STM

Shocks me that Almiron is on the pitch and we look a better side.

The new whipping boy? They game looks over, they should throw Joelinton on to play his established role and spare poor Lewis Seriously man; if someone warrants criticism, they can be criticised without being considered a "whipping boy". I know. I just find it funny man. I know he's struggled, but have you seen this setup and team though man? I mean, my God That's a different subject, that is admittedly far more worthy of discussion and criticism. However, our tactical setup or lack thereof doesn't give the players a free pass when discussing/assessing their performance. Is does to Kaka. He gives a free pass to shite players.

Howay Ryan make a difference.

Hes going to keep the formation and make a sub isnt he?

Tactical embarrassment this.

Looks like Rafas defensive training has finally been forgotten.

Was the stupidest foul I've ever seen.

Listened to an interview on BBC about why he chose us over Villa. :lol: Villa will love him.

Blokes an absolutely clinical striker.

Wouldnt trust him with scissors.

If he goes to German and starts playing well, great, but he wont be coming back.

I asked this - I assume if a bid of 5-10m comes in they would accept - weird that no German teams are taking a punt when he was storming the league though. I imagine he'll get a move back there eventually. His stock is continuing to plummet though, so they'll just wait until he's available for peanuts on loan and then force Newcastle to pay the majority of his wages too. They will wait until hes at his value, you mean.

Ok, so let's take your example. He should play behind a striker. What I'd like from a player in that position: Someone who can control the ball in tight areas. Someone that makes clever runs for his teammates. Someone that can feed wide players with intelligent balls. Someone that can finish to a decent standard and chip in with 10 or more goals. Sounds perfect for Joelinton... who possesses none of those qualities. I presume when eventually gets shipped back to Germany or whoever will take him, he will be tearing places up in the number 10 role?

I agree with most of that. It's the last paragraph I take issue with. No manager is going make Joelinton look good because...hes not very good. You cannot polish a turd. I could understand if he showed glimpses, or played some neat football but I've actually watched him with my eyes. He refuses opportunities to shoot, when he does shoot he either misses or has a tame shot. He never takes the ball past a player or creates something or is that not his game? What is his game, I have yet to recieve an answer? Whoever said he was comparable to Firmino wants a bullet to the skull.

Haller is shite aswell. The Bundesliga isnt as good as the PL. If these two are good players, why arent they scoring goals or playing well in this league? Is it the leagues fault? and there it is. You're just one of those people that believe you throw a bunch of players on the pitch and things should just happen. No I'm not. But I do believe that if you put a "good" professional footballer on the pitch, they would at least be able to show something. Let me change tac, where should Joelinton play for us and in what formation, style etc?

So tell me why Haller, who is further along and better than Joelinton is not getting games at West Ham then? The point, which you completely missed, is that Moyes is culpable because the team setup under Moyes is horrible, the football stinks and there was no support for him going forward when he was being used by Moyes initially. Haller scored 5 before January, after which he only managed 2 under Moyes before being scrapped altogether. Our setup last year was even worse than West Ham's, we had even less possession as the football was also worse, Joelinton had no support or runners around him, was being used as a target man (and still is) which he isn't, and yet people dismiss that altogether. Whatever. Moyes is a terrible manager, noone disputes that. However, Antonio has 9 goals in 9 games up front for West Ham. Is Antonio a better striker than Haller? I'd admire your resolution but at this stage you might as well be arguing that the sky is red.

Haller is shite aswell. The Bundesliga isnt as good as the PL. If these two are good players, why arent they scoring goals or playing well in this league? Is it the leagues fault?

This has been bothering me a bit. Hoffenheim qualified for the CL for the first time in 17/18 when Joelinton was in Austria. He came back from loan and played the next season. It's a little misleading to claim he played for a champions league team imo. That season he was good enough to play for (1) A manager better than ours (2) A team better than ours that played champions league games that he featured in. There's no disputing that. Coming here was a step down for him, other than for the money thrown at him. So now Joelinton is too good for us? By that logic, shouldn't he be out shining our other players? Hes terrible. I suspect he wasnt a particularly good player at Hoffenheim either but was part of a decent set up.

Not having Almiron as part of your first 11 is pretty insane to begin with.

I'd they had kept Eriksson, they would have had some fun.

Imagine having Bale, Kane and Son as a front three and then having Harry Winks supplying the bullets. :lol:

If you want pages and pages of waffle, head to the takeover thread, it's a hoot. Theres really not much to say on this game. We will start the same team. We will have less possession than Brighton. There wont be many goals. Think he might switch Carroll and Almiron, actually. Only if Carroll has picked up an injury... actually, you are probably right.

If you want pages and pages of waffle, head to the takeover thread, it's a hoot. Theres really not much to say on this game. We will start the same team. We will have less possession than Brighton. There wont be many goals.

What strengths are those? What can he do, that stands him above other players? Hes big and strong but doesnt hold the ball up particularly well. Hes quickish but doesnt dribble past players or make good runs. His passing is bang average, short range stuff. His off the ball work rate is nothing to shout about. His shooting is dreadful. If he did 1 thing well, I could sympathise and say he should be played in x position with x player but he hasnt done anything well.

Soft as fuck. Mitro looks mean as hell though.