Gallowgate Toon

The team today had more than enough firepower, by a distance, to put that Wolves side to the sword. I'm assuming the diagonals would've been to help get Perez and Ritchie in positions to cut in and shoot?

We resorted to having to send long balls to Gayle and he had no chance against their huge centre backs because they didn't let us pass it out from goal kicks. Was obvious that they weren't going to let Shelvey have any space either Would be interested to see what Diame was doing then - if their defence wasn't high enough to get in behind, in general play, but they were pressing relatively high then there must have been a decent gap in midfield to capitalise on? Either that or he should've pushed up to help Gayle. We have enough technical quality to beat a press, especially with a midfield 3 where the should be plenty of short options to play off. If only Mitro was on 5 minutes earlier...

Surely Wolves pressing high suits us more? We're always better when teams give us space in behind. Just sounds like we were too sloppy to capitalise.

68% percent possession, 17 shots and only 3 on target. Minging.

Taylor and Besty ‏@TaylorandBesty 8m8 minutes ago Some of the worst passing I've seen at SJP for a long time today as well. Ah well, let's fuck them over in the cup and carry on. #nufc One for all us virgins.

They were either complacent or everyone had been making such a massive deal about being complacent that some pressure was added. Either way, pathetic.

I think this is more about complacency & struggling with the favourites tag than anything else Bullshit, man. We've lost 2 games out of 4 at home playing 1 striker. It absolutely doesn't work at this level. Pretty sure Burnley and Boro played 1 up top in most games last season... All I've heard today is how sloppy we've been. Passes consistently going out of play, crap touches, playing about in our own defensive third. Sounds like that's the main problem, not tactics.

Entirely pathetic. Poor from everyone involved. Really disappointed with the approach from the players - littany of poor passes and touches, and playing dangerously in stupid areas. Stinks of arrogance. Rafa should've reacted far quicker - this wouldn't be 2-0 if those changes had come 5 minutes earlier.

It doesn't sound like we've been at all defensive, and I don't think it's got anything to do with rotation. This is either an off day or complacency.

Sounds like an entirely careless performance, needed some rockets earlier. This squad still has a bit to go.

This is just all-out sloppy. Sounds like so many slack passes. Need Mitro on, ASAP, and go a bit more direct.

Yikes.

I'm actually fancying us for a cup run, this year Great squad depth, a good enough side to be in the Prem (not a very good Prem team, obvs) and a class cup manager. We should have the legs for it. Just love Rafa, man.

I actually feel slightly worried for this This team are still learning and I can't shake the thought out of my head that they're going to be a bit lax after QPR. 5-0.

He's just by far and away the highest quality CM in the league. It's just about confidence and consistency. Rafa said he's learning bit by bit, he can mould him into a good Prem midfielder.

Was hoping for Atsu and Lazaar to start but still a side good enough to win this. I think Perez will benefit from Mitro, like.

I know open palm was his most used one but I always associate him with the one the statue's based on, for some reason.

There's some on VillaTalk who think they're superior to us (inc. squad wise) and we're nothing to be afraid of. Hope we absolutely disgrace them. Nee offence, Brummie.

People will always find something to complain about Rafa has worked this out fine. We were more open in the first 2 games and looked really shaky. He knows we need points, confidence and momentum (which often starts with the defence) so has us playing more conservative to start building a platform. We're not a 'Rafa' team yet, but we are on the way.

I'd argue that Hayden and Colback is a very big drop off mind. Yeah, it is. Doesn't render the whole team shit though

Isn't that largely the side that beat Brighton? Colback aside, it's fine. Would like to see some newbies but international duty for some etc.

I think Ritchie/Diame as RW & AM really aren't much worse than Townsend/Sissoko. Ritchie just put in a more consistent Premier League season than Townsend ever has & Diame looks like he could be more equipped to play as a 10 than Moussa, IMO. Wijnaldum wasn't even a winger and he was flanked by Paul Dummett to give us offensive width I'd take Gayle any day over 15/16 Cisse. I feel as though we've upgraded the full back positions and Hayden is an improvement on both Tiote & Colback as a box-to-box centre mid. It's close but, crucially, we now have more balance. Current best XI would win. The squad is no contest, though. We're more equipped to deal with a PL campaign now than we were last season.

Some folks do seem to want to find reasons to not enjoy the current situation, like. It rubs because it sometimes comes across as some kind of intellectual superiority/looking down on people for being positive. Simply put; we've spent a good wedge on recruiting what's needed to achieve the task at hand, whilst building foundations for the future and getting rid of deadwood. There's still progress to be made but who was truly expecting everything to be solved in one window? We could've scrimped more. Far, far more.

He’s still a good player and I expect Koeman will get the best out of him. He’s someone that simply needs lots of direction in his play. He might think he should be a side’s fulcrum but he’s far better at having a specific role and sticking to it. If Everton get him in a midfield 3 with the main aim of opening up teams in the middle the pitch and creating more space for creative players in the final third then he’ll do great. If he’s required to have a more expansive job than that then he’ll generally be shit and will only perform in really open games. Koeman’s a very good manager, like, I think he’s too smart to not know how to use the bellend.

Holy shit