The College Dropout

Not sure he's a #10 myself. Best to keep him there mostly. He's definitely not in the classic mould but he has done a very good job for us there so far. Think teams will cotton on to the fact that he tends to go "all out" if you like and he will need to learn when to slow things down at times. Delighted with him so far. Aye, fully agreed. Said this after Stoke. 0 to 110mph, sometimes isn't the best option. Got told if I wanted him to pass like Jonas.

Not sure he's a #10 myself. Best to keep him there mostly.

I believe fans should encourage players but burying your head in the sand about such a fundamental thing won't help.

Hilarious thing is, the general mood of the Siss thread is about everything I mentioned last week. A lack of patience leading to poor ball retention. But of course, I must have an agenda.

yeah, you can make things up if you like. I said i'd like a Benteke type. Big, strong and fast. Can run in behind but also hold it up/flick-ons. According to stats, Benteke would be something like twice the finisher of Cisse right? I notice Giroud's passing is seemingly the worst and that can't be true. I'm sure those stats include headed passes attempts from flick-ons etc. The big lads have considerably worse pass retention apparently.

Agreed.

His team mates face Not sure how you could see that salute somewhere but not know what it meant. Also the lad is 10 years younger than me so things may have changed but I am guessing the Nazis are still brought up in the odd history lesson these days? The Greeks have a massive problem with Fascists at the moment too, Golden Dawn they're called. I find it hard to believe he didn't know what it meant although for some reason I do. Well he's been handed a lifetime ban on international duty and he claims he was pointing at his mates in the stands http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21822165 Seems to have a tattoo saying "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", a phrase from 50 cent. Just seems a thick lad.

Would still like Villa to get relegated but they've got the juice now.

What else am I to do, work on a Monday morning? But you're right. I make the same points x10 every day and only a few seem to understand. But it's difficult. There's a lad who apparently needs this intricate style of play, through balls etc. but he doesn't contribute to it. Doesn't link up well with his team-mates for 85 minutes but the rest of the lads are meant to pick up the slack and play this great free flowing football without Cisse contributing. It's not realistic. SAF sold RVN partly because all he did was score. Didn't contribute to overall team play and he was good in the air, fairly strong too. Cisse is even more limited and so are his team-mates.

Would love a Benteke type next season. Is it me, or should a pretty big lad be at the near post when defending corners? Drogba was excellent there. A bigger lad, better in the air should've been attacking that second goal and we wouldn't have conceded.

Funny how when Ba was scoring, everyone said it was at the expense of the overall team play. He was also Greedy Demba, always taking he shot instead of the pass. This is definitely true with Cisse at the moment. Offers little other than flashes of brilliance. But now it's everyone else's fault. The assist was great but he rarely does anything great for the team. He's not an outlet. Rarely passes when close to goal. He doesn't hold it up. But aye, it's everyone else's fault that we don't create.

Get in Haha, really? I missed the last half hour. I should've left the right wing bit in my sig! I thought you were on the wind up He looked to me to be operating as a right midfielder for a lot of the second half. Thought he was meant to be a WB, he just didn't bother to defend. Jonas on the other side came back.

Wasn't his fault. He was positioned as our Gerrard. Hadd too much responsibility. Yesterday as is normally the case. Tiote's problem wasn't the "hollywood ball" myth but holding the ball too long. He needs to have his pass in mind before he goes looking for the ball.

Does look tired.

Anyone else like the look of that formation? Only thing is Jonas rarely got forward.

Yes agreed but look at it this way...he is getting so little service in and around the box, any time he is in box with a chance of a shot, he is going to take it. This is all because the team are not supplying him with chances. He is snatching at everything he gets. Like a starving man picking things off the floor and not thinking straight. Dpes Cisse help the team create chances? Do we create less chances than Wigan?

really wasn't at RB. Barely even bothered to come back and defend too, when he moved. Looked good going forward and I think that maybe his best position.

We looked better when we had 3 at the back. I don't buy the lack of service talk. We've had strikers score loads since we came back up. Can't believe we create less chances than Aston Villa. And as a striker, you should contribute to creating chances regularly.

He wasn't at RB.

Hilarious.

Did we go with a back 3 when Shola came on? Looked that way to me. Jonas was rarely in line with the other 3 and Perch was very narrow with Santon very wide. Thing is Santon rarely ran back to make it a 5 but Jonas did. Leading me to believe perhaps Jonas was just bad positionally. Perch too.

QPR are perhaps too far away.

I was one who was ssaying S'land had done too much to get relegated already. Saw them today. They can really do it. They can really get relegated. I said they would get fortunate enough to get a few wins. Since then, they've lost away to QPR. And drew 1-1 with a 10 man Norwich, via penalty. That was their slice of luck. Their moment. 10 man and a penalty against Norwich and YOU hang on for the draw. At home. I think they'll get caught by two of Villa, Wigan and QPR .

He's woefully short of service though. Our attacking game plan seems to stop when we pass the half way line. It's s**** frankly. It really wouldn't matter who we had up front if we're leaving 30 yards between them and the nearest NUFC midfielder. The service is pitiful on the whole, I agree. He still should have scored one and probably caused another today. Both times he lashed over greedily and wastefully. Fair but a contributory factor in that has to be the fact he's only actually involved in the course of the game sporadically. He gets 'snap' opportunities on occasions in games but he's not actually involved in the play. I think there's an argument to say he does well given the quality and quantity of service he gets. We play one up top and don't build our play around him at all. He's an after thought because he's outperformed imho. Why doesn't he get involved in our general play well? He doesn't hold it up very well, not the best at linking with the midfield, is not a running outlet. It's not everyone else's fault all the time. How do we build our play around him? His game is 90% goal scorer for me. Chances. But he doesn't really help the team create chances. That pass was exquisite so he has it in his locker somewhere. He saw the pass very early. For me, I'm not sure about him and Siss up top in the long-term. Neither are particularly intelligent players. They have their styles and they do it to the max.

Our little wobble around 80 mins. was largely his fault. Kept getting harried and losing the ball. Also he should focus on closing down players when they counter instead of trying to read the pass. Close them down, if they go past you take the yellow. Forgot who lost the ball but the break was on for Wigan, instead of closing down the player he tried to read the pass.. the player decided he would just run past Tiote and could've scored. Tiote did teh same thing for one of S'hampton's goals, tried to read the pass and the oppo just ran past him.