Ocho

Ballsed this weekend up. Used wildcard, took Morrison out for Barkley, brought in two Spurs defenders thinking they'd keep a clean sheet against West Ham.

Great bump. This one had me in stitches.

This is how I feel. Despite the 433's there hasn't been much pace on balls across and in to him in the box. Of course he's had chances and he should have taken them all a lot better bar his header. I still don't think he's getting the chances he needs to break his duck and kick off again. I'm hoping he does. I think balls slid into his feet are where he really prospers when he can get a shot away first time but that's a real rarity now whereas in his first few months we played on the front foot and gave him those opportunities all the time. The chance he had yesterday, when the ball came into him on the 6 yard box and he decided to try and take it down... A year ago, he would have attempted to leather it in. He's got no confidence whatsoever. I still think he's an average striker. Went through a purple patch when he signed and scored some absolute screamers that he would probably would never score again eg goals vs Chelsea, Swansea and even the Villa one.

Here's my shameless plug for my blog on it. Comes with a health warning, I could be talking bollocks - I praise Willo in it after all. http://nufcvisualised.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/5-observations-cardiff-v-newcastle/

Ben Arfa was at fault for not tracking Hull's winger, but Sissoko let Aluko run by him to score the winner.

Shameless plug for my blog on it. Comes with a health warning, I could be talking bollocks. http://nufcvisualised.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/5-observations-newcastle-v-hull/

There's no point in playing Gouffran and Cisse up front together, they're too similar. Shola gives us something different.

Shola offers more aerial presence than Gouffran.

William Hill still showing the game as 1-0 Atletico and Barca @ 13/5...

Dzeko got points for an assist - was it not for that?

Communication and defensive problems from our midfielders that led to the first goal. http://nufcvisualised.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/calamity-of-errors-1-silva-1-0/

1000 Premier League goals - Wordcloud http://nufcvisualised.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/goals-with-shearer.png From here: http://nufcvisualised.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/1000-goals-wordcloud/

Amalfitano too.

Isn't mattypnufc part of their group?

So Rangers going into Division 3 is not an option?

Decent player. Guessing as a replacement for Tim Cahill?

Gambled on Germany going through (and to keep a clean sheet), so I'm out of the running now. It's worse that I didn't have Ozil in my team and I'm assuming that you guys did.

I'm just outside the money winning positions, still in with a chance. Just wondering - is the prize actually money, or is it transferred into Skybet and must be wagered?

It'd be interesting to hear what the Spanish players think about playing with no recognised strikers. I'm sure Xavi, Iniesta and Silva would prefer someone like Torres running behind defenders, for them to slide balls through.

Slightly embarrassing for Scott Parker imo as the apparently more defensive midfielder... At one point of the match, Pirlo had the ball and Parker was running in a circle trying to get a hold off him. So embarrassing.

Harsh on Ashley Cole, as he's generally quite a good penalty taker and has been successful for England, Arsenal and Chelsea in penalty shootouts. Could be a Giggs, but Pirlo had already tried the same penalty with different results. http://www.youtube.com/embed/zGyYRhoDAVg

I thought that too. He should have sacrificed a striker and have another man in midfield just to man mark Pirlo. Pirlo had so much time and space, it was unbelievable. Not sure if he was expecting Welbeck or Rooney to do that job.

10th of August. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_UEFA_Europa_League#Round_and_draw_dates

Yep, England don't need to change their game to a Spanish style - but being able to string a couple of passes between themselves is fundamental. Countless times that the ball was launched in the hope that one of the forwards could hold onto it. Supposedly the best pass sequence for England was Hart to Carroll and he was only on for about 30 mins.

Has this even been confirmed? Only heard it was a rumour.