AyeDubbleYoo

Didn't Lauren Blanc say something naughty about how there were too many non-whiteys playing for France? May be remembering wrong.

Wow, one of the first times we've shared the same opinion. We have both seen Marveaux playing in France though... You should have mentioned that before.

I agree with this like, one reason to play him wide is to protect him, but that's a bollocks reason anyway.

Interesting HBA opts for kicking the door rather than banging it down. Must be his temperamental French attitude.

Yep, as long as Cabaye and Tiote still utilise Marveaux, Jonas and Obertan enough we shouldn't be caught in the trap of always getting it to Be Arfa. I'm really excited about our midfield at the moment like, potentially the best we've had for ages.

I think the only main problem with the number ten is that he can be too much of a focus of the whole team's play. Even Van Der Vaart disrupts Spurs' play to a certain extent IMO. With HBA and the other midfielders we've got I'm not sure it's such an issue for us though. He's very direct and focused on going past people, and the other midfielders around him can also threaten the opposition.

We shouldn't be launching long balls anyway, and even if we do sometimes Best is quite good in the air. He is good at finding space and getting a shot in, which is much more than can be said for the rest of the options. Ba excepted really, still think he deserves a chance but I don't want to play two up front.

Think toptoon's team is the best available, if HBA and Marveaux are fit to start. Would be slightly harsh to drop Obertan, but meh. It's becoming increasingly stupid to play two strikers, with the lack of quality we have their and the amount of class midfielders we've got.

Aye, all the wingers will be helped by the triple marking on HBA. Particularly Jonas I think, as he is often double marked as well.

He weathered the storm of the transfer window bollocks quite well in hindsight, even though he talked a lot of bollocks, and now he's doing a good job IMO.

Simpson has been overly criticised recently IMO, he has made good improvements since he signed and there's no reason to change him at the moment. Especially not by playing a midfielder out of position, or playing Ryan Taylor.

I would be happy with any of Obertan, Marveaux or Jonas playing at the moment TBH. It's nice to have them all looking decent.

Yep, these are things a manager can feel free to talk about in detail though. Things like signings/finances/ownership are far more troublesome.

It also occurred to me that the departure of some of the big names like Nolan and Barton might have led to a more 'equal' dressing room in a way. Maybe now we have a dressing room of players who are all part of the team, rather than any special cases.

Great move to start him, and ecstatic that he came through unscathed. Time to get excited (again)!

Dunno, they must have picked that lad Henderson up on the cheap.

Wish this was on TV.

Agree with every single word, Baba. Yep, pundits over here know the same as, if not less than, the fans. And they're not usually any better at expressing it either. Not surprising really, footballers don't tend to be "students of the game" in general. Wengers best team, the core were made up of players born in the UK. Campbell and Cole, is that really the core? Assuming you accept that 03/04 was their best team... Ray Parlour and keown were also part of the squad, also when he arrived he inherited the famous back 5. I wasn't really comparing English players/pundits to foreign ones, I was just saying that our pundits happen to be generally terrible.

Nice to see him and Carroll on the end of a decent defeat.

I'm still a bit offended by sponsors' logos now TBH, and it's been happening since well before I was born.

Looks. So. Bad.

Agree with every single word, Baba. Yep, pundits over here know the same as, if not less than, the fans. And they're not usually any better at expressing it either. Not surprising really, footballers don't tend to be "students of the game" in general.

This is my big one at the moment as well, annoying as fuck.

Scary to think what would have become of us if Best had turned out to be incredibly shit.

Is Marveaux comfortable on the right? I wouldn't want to move Jonas over.