The College Dropout

Ba was helped no end by partnering with Best btw. Riviere will need legitimate support in weeks to come,

Pardew has no real footballing philosophy but if he did, it would be something similar to Mourinho-lite. Strong lads, high work rate, pace and power in wide areas & upfront. Prefer to counter-attack. Let a few players with "magic" win you tight games. We don't have the players for that really. That's especially why i'm not impressed with Anita/Colback in CM together. They could work decently well for a possession based side but that's not Pardew's style.

Man we'll miss this lad.

Agreed. Pardew's an idiot but he's not that much of an idiot.

The midfield trio is horrendously short of creativity. Don't like it at all. Think Sissoko's arguably to inconsistent on the ball for a CM spot.

Everything I expected but no more.

Think a relegation fight is on the cards. All that separated us from the dross in the league last season was Remy & Cabaye. When both where out we looked shit as the rest. The squad's better then that period obviously but not significantly so for me to be comfortable. If we have a bad start we could go on one of Pardew's terrible run's again before Christmas.

I honestly don't get this. The guy has nothing, other than pure brawn, in his locker. There's nothing he does that excites me. He's not got a trick nor has he the intelligence to find a pass. He does make things happen. Not in an elegant way but he does. He's capable of a good cross, nice through ball but not consistently. He's about capable of that as he is of simple passes too which is infuriating. Better than Gouffran init. More likely to create or score from open play than Colback/Anita/Tiote too. But he's not great aye.

From today - apart from Cabella's skills and Colback's set pieces, none of them showed great quality on the ball or looked like they could create/score. Still looking at those 25 odd goals scored by HBA, Cabaye & Remy and I can't see where they are replaced.

Also bare in mind how little interest Yaya shows when it comes to defending as well. I don't think I've seen anyone really say Colback is total crap I just think people want us to aim higher and buy someone who maybe can create something from central midfield like Cabaye could fernando new to the league too. Need to see how De Jong plays. I'm any case De Jong is so crucial it's scary. I look at that side. 1 creative player. No finishers.

Think our midfield benefited from being up against a 2. Supremely talented but a midfield 2 regardless. Most teams play with 3 so we'll see how good they genuinely are.

Not sure i'd have him in the middle tbh.That mixed bag stuff is better suited to the wings. Need to see how he plays alongside De Jong.

usual mixed bag for me, his physicality and pace brings a lot to the table but his technique let him down Agreed.

What did we think of his performance?

Like. Silky skills.

No they didn't. Too similar. We aren't a possession side and those lads are only good at recycling play - among other lads that also largely struggle to create.

Agree. Lack of depth is tragic. Bringing an alien and two kids off the bench today sums it all up. Window. Not good enough. As usual. My first time seeing the new lads barring Janmaat. A lot will depend on Cabella and De Jong. Still don't see where the goals will come from. Riviere already looks anxious.

Think having a midfield trio of that you're looking for the wings for your creativity. Having Gouffran as one of them isn't going to give you that. indeed. We won't bring in another wide man so we need more fret in the middle.

They were arguably our best 3 players today. If you have Colback, really don't think you need Anita. Doesn't provide anything different. They might have individually played okay but as a tandem they didn't look like creating anything at all between them in open play. De Jong will be crucial to our success.

Lots of pace and fighting spirit all over the pitch. But a real lack of quality & composure on the ball. Sissoko, Anita & Colback is a trio devoid of any creativity.

Lots of pace and fighting spirit all over the pitch. But a real lack of quality & composure on the ball. Sissoko, Anita & Colback is a trio devoid of any creativity.

Really miss this lad

Riviere reminds me of a faster Cisse.

Exactly. Although it was partly his fault - LVG wouldn't do significantly better with that team.