The College Dropout

I agree it looks like Fulham ignored him and had a very narrow midfield. Highlighting our relative strength in the middle and our weaknesses out wide. None of our attackers naturally go wide except for Simmo, who can't cross anyway. Still that's not Simmo's fault and he played to the best of his ability.

Yes he has, as part of a 4-4-2, with a right footer on the left wing and a left footer on the right wing so they can't cross properly to him and the rest of the team just hoofing the ball up front. Baffled as to what you think that proves. He needs to play in the middle of a 4-3-3, or in a 4-4-2 with the wingers on the correct wings. Sadly we lack the personnel to do the latter, and the manager lacks the balls to do the former. Honestly, have you ever heard of a striker that can't play in a 4-4-2? Seriously? It's the same formation Ba has scored 10 goals in. Ba could do with some crosses too. Yes the service has been poor for Cisse (and Ba) but he HAS had chances. I just want people to admit Cisse has legitimately been poor and some of the blame lays with the player himself. He has the same amount of goals as Hatem & Cabaye. It's not good enough. Being offside all the time is nobody's fault but his own. The fact he's probably been offside more than any other player shows he's been in goal scoring positions and messed it up.

Under the circumstances I thought he was alright for us personally. Probably more of a #10 but played the majority of his career as a creative #9. Not amongst the very best of his generation but a fine player nonetheless.

Cisse's also had plenty of chances this season. He's missed them or been offside.

Cisse has played a fair bit in the middle this year. Shit.

Key for me is form and form suggests Cisse should be dropped.

Why is the onus on Ba to play in Cisse? Why doesn't Cisse play in Ba? They're both #9's. Ba's not a link up striker. Ba played Cisse in twice against Wigan, again Cisse was offside and the other led to a penalty. This was when Ba largely played up top and Cisse wide. There's nothing to suggest Cisse is a far better striker than Ba. They're both goalscorers and only one is scoring. Cisses' had chances this season, he's missed them and been offside. That's nobody's fault but his own. They're both 1 in 2 for Newcastle. Drop Cisse and bring him on when Ba's legs go. When Ba's had his chances up top this season he's scored.

I thought we where a Jonas substitution away from as good as we could be. Cisse off probably too. We knocked it about in midfield for once.

Cisse has never played out wide in his life! Of course he has to play centrally if we wnat to see the best of him. Yeah, he's had a slow start, but the way to get him to snap out of it, is to make him as comfortable as possible. At the very least both he and Ba should rotate positions at least some of the time, or per half. Yesterday they did. In the first half they swapped positions and in the second both played upfront. Cisse was wank throughout and couldn't stay onside. The one moment of good play between them sums Cisse up this season for me. Ba looks to play Cisse in, Cisse goes for a spectacular finish that smacks the post but he was offside anyway. Bench pls.

Bullshit. How many of the 10 goals Ba has scored this season been headers? 3 maximum. There's nothing to suggest Cisse is better than Ba at anything except exceptional goals and first time snap shost ala Defoe. Double the player of Ba? Cisse can't even stay onside ffs.

What has he done to deserve that? He can't even stay onside from the right wing ffs. Yesterday we rotated in the first half and he played up top in the second half. s*** throughout. Well, he scored a remarkable amount of goals last season. It's not even about whether he 'deserves' to play centrally or not. That's his position, it's where he has to play to be worth anything. And throughout his career he has shown he'll return a large amount of goals. Agreed. He has clearly demonstrated his talents in the past, and is going through a rough patch. Either drop him to the bench or play him centrally. Simple. I don't see Fergie sticking RVP on the right... RVP has played on the left on occasion. He's also scoring goals. cisse played most of yesterday down the middle and was woeful. IMO Cisse should be benched.

Agree with it all bar the Cabaye bit? Unless I'm reading it wrong, I really don't think he hides? Even when he's playing badly he puts a shift in, gets stuck in and covers a lot of ground. Anita seemed like he was hiding earlier in the season, but it was probably just the game passing him by due to him not being up to speed. Cabaye doesn't show for the ball as much as Anita or Tiote. Yeah cabaye gets stuck in but often it would look like Tiote is the one trying to grab the game by the neck.

That's the moment for me. Anita off but Jonas is still on? Who had been terrible for 85 minutes.

He's having a poor season. Absolutely nothing wrong in pointing that out. People need to accept that certain supporters don't give a flying f*** if it hurts them that we're criticising their most loved and favourite players. Agreed.

He hasn't looked the same player this season, especially these last few weeks. Ba for me has been the better player this season and should lead our line in a 4-3-3. Cisse has had chances recently and he's either wasted them or been offside. That's nobody's fault but his own. In the last few games he's been in the box a lot of the time. He's been shit.

has to play alongside Tiote for me and in a 3 whenever we are up against a 3 too.

He's also playing further up with us too.

What has he done to deserve that? He can't even stay onside from the right wing ffs. Yesterday we rotated in the first half and he played up top in the second half. Shit throughout.

Worse than Williamson imo. By far actually. Thought Jonas should've been subbed at half-time. He then got worse. Then put in 2 good balls in the last 5 minutes. Tiote & ANita are not creative midfielders. So many times they passed it to Jonas and he just passed it straight back. Against Wigan Marv would push the team forward. Jonas holds us back. Thought Jonas & Cisse should've gone at half-time.

Marveaux's best game for us came at the head of a midfield 3. Now people want to play him wide?

He's been genuinely poor recently. Why is he always offside? People make excuses for him that he's being played out wide but he's offside 5 times a game minimum indicating he's on the edge of the last defender. He had a great chance yesterday but he was offside and he still didn't score. Shouldn't be starting. End of. He actually got himself into better positions than Ba yesterday and wasted them by being offside.

Can't fault him. Played to the best of his abilities yesterday. Defended pretty well, got forward and tried to attack. One of maybe he, Anita & Krul that played to their potential.

He made a mistake that lead to a goal. The overall team wasn't that bad I thought. Had Colo defended properly we would've been good value for a point. For a team like ours (that struggles when behind) defending properly is crucial. The marking was non-existent and for a senior CB and club captain that was terrible. Was a good effort by Colo & he showed more attacking verve than the likes of Jonas. But still, he didn't defend well in crucial scenarios therefore he was poor.

I'd like to build a team around those 3 as CM's in a 433. Won't happen though. Too thin. You need Tiote in there.

He's a feeder, feeding it to others quickly with the correct weight. Some of the combination play between him & Tiote was good. The biggest thing I got from yesterday is that he doesn't hide unlike Cabaye. Tiote-Anita-Marv next match please. Anita & Tiote need another out ball. They pass it to Jonas and he passes it straight back. The strikers are too far away so there's only HBA, Simo & Santon.