Kasper

Great football so far.

Ugh, not a smart yellow to take this early

Mmm...not so sure about that. He like our other defenders seem completely clueless when we're hit on the counter. Keep our shape and they're fine. That probably is true for most defenders but I think it's clear Rafa's tactics and management is making it a lot easier for him and other defenders. Even Dummett looks fucking class and we all know he's a crap footballer really.

Glad our players get some rest and training instead.

Rafa, the coaches, Joselus teammates and some supporters. If Shelvey see that Mitrovic is being picked ahead of Joselu when Joselu out performs him in training, maybe he too will put in less effort because he knows he will get picked anyway. Lascelles see that Shelvey and Mitro are picked ahead of Joselu and Merino/Hayden and puts in less effort etc etc. Joselu gets angry that he is not picked and stops making any effort because why should he if he isn't getting picked anyway. Poor training results in poor match performances and we go down. One of the few advantages we have this season is fighting attitude and team spirit. I don't see why Rafa would risk spoiling that in order to accommodate one player. This is the truth.

Hows that? I dont see the connection here.

I doubt you'll even notice it happening for 90% of goals. It's not like the ref is going to the monitor after every goal, only when he's informed that there is something he might have missed and might want to reconsider. And for things like offsides he wont even check the monitor, he'll just be informed about it and give a freekick instead.

Think he'll give them a cheapish penalty soon.

This feels weird.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/feb/20/david-squires-on-west-brom-mini-break-in-barcelona?CMP=share_btn_tw Pardew featuring heavily

So Mitrovic would be ok if he got better. But how do you get better if you're not bothering with training? They are obviously both pretty crap but one does what the manager asks, the other doesnt. That's pretty much all there is to it.

I dont know about that but people were definitely saying that he's going to tear up the Championship.

Because he's not very professional.

Back four and Shelvey were brilliant. And keeper obviously.

HTT I don't think it's your point of view people take issue with (I know I dont). It's some of the fabricated reasoning for your points. And then when someone points out that there's another team on the pitch as well, your answer is "dont give me that stuff about another team on the pitch".

I’ve said from the off I love him, but don’t like his brand of football or his tactics, not at home anyway and never will. But I do love him and have 100% trust and confidence in him as our manager. It's the opposite for me, I didn't like him much as Liverpool manager, although deep down I knew he was good. By the time there was talk of him coming here, I had had my fill of gormless idiots running the team like Pardew, Kinnear and Carver, so it made me appreciate a man who knows his mind and is meticulous in his work on and off the field. I might not always like his methods but I respect them 100%. Personally I'm of the view, given a few genuine Premier class players he'll more than show his worth. I’ve rated him as far back as Valencia and was extremely jelous when Liverpool appointed him. I used to have loads of documents/dossiers/articles he wrote for UEFA when I was into coaching and some of his stuff man... one was all about possession and the importance of it. Sadly I think he’s lost a bit of his mojo the last few years. Inter was a huge mistake and Madrid also, the wrong choice for someone usually bang on when it comes to making decisions. I’m grateful he’s here, but it’s kind of pointless. Kind of like a Ferrari with no engine. We all know who that’s down to though... So if you know how meticulous he is, and you yourself are a coach, your criticism makes even less sense. Have a go at home, 50k can't be wrong, stop sitting back on purpose.....honestly man, are you sure you didn't pick up John Carver's jotter instead of Rafa's dossier by mistake? It's funny because its true. If you ever want to try another 3 letter username I'd have one acronym in mind.

If you trust him 100% why are you writing paragraph after paragraph about how he should do something different? Just because you dont happen to like it?

No matter how many times you post this same made up crap it doesnt magically turn to a truth. It’s not made up, it’s the case or was. To say Rafa &/or the team came out second half and thought a point would be good is both made up and stupid. The proof is in the pudding. We only started going for it when they scored and when we equalised we stopped. Happy with a point. 50k people can’t be wrong who were there. Open your eyes and don’t be so blind. Stop defending everything and looking for constant excuses. It’s OK to highlight a game that went wrong and look at the tactics, set up and approach as a reason etc. It’s not like we are nailing Rafa to the f***ing cross or something You're just making that up like. Gayle missed at least 2 or 3 big chances and had a goal disallowed for offside. That's going for it. I was there and we didn’t go for it at all, especially once we equalised. Creating opportunities and going for it are not the same kind of thing btw. I watched it. Creating chances isn't going for it... Would you say Swanse went for it in the first half as they created chances still? Going for it was us I. The first half, a constant attempt to get in behind them, causing problems, getting on the ball, driving forward etc. We only started going for it when they scored. After that despite whatever chances were created, we didn’t go for it, we were happy with a point. Sorry mate. I'll leave someone else to it. Bless.

No matter how many times you post this same made up crap it doesnt magically turn to a truth. It’s not made up, it’s the case or was. To say Rafa &/or the team came out second half and thought a point would be good is both made up and stupid. The proof is in the pudding. We only started going for it when they scored and when we equalised we stopped. Happy with a point. 50k people can’t be wrong who were there. Open your eyes and don’t be so blind. Stop defending everything and looking for constant excuses. It’s OK to highlight a game that went wrong and look at the tactics, set up and approach as a reason etc. It’s not like we are nailing Rafa to the fucking cross or something Jesus christ. So we started playing badly because of Rafa's tactics. And then we started playing well again because of Rafa's tactics. Both had nothing to do with our opponents... So from Swansea's point of view, why didnt they just keep playing the same way they did just before the scored after going 1-0 up? Wouldnt that have been a certain win for them by your logic? Why did they let us back in the game? So stupid from them isnt it.

We were not. Next... We didn't. We started exactly the same but they didnt make it easy for us to win the ball like 1st half. After a while we toned it down as it wasnt working anymore. We didnt. We were pushed deeper because they got pass our press unlike first half. More balls to the wings and infront of the defense results in your defense dropping deeper. Yes because unlike the first half we didn't win the ball back in midfield. We won it back in deep in our own zone and faced immediate pressure.

No matter how many times you post this same made up crap it doesnt magically turn to a truth. It’s not made up, it’s the case or was. To say Rafa &/or the team came out second half and thought a point would be good is both made up and stupid.

No matter how many times you post this same made up crap it doesnt magically turn to a truth.

That’s just fucking silly. Of course he’s not, but if the tactics are to concede possession, sit deeper and look to just stay in the game, what that does is make it difficult to get on the ball, to get in the game and for players to express themselves. If the team can string passes together, cause problems and have possession fine and well one minute and go to the exact opposite the next... What's puzzling to me is that you see that and still think the opponent changing their game after going a goal down has nothing to do with it. I'd also like to point out that we arent dropping deeper by default. We're just struggling to keep the ball under pressure which eventually leads to more ball for the opponent and us deeper on our zone. It's not like Rafa is saying "drop the line back 10 metres". Nothing happening on the pitch points to that. Exactly. We are usually fine when both teams are playing conservatively, but obviously when we have taken the lead, the opposition is going to start pressing us higher up the pitch and throwing more men forward. This is when we struggle to keep possession, and it's why we often look shit after going ahead. If we had better footballers who could play their way out, we could murder the opposition on the counter, assuming we had forwards who could put the ball away. We don't have either, that's the problem. Yes, and lets not forget that we've created plenty of changes on the counter to win those games but find ways to mess up 2 vs 1 chances etc.

That’s just fucking silly. Of course he’s not, but if the tactics are to concede possession, sit deeper and look to just stay in the game, what that does is make it difficult to get on the ball, to get in the game and for players to express themselves. If the team can string passes together, cause problems and have possession fine and well one minute and go to the exact opposite the next... What's puzzling to me is that you see that and still think the opponent changing their game after going a goal down has nothing to do with it. I'd also like to point out that we arent dropping deeper by default. We're just struggling to keep the ball under pressure which eventually leads to more ball for the opponent and us deeper on our zone. It's not like Rafa is saying "drop the line back 10 metres". Nothing happening on the pitch points to that.