Gallowgate Toon

He was poor because he's a player that likes touches and Kirchhoff was all over him - wasn't the right situation for him as a 10 (I think his best position is wide forward, myself) as it was just too congested. It was different with de Jong because his game is about touch and move, so their midfield couldn't really get tight like that. I have a feeling we'll see plenty of chopping and changing from RB until the very end, he obviously picks up on in-game changes very well. Ayoze's probably better as a 10 in away games, at his current level.

He's not brilliant tactically but I can't help feel his positioning is being blown way out of proportion. He's not charging around leaving gaps every 2 minutes. He occasionally leaves his post but shouldn't be the furthest back midfielder. Simple as that, really. He's still a CM through and through. He's quicker and fitter than I thought he was too, he's someone that can drive us forward if he's given license to.

Didn't seem to have a problem beating his man at all and, once again, put in some good crosses. One with his left and one with his right, in particular.

Not true. He looked very good on the few occasions dribbling through the midfield. It's something he has the ability to do more often.

Watched it back, we actually played better than I initially thought. You could definitely see Mitro had been working on movement in the box, he had much more desire and had some set moves peeling off the defender - got himself some openings against big, physical lads. Shame we were so narrow for stretches. Generally, we were OK defensively but missing key athleticism and resilience. It's hard to take much from the performance because it's such a unique situation. Keeping Townsend fit will be a big help. He was useful until he ran out of legs.

He could well grab 10 goals this season if he can get himself on a little run. Ridiculous to say he has nothing about him.

Good player with a good attitude but lacking fitness.

I feel a bit more optimistic than most, after today. 6.5. If we can win at Norwich, and I think we'll perform better in a less intense game where we're 'underdogs', then that gets us right in there and we have some very winnable games coming up.

Fuck off, you shit twat.

So annoying in the final third, but a more committed performance from him. He just looks so uncomfortable at the idea of going on his left foot

Annoyingly safe, today. He dribbled through their ranks very dangerously a few times and then just seemed to stop doing it and started just passing it sideways a lot. Wasn't great defensively, either. I'd persist with him at CM, tbh.

That striker coach obviously taught him something valuable this week

As a 10, I agree. Perez was really poor in the middle, today, just couldn't compete with more physical opponents.

They rattled us early and we just couldn't get it going, you could see our lot lose confidence straight off the bat. We were feeling sorry for ourselves and they just weren't competing in key areas - CM was a joke, in particular. Confidence was the thing, though, you could see a shift after they'd laid off us a bit. We need to take that into Norwich now. Some very winnable games coming up. Not losing that could make a huge, huge difference to us.

Not entirely sure what to make of that, tactically. I thought Perez simply wasn't doing his bit as a 10, when it came to the defensive work, and de Jong instantly improved our flow with his retention and positioning - this stopped their midfield getting so much time and space. Perez was much more dangerous when out wide, he just couldn't move in the middle and didn't seem up for the battle; Kirchoff owned him on 3 or 4 occasions. Not keen on Sissoko left at all - we need to have at least one winger on his correct foot to get balls in, Sissoko slowed so many moves down by not wanting to get on his wrong peg. Still, he recognised what was wrong as we went on and had a plan, that much was obvious at least.

Massive, massive moment in our season, that. Our players are massively gutless and I thought Allardyce let us back into it. We grew, though, and you could see us getting a tiny bit of joy. Hope Rafa stops Sissoko out left, waste of his abilities as someone that can get past his man and whip it in. Confident with Rafa we can use that as a springboard. Howay!

This could be my last home game for years. What a minger. Out with my Dad for lunch and we feel too sick to eat

Attacking but cacking my pants about that central mid

If the players show the confidence and drive they did vs. West Ham and Brom, I think we'll win 2-0. We'll make life a lot easier for ourselves if we grab the first goal early. I know Rafa's a somewhat cautious manager but I'd like to think he'll try and get at them from the off, get the crowd going and put pressure on them. Then try and control the game from there. I can't see them starting quickly, I imagine it'll be sitting back with their wall of DMs and countering with their pace up top.

I'm not nervous but I'm also not at all confident Benitez has played it smart, IMO. He'll have been hoping we could nick a draw last night but I imagine the main aim was to preserve overall confidence and get some defensive team spirit going. Encouragingly, he said they'd be working on player movement this week. As long as they don't fanny out again, I don't think we'll lose.

To be fair to him, he has been out a while. Just doesn't have enough presence needed.

Looking at the derby, it's encouraging he's a calm manager. We always play better when we don't play the occasion. Convinced he'll prep us right for it.

A shame, a draw would've been a great result. We looked like we had a decent plan defensively but completely wasted the few opportunities we did have, frustratingly.

We've done OK. Be interesting to see any HT tweaks.

Fucking plank, Sissoko.