Kanji

I was thinking during the 2nd half... *Pardew probably gets his jollies off to full on defensive football with a man down, gets to have so much defensive football and hoof clearances* Whatever he drilled today, before the sending off, bringing Dummett on, whatever - he deserves praise, the boys went out and fought for the club and him.

I'm with this post. I also just hate the soft overdramatic contacts that become more than they should. Call me old school at heart.

Something still looks off with him since Villa. So weird.

Spot-on Andy Perfect opportunity for AP and the staff to teach Mapou from here. He was playing really great leading up to it. The type of thing that can BUILD young person is to give him confidence in the strong things he did.

We looked likely to win it at 11 v 11. I just don't know dude, I hear you though. Hope you see where I'm coming from. Few points I want to make: 1) We conceded when Big Mike was drawn out, I doubt we would have had he stayed in the middle. He was brilliant shouting and organizing today - Mapou looked much more assured before the send off with Big Mike organizing. 2) This point could be massive for us, everyone was nervy about playing Liverpool and the whole fighting together and keeping together and grinding out a result will do wonders for us psychologically. Perfect heading into the derby, you want that unified positive effort and feeling. 3) Think Mapou will learn a ton from this, he was playing great leading up to it and AP will do well to tell him so, this is a teaching moment for him and should tell Mapou he's all the confidence in him.

SO proud of all the lads - all of them for putting in a shift and working their socks off for the result. I'm sitting here thinking, would the result been the same if we had 11 out there? Would we ended up losing? I'm thinking the 10 men somehow suited us. Maybe I'm wrong.

I want this match to fast fwd till end, ahhhhh!

I've been saying all week how much I love PD man, what a young man.

Because I can. Idiots like him need to be shown up for what they are. He's not an idiot. He's a top man and one of the best posters on here. Move along man.

Yep. 100%. He was playing really well. I'm disappointed in him as he should have played defense and tried to put the shot off or allow Krul to make the save, if not Suarez scores we have all 11 still on pitch and we try and rebuild our stronghold and try to win the match. Needs a good talking to by AP, an arm around his shoulder and move on - he was playing really well prior to that.

Why do people recall old quotes? What the hell is the point? He literally searched what you said Ron to try and make some point? People need to get on with their lives sometimes.

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.