tmonkey

Colback

Probably whoosh, but no way that's an assist.

With Colback in our team Leeds have hope. Like just there with that touch that put the Leeds midfielder into space.

Can't quite get over the name Ronaldo Vieira.

ROFL.

Brilliant quick thinking and ball from Shelvey. Gayle needs to tuck that sort of chance away.

"Transition period". Like Pep Pardiola came in a few weeks ago and is trying to get Palace to play like Barcelona '09.

The one against Leverkusen or the one against the Baggies?

Some horrific mistakes being made out there.

Diame has been like Bambi on ice.

Yedlin has looked class.

Great ball by Shelvey over the top. Ritchie needed to do a bit better with that.

I think we all knew what we were getting with Rafa. He's from the same school of thought as the likes of Mourinho, Allardyce and dare I say it, Pardew, in that he's a defensive minded manager whose cautious nature means he won't ever let a free flowing attacking first team "pick itself" every week like a Ferguson, Wenger or Keegan would. Goes without saying though that like Mourinho he's in the top tier bracket of that type of manager, and is genuinely good at what he does, unlike incompetent frauds like Pardew. After a decade of having shit or useless managers in the dugout, I'm happy with having the type of manager Rafa is knowing that he's a genuinely good/great one in that category (and delighted that we have Rafa himself, in the Championship no less - the man is a legend for even considering taking us on). I'll accept that because of his approach we're going to have quite a few games like this for as long as he's here - games where he ought to pick an all-out attacking lineup that takes the game to the opposition, but instead because of his negative mindset he picks a team that aims to nullify the opposition first and foremost (almost like he's giving far too much respect to the opponent). It's always going to be frustrating now and again, especially having seen first hand how liberating that Keegan era "just be yourself" mentality can be, but this'll be balanced out by us having plenty of games where the cautious/counter mentality works well, complemented by the terrific work Rafa is doing off the pitch in building a real foundation and philosophy which should reap good rewards over time.

It's clear alot of work has gone into set pieces, but at the same time it looks to me like much of it has simply been down to Ritchie (and now Shelvey) delivering decent-to-good balls into the right areas at the right time consistently. They're not whipping the ball in particularly well at pace, but just getting enough bend into the right areas (without floating it too much) to give our big lads a chance. Makes such a big difference when the rest of the team know that 7 or 8 times out of 10 they'll have a chance of attacking the ball, when previously our corner takers were hitting the ball terribly with no timing the vast majority of the time. In fact, we've gone for quite a long time since we last had players capable of putting e.g. decent corners in consistently (probably back to Nobby/Robert). Even Cabaye oddly enough was more "miss" than "hit" when it came to them.

Still early days but he's beginning to look like a class act and the best footballer in this team.

Been a fairly dull first half. Wonder strike aside neither team has had a real chance.

Nice one touch football, breaks down soon as it gets to Colback.

Marco van Gouffran.

1 minute in and Colback overhits a pass and completely misses a tackle.

Charlton fans absolutely hate him. Did the same thing with them, played desperate, clueless hoofball and constantly lied about it.

Delicious

"Rafa Benitez had no desire to bring Owen back to the club when he was available in 2009." Amazing manager confirmed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/09/01/moussa-sissoko-to-tottenham-have-spurs-signed-a-superstar-or-a-f/ Decent read.

Just playing devils advocate here (as I think playing hardball is the right precedent to set, similar to WBA with Berahino), but there have been plenty of big money transfers based on past form/reputation as opposed to the most recent performances. Point being, in theory he could sulk, not do much, and still get a move in January, probably for a lower price. Quite a few clubs would probably be willing to write off 5 months of doing nothing in the Championship as being down to being unsettled/unhappy, especially ones at the bottom end of the Premiership who'll be getting desperate.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/512/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2016/8/27/bcc30e5b-7072-48ad-ad60-29790ff0ccc5.jpg