Kanj

Big fucking sigh right here. So fucking typical for us to do that.

Just try to defend Suarez and hope Krul makes or save or Suarez misses, moronic defending. He's better than that man. He was playing well before this too. Killed the match. Disappointed in him.

Give it to a player who gives a fuck and wants to actually be here or give it someone who will shout and be vocal on the pitch looking for other's to be accountable and do their part. Thinking about the who's going to be fielded its Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Williamson, Mapou, Krul.

I did it 5 times, my USA were fucked each time. Groups similar to what GC's got above...fuck that!

1) Neither fussed about leaving and held out during the window 2) Ben Arfa has been here for a long time, and has shown how positively he acts on the pitch, if he had it an occasion like Saturday you know he wouldn't hide from it, he'd relish in it. That's the sort of personality he seems to be. 3) Williamson is a leader, despite being limited footballer, he absolutely has a commanding aspect to him - be it through shouting and organizing his line. It'll most likely be Cabaye though. Also, regarding captains - its meaningless when you appoint someone who doesn't command respect from his teammates or isn't the type of leader people rally around. A captain can be a very vital person on the team if he's given that type of role and the club is set up to have a captain have a strong role. It's diluted when you give it to player's who seemingly don't want to be there or don't hold each other accountable on and off the pitch. We owe Nolan a ton for his leadership on and off the pitch when he was our captain.

Should have been the BOPE symbol. Hot Brazilian chick with a big arse for the win.

You think the Barca coaching + World Cup in the summer + being around the Barca players who are very much up to his level of quality have to do with it? I'm honestly so damn curious to see how Brazil does this summer, just feel like they've been ramping up to this event and could be an absolute nightmare to face with that home crowd and their exciting young team...

Yep, he always seems to be shouting at everyone, which I do like seeing from him. I noticed that as well during the Cardiff game and he did look like the leader in the back. I imagine so, I'd much rather see it go to Hatem (if he starts), Mapou, or Willo. I say Mapou given he was captain of Montpellier, etc.

Was thinking about this a ton to be honest. Williamson is probably our best organizer for all of his shortcomings, he seems light years ahead of the rest with his ability to lead the back line, perhaps it could work to our advantage? Hope so at least, need him to have a real calm and commanding match, one of those performances from a few years ago where he just plays it simple and keeps disciplined.

Too many times our "holding" player has 0 positional discipline to sit -- that's his role, to sit, but too busy roaming around are too far forward. Anita and Tiote, if played, need to be camped out on top of the middle circle, if we lose ball, try to close down, if not hold position and support the CBs...frustrating how poorly the defense is being instructed. I think our backs look worse b/c of our inability to have a strong defensive spine, at the end of the day.

Something is obviously wrong with me, but with Colo and Saylor out - I'm really thinking Mapou will step up on Saturday. I just keep thinking about all of the leadership, self belief and other qualities that made him such a strong prospect and this seems like such a match for him to rebound. The fact that he's missing out on France call-ups, the fact that he was dropped for Cardiff and subbed at HT away to Everton....the press keeps talking about him, etc. This is such an opportunity for him, I hope he grasps it for our sake and of course for his own career. He's going to come good, I really hope its for us, and I hope people don't give up on him - some players adapt to this league quickly, some take time...always have to keep remembering that.

I will say, for all of his defensive problems - there are things he does, attacking wise that only a handful of players in the league can do. He's actually really good at sneaking up and beating an offside trap to get free to create a chance on goal for himself. When/IF our 2 CB's are playing better or we have a better more stable partnership, Debuchy will finally be able to show his true abilities. I notice every time he puts in a good shift for France, the 2 CB's are in fine form and are sweeping up for Debuchy and Evra who are really high up the pitch. That may NEVER work for us, but I just find it worth noting -- when France did lose the ball their CB's or CM's were marking very well and Debuchy would race back and get back into position. Again, not sure he'll ever show his true worth for us when we have such an unstable CB partnership. I will counter that and say the manager should recognize how exposed we get with Debuchy acting like a RM sometimes and basically tell him he's only allowed to venture forward in certain circumstances and if Davide is pushed up on the other side, he'll have to hold his position and play defensively.

Do we have the squad depth to allow a loan like that? Not this season but next season we should keep Ferguson here and offer them Haidara. Maybe a 1-3 month loan with a recall option would work now though? Agree, but maybe we could do 1/2 season loans with option to recall should we have any injury scares? I think that's a great idea though, bring Ferguson back who should be better equipped for first team and let Haidara go get some matches under his belt. I was very excited by him, still am, but the emergence of Dummett has sort of nullified that. I really want Dummett to become a future international LB and I want him to be our starting man. Nothing against Davide or Sadio.

"marra" is easily one of my favorite things people use as a joke on this board

I honestly Kinnear just did it to do it man, seems completely irrational given he was a free transfer.

He's enough about him to captain his club side and win a title in France. He needs the right partner and manager to believe in him. I truly hope he plays like the MYM that was being touted as the future CB of France for years to come before he joined us last January. We all need to back the fella and support him.

As good as that run was, Krul was immense & Ba was scoring goals for fun. In between that our midfield was strong with Tiote and Cabaye and our back 4 never played that good ever again. We were so fortunate to have bounces go our way so many times as well.

Iconic? Wat?

That back 4 had Taylor playing England-worthy football, Colo was 2x the player he is currently for us, Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor barely ventured up into attack and maintained their discipline. We also had Krul saving everything, which flattered our record at the time and Danny Simpson was saving shit off the line a few times in that unbeaten run, right?

Hatem and Anita have to play in this match, 100%. Anita needs to be instructed to sit back and use his intelligence and protect our back 4. Santon and Debuchy need to basically forget about attacking together, 1 attacks only and when the ball is lost get the f*** back. Sissoko's runs need to come from deep and he needs to maintain positioning discipline. Finally, Remy and Ben Arfa have to get attacking on the counter and Cisse/Gouffran in the middle need to hold their position. We need to be disciplined and hopefully Cabaye and Debuchy will be buoyed from a good international week. Hopefully Hatem and MYM have point(s) to prove to show they need to be in the team each week. Overall, play with discipline - our full backs can't go marauding around the pitch, and work the ball around offensively. We have quality in the final 3rd, we just need to play together and confidently. Looking forward to Saturday now, we can't hide from this result anymore.

Big Andy before he was sold was unplayable in the air.

Wow, at least the dude who said that is grateful to the US of A. He wouldn't toss a big of piss on his, surely?

Wow, was it really 17? And like others said, coupled with the fact we had Shearer & Speed attacking these as well + the excellent driven set pieces by Robert & Solano - I always thought we were a threat from a set piece on those times. Now a days I'm hoping it just goes out if we don't fashion a chance as I'm deathly afraid of the counter. Even growing up we were always told to cross the ball with pace & drive the ball in because floaters are easier to clear, don't result in as much panic in the back, and your attacker only really needs to redirect those, basic fucking physics I guess. The amount of floated crosses man....

Panama's goalie shouldn't have played dead for 3 minutes as well, a ton of their decisions via attacking and time wasting were probably the worst times to do it. Should have time wasted when the ball was in play. Should have not attacked the way they did when they were up 2-1.

Cheers His link-up play just immediately click then eh? I imagine he's going to ramp up all season long before the World Cup, ready to be the star of the show at home this summer.