We've got a limited squad and very little option to change it. Go with 4-3-3 and pray we don't get injuries. Was more of a 4 1 2 1 2 for long periods today, with Bigi sitting deeper and then Jonas left central and Cabaye right central midfield with Ben Arfa playing more central off Cisse and Ba. Agree you can call it that I suppose. Second half Ben Arfa was more central than he was second half against Spurs and had more freedom to roam, so yeah the front three had a different shape. There does seem to be a desire from Pardew to accommodate the two forwards in the role they want. Problem is they both want to be a number 9, neither will do the support role of a number 10. They don't work for each other, neither can hold the ball up particularly well, win headers, work the flank etc. When we started today's game Ben Arfa was around the halfway line right side, with Gutierrez on the other side, in what looked like a flat 4-4-2 and it was awful, just as it was against Spurs first half.

Yep, once again we switched to 4-3-3 for the second half and once again it paid off. I thought Pardew had learned from the Spurs game where he also switched at half time and it paid off then too. We've got a limited squad and very little option to change it. Go with 4-3-3 and pray we don't get injuries.

Yep, let's hope he finds a new gear as he'll be playing for a move. But sadly I don't think his problems are down to lack of effort, he's just a fairly limited player especially going forward which was our weakness for much of last season. If he was great defensively you could argue his case, but he is not great in this regard either. He was a great signing for our promotion season, and is a Premier League quality full back, but now we seem to be among the top 7 or 8 clubs he stands out as a weakness. Though they are different positions, I rate Guthrie as a similar if not better player. He also ran his contract out but did so as a backup, presumably we didn't find a taker and figured we'd keep him for that reason. It is strange that Simpson is doing the same as a first team player, he is not worth a new contract yet finds himself in the first team - it's not often you see that. I would echo what others have said that Perch deserves his chance.

Didn't realise my post was that long! Skip to the last paragraph if your eyes hurt!

The model we have sort of stumbled upon after Ashley's disastrous first few seasons is an understandable one, but its success depends on flexibility in the market when required. No model will work without some degree of flexibility, because football is not a science. What we are left with is a continued weakness to the first team which opponents will look to exploit every weekend and that's us until January or beyond. I don't know the ins and outs of the Debuchy saga or why we couldn't find a right back in all of Europe but every time we struggle down that right hand side people will be cursing this window. Meanwhile Simpson will be running down his contract. The extent of the damage of missed opportunity, continued weakness in the first team and holes in the squad will be revealed in the testing months ahead as we face 8 more games than last season, and that's just between now and January. I think we've made a mistake, and can't help but wonder what logic led to the Anita signing while other areas were left weak or without proper backup. I hope he turns out a good addition, but we had urgent needs elsewhere. The aim should always be to move forward. I don't think we will but as a fan I live in hope. Cisse, Ben Arfa and Santon didn't start last season yet we went on an excellent run. Back then, Pardew recognised our weaknesses and set us up not to concede, we defended deep hence the number of desperate blocks and goal line clearances we saw from players like Raylor and Simpson. We did not dominate many games but nonetheless kept picking up points. Our weaker players were at least tactically disciplined and we made ourselves hard to beat, with Ba and Cisse deciding tight games at the other end by taking whatever chances came. It was not swashbuckling football but it was effective. Our overall attacking play improved as the season wore on and Ben Arfa came into the fray. We are capable of doing the same again: our first XI is better than the one which started last season, and while they're fit I think we're alright. But there is a major distraction this time in the shape of Europe, which brings injuries, fatigue and rotation. You get the feeling our season will defined not by our best XI which we know is good, but by injuries and the ability of our 'second XI' to fill in as Perch and Raylor did last time. The fact that Raylor is arguably our best bench player speaks volumes. We have a good XI, an excellent spine to the team, but we lack depth for what is a gruelling fixture list. It is going to be down to the kids, and players like Marveaux, Gosling, Obertan, Williamson and Shola to step up. Perhaps they will, the kids too bring an element of the unknown and this is their big opportunity. Overall my gut feeling is we will pay the price for leaving the squad short on quality ahead of a tiring fixture list. If that turns out to be the case I hope this board will learn from it and rectify that in the January window. Perhaps they are indeed waiting to see how the squad copes, and waiting for events to force them into action, such as Senegal's qualifier with the Ivory Coast. nufc.com summed it up well when they said "there seems to be some gambling going on at SJP". That's exactly what is happening and all we can do as fans is hope we get away with it over the coming months. The Raylor injury is certainly not a good start.

The squad is as strong as last year, but we're asking much more of them this time thanks to loads more fixtures. That's where the bench players come in and they're a major drop in quality. We should have strengthened and I think it'll come at a cost. For now we'll be alright as we're light on injuries. But look at our bench and you can see problems ahead.

Could have been worse. We could have sold a star and not reinvested all the money. But no point polishing a turd, we have more fixtures with much the same squad and I think we're going to see more of our cover players than we did last season, including in the Premier League. The Anita signing looks more strange the more you look at it, especially as Gutierrez will play many games inside and we bought Bigirimana and Amalfitano plus Marveaux and Gosling are returning who barely played last season. If you were going to buy one player, let's face it you wouldn't have picked a midfielder would you? I'd rather have had a right back with the Anita money, in all honesty. I think we are OK as long as our first XI remain fit. Our bench doesn't look very strong though and if you add in 10 fixtures to last season we could be in trouble. All depends on the ability of the fringe players to step up as Raylor and Perch have, or youngsters breaking through. Basically we have left more to chance than we should have and could pay the price. Shouldn't underestimate the importance of keeping our key players. But I fear the squad will be found out as the injuries build up.

Dempsey < Moutinho Dempsey > Henderson, etc. So him going to Spurs rather than Liverpool, instead of them getting Moutinho is brilliant move for us imo. Let's wait and see but this was my first reaction too. If Liverpool get no one in they'll have egg on their faces after letting Carroll and Adam go. Spurs very much an unknown force, hopefully they don't get any more in. Could be a few clubs active in the market in January, including us. Said more in hope than expectation

Dempsey < Moutinho Dempsey > Henderson, etc. So him going to Spurs rather than Liverpool, instead of them getting Moutinho is brilliant move for us imo. Let's wait and see but this was my first reaction too. If Liverpool get no one in they'll have egg on their faces after letting Carroll and Adam go. Spurs very much an unknown force, hopefully they don't get any more in. Could be a few clubs active in the market in January, including us.

He's as good as any other cover players we have. Major loss considering our transfer activity, the number of fixtures ahead and his versatility. Scored a vital goal to rescue a poor away performance in Greece.

So what's the deal with Simpson? He leaves for free next summer and then what? Just sell him now for a million, sign the replacement (we must have lined some up surely?) and save yourself a headache next summer. What we've done makes no sense from a business or football perspective. I suspect what's happened is we have haggled too hard and paid the price for a stubborn negotiation stance which didn't work this time. All this talk of the principles and plans behind the running of the club. But plans have to be flexible, especially in football.

Happy we have kept the key players together, continuity is important. Disappointed we have taken on loads extra fixtures and left ourselves short. So long as we've got our best XI fit we'll be OK. I think that's why people are calm. When injuries come we'll struggle. We're relying on some of the kids to step up big time this season.

Looking at Pardew's quotes over the past few weeks, I think he's been told to sell to buy, and would be happy to take a massive fee for one key player if it allowed him to bring in 2 or 3 targets. I think he'd take 20M for Tiote if it meant we landed Debuchy and a quality forward, and I think his quotes have been subtly inviting bids. It's not hard to deflect journalists' questions, managers do it all the time. Pardew's been repeatedly touting our players through the press and bringing attention to the fact "we might not be able to keep them".