The College Dropout

I always maintained that Danny Simpson was a solid defender. And when Debuchy came in he played very well imo when he had the chance. Think we should've kept him for competition at least

Long stint? It was no more than 6 games.

11 league games without a goal.

B-b-b-b-b-but modern fullbacks spend most of their time attacking. Play on the front foot and they'll rarely be defending. Said it all along. We need 4 good defenders at the back.

Yo that is hilarious.......

Disgusting thread.

People who tell other people that they shouldn't be offended is probably the most irritating thing in the world.

So was everyone though. Like I say, it's some poor performances, it's not a general long-term decline. Agreed.

Nah he was crap for a lot of last season.

Colo's performance last year was down to his "troubles" more than anyhing imo.

That works either way though, in terms of writing them off. Colo's age is the thing that worries me. FWIW I don't think MYM is bad in the air If he was good he would be marking Benteke. Instead Siss was doing it who imo is not great in the air either.

See, nobody was doing that, at all. I was using a set piece situation which wasn't defended by those who should be our best bet for doing so, whether it was Benteke or Patrice Evra. The 'aerial prowess' in the squad is nonexistent. Sissoko being the one marking Benteke is the key point, not the fact he scored. It's like you're attacking their grandmother. Your point is simple, clear and very accurate.

This.

I'm not blaming Mapou for the goal. I just think defending set pieces should primarily be the responsibility of the CBs, especially looking at the rest of the team. If Colo and Mapou can't or won't compete in the air, we've got a bit of a blatant weakness to target and some dogshite teams will exploit it even if we're bossing the game on the ground. One of the reasons I wanted a striker like Carroll here, tbh. Absolutely correct. I think Krul's decision to come out for everything was he/Pardew compensating for our lack of aerial prowess.

Yep. You want your central defenders marking the biggest aerial threats, not an attack minded CM.

Loved Les. Can we have Anelka next?

Anelka is one of the ultimate journeymen. Spain, France, England, Russia, Turkey. Midtable clubs, CL winners... the lot.

Nicky Anelka

If HBA can stay fit he'll score 10+ goals and the assists.. in the league. No dobut about that. I don't think it's fair to compare HBA to flat-track bully types such as Walcott or even Hazard. He's more of a Cazorla/Mata type if we are going to compare. He'll get the goals and assists if he can stay injury free. No doubt about that part. But the injury thing.....

He's looks slower than Simpson. He has to dive in or else he'll get skinned. Hopefully, he'll adjust his game to read situations better to cope.

He's legit. The real deal.

Agreed. At the moment he starts and he looks like he's growing.

For a manager that likes direct(ish) football. A 4-4-2 is always going to be a handy formation. A 4-4-1-1 can work in any era imo.

This is a great article on the demise of #10. I don't normally like his work but this series was great. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/26/trequartista-engance-classic-no-10sstruggle/ I think they're coming back.

If this lad can stay injury free........ wow man...... wow.........