The College Dropout

Very slow turning circle from what i've seen.

He didn't give Navas a sniff. What? For about 25 minutes Navas tore him to shreds again and again putting balls in the box. It was so bad he got subbed after being subbed on. Anita I think it was dropped back there and looked much better.

As I said Ben Arfa would still need to do some defending, I'm not advocating no support for Debuchy at all. Just saying I don't believe he'll now need as much as he needed earlier in the season. Its not like Ben Arfa can't provide any support at all for the left back, he's shown in the past he can if he's motivated. We have looked more solid in the last few games, partly due to Debuchy settling in, and partly due to Williamson and Yanga-Mbiwa being a better partnership than Coloccini and Yanga-Mbiwa was previously. I agree on not bringing Coloccini back yet BTW. HBA has shown he can come off the bench and earn his place back in the starting line-up and I want him to do it again.

Was poor against City too tbf. Navas is an excellent winger but Paul looked very slow on the turn. Doesn't look to be a natural fullback imo

We haven't put in a shambolic defensive performance since Colo & HBA have been out the side and i'm not in a rush to bring them back in. HBA it's 50/50... I certainly wouldn't start Colo.

We also looked largely secure AF from the 40 odd minutes we had 11 men against L'poo. We looked strong defensively against City for 90 minutes. And we looked more solid against Cardiff apparently. So it's more than a couple games for evidence.

I remember against Chelsea Debuchy tried to clean out the ball from Hazard and he totally missed as Hazard simply skipped over him. 2 strides later Sissoko takes out ball and man. If HBA was there would the same have happened? Siss isn't the best defensively but he's a step above HBA. I can only judge on what I can see with my eyes.

It's Colo or Mapou with Willo or Saylor. At the start of the season I wanted Colo/Saylor but I would stick with Mapou/Willo for the time being. Tbh the sooner we can transition Colo out the side the better. Although the same thing applies to all of our CB's except Mapou.

So he was shit the entire season we finished 5th? Playing in nearly all of those games when we won 6 on a trot. Man United at home 3-0. Chelsea away 2-0. Playing in those opening 6-7 games we went unbeaten. All the way crap yeah? Okay.

He was also a liability in his 45 minutes against Everton. There's many factors to our recent decent form at the back. Not playing HBA in midfield is one of them. No coincidence Debuchy now looks a player without HBA.

Bang on the money. There's a modicum of hope that the ball will stick up there for a bit.

I do agree...Just rather he play than Shola or Cisse atm. Shola has been kinda useful there so far. I mean it's really a toss-up but i'd rather start Shola and bring the other two later on.

His footballing intelligence at AM is horrendous tbf

Yes he was.. he and his fullback were targeted/exploited against Hull (especially) and Everton. He was dropped against Cardiff and we won away. Played uptop against L'pool and we got another result looking more secure than before. Moreover, he hasn't played well since mid September.

This is true. But this is down to Pardew more than anything else. At our best with him, we've either been a steady team defensively with "moments of magic" or a good counter attacking unit... also steady defensively. Possession, controlling games... nah I don't think Pardew can do that.

It's quite weird, I still feel a bit nervous about the protection they provide to the defence playing as a 2, even though we haven't let that many goals in. Just wonder if they can really cover the ground. But I guess they're doing a decent job at the moment. Ignore me, basically. Eh? They've always offered good protection to the defence. It was them who played during our solid run at the back when we finished 5th early in the season. The problem is that they are often out numbered and spend too much time defending. At which point Cabaye gets huffy and Tiote starts to think he's Yaya.

That's fine for certain games (away against attacking sides or at home against the really top sides). But if we try to play like that in the next two games at home to Norwich and West Brom we'll struggle badly. Pardew needs to keep reminding Ben Arfa that he has to work hard fair enough, but we also need him in the side for most games, especially at home. Also Ben Arfa earns his place plenty, he's had a couple of bad games and then been dropped and all of a sudden people are talking as if he's the kind of player who does nothing most games then occasionally plays well When he's played in his preferred position he's usually our best player. ben Arfa was a liability for a decent number of games before he started getting moved around.... he only got moved around because he is a liability.

Yes we can. I wouldn't start Coloccini personally. Shola's ability to win the odd header and give it to a team mate has been helpful tbh.

We managed to do so for the majority of the season that we finished 5th (Best in for Shola). We haven't played well with one up top in a long time too. Pretty certain City tonked Norwich for 7 playing 2 out and out strikers up top. HBA hasn't done anything in a few to make me want him to start. Before moving upfront he was a liability outwide. I'd keep him out the starting line-up as long as the others keep it up or he turns up off the bench. Only debate for me is Shola maybe out for HBA but to be honest, I would give it 45 minutes as it is (Anita in for Debuchy). If we are level or behind, we can move Anita the CM and take off Shola

Arsenal missed a trick not being in for this guy. Would add some pace and directmess

Aye. The issue is he's one of the few that hasn't really looked better this term.It's pretty much he, Cisse and Colo who haven't had a number of really good games. The other two have been out the side too. If he has the quality the months we have stuck by him will do him wonders in the long run

All these angry posts about the football games i've been too haha. Someone questions if I watch games and I had to remind them that I watch them in person.

Quite similar actually, our lot are nowhere near as intelligent as the Arsenal duo though. Mapou is. I've never seen a defender run away from a ball but I won't start that again. John Terry when we played them. It happens quite often actually even though coaches always say go to the man. You probs don't get to watch any games. I've been to over 100 football matches in the last 5 years. I've never seen a defender run away from a long ball straight down the middle. David Luiz did it the other week. Boom 1-0 Cardiff. He's another one that relies on pace to make up for his inadequate positional sense. I think he could be a tremendous CB (the same way Mapou can) but he seems to only concentrate in bigger games.

Tiote's not getting dropped guys.

Always been a poor defender. Not particularly good going forward.