Tsunami

Can you not number each flag wit ultra violet markers, record who the flags have been given to and publicly flog those who steal them. Disgusting behaviour which needs stopping.

He was exposed too many times today, got caught out of position, drawn into challenge which he lost and got turned and more importantly he wasn't vocal and he didn't look like a leader.

2nd game though, both absolute rubbish. Our spine is awful, Sels looks iffy, Lascelles hasn't been good or a leader, Shelvey doesn't work hard enough for this league, Anita isn't good or big enough, Hayden doesn't look good enough and Gayle simply will not work by himself. I could go on about others as well but the bottom line is that we are ponderous in possession , have no goal threat and are likely to make a mistake at the back. I'm expecting incoming transfers and Rafa to be ruthless. Quite simply; we've been awful. Rafa or not, it's been unacceptable. We've not created many chances and we've missed a couple of sitters (Ritchie should have scored in both games). The lack of pace in our play is very worrying. We are far too easy to defend against and at this level that should not be the case.

He's not a number 9. End of story, he might be able to play off a number 9 but he was a waste of space today.

Looked great; if anyone has stolen any they should be banned. Scum.

Right; central midfield is awful and Gayle doesn't work alone up front in this league. Shelvey shouldn't play again, neither should Anita. Hayden isn't good enough either. We lack creativity, any speed of play or height in this league. There was so much wrong today. Anyway; Shelvey, Anita and Dummet please go away, Rafa get in target man in and someone who can go passed a man in central midfield. Not being over dramatic but our deficiencies in this league are glaring. Did I mention that Shelvey should fuck off?

Sunderland's preseason has been an absolute shambles so far, not quite on Hull's scale but for a team that just finished 17th it's comical. They look to have made a good appointment in Moyes but if he's taken the job knowing that Sunderland were likely to lose players and fail to compete with the likes of Stoke/ Palace in terms of attraction and spending power then he must be taking the piss. I can't imagine many players wanting to go there at the moment, a bad start or a couple of key injuries and they are looking into the abyss. Comical. They'll survive though, won't they?

Rafa has to be careful of not giving the opposition too much respect. We really shouldn't need 2 defensive midfielders in most games and if we go at them we should be good enough. We'll come across an awful lot of sides looking to counter attack us and we can't set up with our main aim of stifling this. It reminded me of a pre season kick about yday, we had a lot of possession but were slow with it and got undone by half arsed defending at a set piece. The lack of speed in our build up play was a real worry, we never got between their lines and played too many long balls as we couldn't break through their organised defence. Central midfield creativity is urgently required. I'm hoping that Rafa is absolutely ruthless in his dissection of the game and performances. One last thing, Sels has looked shaky every time I've seen him, he doesn't collect them the ball into his body very well at all.

We (mainly Colback) again conceded too many soft free kicks in what should have been non threatening positions inside our own half. We again conceded from a set piece and again conceded just before HT, last season all over. We were again too slow in our build making us easier to become organised against and we still need creativity in central midfield. Shelvey should be that player but it seems apparent he's not going to be, both Anita and Colback need the boot leaving Hayden and Diame neither of who are creative. I know there is still talk of Knockaert but imo we need a creative midfield player and another striker more than another wide player. Perez wasn't at the races last night and Gayle doesn't look like he will be effective up top by himself. All in all, worrying.

Too slow in possession and a lack of creativity in central midfield. We were pretty awful.

Hopefully Rafa is absolutely blasting them. That was not good enough.

That's a stonewall

It's more like a pre season game so far. Needs a goal (to us)

Anita having a stinker so far.

Rafa should tell the players that Schteve is there and for them to show him what a good team they are and how rubbish he must have been.

He's not happy happy like

No way he'll still be here by the end of the transfer window and no way he'll be involved tmrw. I'll be surprised if he's even there.

Great effort ???

See this is being screened at SJP with a pie and a pint and SuperMac talk in. On Groupon with 2 tickets for £12.50.

Krul/ Janmaat?

Is he the con man who tried to get one of our players sent off down at their place by feigning that he been nutted and hit the deck like he'd been hit by a cannon ball?

Brighton forum seem to think we've upped our offer to £11M for Knockaert.

Kluivert got a standing ovation when Barca dicked us 3-0 at home in the CL. Murdered us that night.

Andy Cole's conversion rate was a lot better for us than many believe, he gets criticism largely for chances he missed for England. My biggest concern with Mitro is the number of times he's actually took air shots when presented with a chance, he may well turn out to be a confidence goal scorer rather than a natural goal scorer. The sooner he bags a goal the better and missing the first 4 games doesn't help.

Sunderland should survive comfortably next year. Hull are in a right mess and Burnley will struggle, that would leave 1 place up for grabs. If Defoe loses form or gets injured and they haven't bought decent back then that might change.