Beren

Great, great game. Wish it could go on.

Should have brought on Perch ages ago.

This BBC live text guy is fucking awful. David Graham ffs.

Is it balls he hit wide with nobody within 50 yards of him a couple of weeks ago Really? Only going by what I've seen, which isn't loads. Against us last year he looked good. Oh yeah. He did very well that game - if we're remembering the same game.

Are you serious?

What a miss.

Vorm made a mistake for the goal. Stand up against Walcott 1-on-1 and 90% of the time he'll miss.

Slowly, too. It's the equivalent of Undertaker walking on the ropes. Probably as slow too!

Agree. At no point looked even remotely like scoring which is a big problem - though I doubt his inclusion/retention had anything to do with that. Usual overkill on his performance as per.

Has anyone noticed the strange Danny Guthrie quirk of him making arcing-shaped runs? It looks mental to me, but it seems to scare opposition from stepping-up against his limited pace. :lol: Good for him. Decent psychology.

Responding to the devil's advocate: we lose possession a lot more when we play long ball without him, which is generally the alternative to having him in the team

Very tough fixture. Horrible last time. I think Pardew said it was his worst game after Carroll's departure.

Anyway, that was shit. Useful three points though. Good weekend for us in terms of results.

Shola :lol:

where's that from? Beeb live text.

Really smart by Helguson.

Agree with all but the settled formation bit. The unpredictability is fucking them up

Loved that moment when someone fired in a ball way too hard at his feet, and there was a gasp of awe as he (finally) controlled it with Berbatov-esque ease,... then misplaced a pass. Got better as the half wore on, but did himself no favours on the whole!

Jonas is playing very well, and Guthrie is gradually shaking off his rustiness.

well he brought him on instead of the easier option of going with gosling, or the dunce's choice of obertan. Imagine Obertan on here instead of HBA

We are so much better with Ben Arfa it's untrue. Pardew is such a mug

You agree with somebody saying his only bad game was against Bolton. I agree with the sentiment he hasn't been as terrible as has been made out by some of the jackals on here, yes He's in a bad run of form, there's no question about that, but starting next to Ba and having HBA benched has, I suspect, prompted some to get on his back more than they otherwise would. Objectively, he's been bad lately, but he isn't bad at all. His goal record at the club is still very competent. He still has all the attributes and components necessary to succeed and be in and around our first team squad (an eye for goal, strength, skill, hold-up play). He isn't getting the benefit of the doubt other more popular players in the team would to turn it around. FWIW though, yeah, I would have played Ben Arfa ahead of him in the last few games (as I've attested to previously). Also, Ba has (in part) been helped in shining so brightly this season because of the largely unsung work of Leon Best. He's a fantastic player independently of Best of course, but Best has been a very unselfish team striker this season. The kind of striker that never gets the plaudits they deserve. (Not the last couple games, obviously!) Edit: Sorry to keep modifying my posts, but I don't think it's coincidence Best's play has deteriorated at the same time as Pardew's reversion to long-ball tactics. He's a beast in the air, but he has more value to the team than is being used. Point to his game against Blackburn as an example of this. Ba got the hattrick, but Best was fantastic on the deck. as fuck