Gallowgate Toon

I get why he's wanted the protection to the back 4 but he needs to see now that they just aren't good enough. His team selection today was fine apart from one position, but it's a key position and it's pretty important to how he wants the team to play.

Very disappointing. No point in having that much of the ball if the two players that are going to be on it most have such little penetration. I genuinely think Coloccini has a better range than Colback. Sissoko or Wijnaldum has to be moved there, ASAP. Good to see us trying to control the game but we really need to work on it. We did get into some good positions with some interchanges but far too often played shite final balls etc. Players obviously aren't the most confident and they were sometimes snatching in quicker passing moves. It's genuinely difficult to break teams down like that when they're deep and really well organised but we shot ourselves in the foot with some pathetic defending and gave away too much space to them on the break - probably down to a lack of physicality. New lads are still trying to adapt. Wijnaldum's a quality footballer but he was caught out by the pace a bit, Thauvin seemed a bit awe-struck by it all. Perez & de Jong to start the next game. Sack Colback off, please, he was useless again.

Aye. I don't trust one of them to do the job on their own but it's time to drop Wijnaldum back.

Assumed you meant he's been told that's what McClaren is gonna do, just looked at his feed and that's his opinion on what he'd do. Nah, there's another one from about half an hour ago which is what I was talking about. Unless I've got the wrong journo

Douglas reckons 4-3-3.

Just watching some of his YT clips, I forgot he likes a good long ranger.

LVG is a moron. Depay isn't doing much but he's been better than the other midfielders.

Someone needs to tell Man U's forwards they can move off the ball a bit. So static.

Good words from Paul Simpson in his NUFCTV interview. Said we needed to focus on us, defending how we want to defend, playing to our strengths etc. and worrying about the opposition less.

Wew

Barry been taking PEDs? He looks about 2 yards faster

I really want to see Gini drop back but I just don't trust any of his partners, he'd probably get dragged into more defensive work than necessary. One of Anita/Colback having to deal with Payet is a worry.

Think Moussa would make a fine faux-Raumdeuter, tbh.

Wijnaldum looks to be the most complete footballer we've had in some time, imo. Think he'll have a tremendous season.

Our midfield does lack balance. Would be getting a CM in in January. Gini and Sissoko are good box-to-box players but there's a lack of someone who knows what they're doing defensively that has any real physicality. Anita's positioning & in-game reading is good but the idea of him being the main defensive cover to Coloccini doesn't sound great to me.

Think we've got plenty of goals in the team, tbh, both in the starting XI and on from the bench. The defence is the concern. It's been a decent window but could've been better. The quality of player has been good, mind.

Didn't he also win most of his duels when he came on vs. Swansea?

Last season is relevant imo. We're trying to scrub out 3-4 years of mis-management, low confidence & poor tactics. West Ham's situation is different to our own. Our confidence and the players' trust in one another has most likely had to be very carefully managed for the opening fixtures. I think Venkman wrote a post about the other week that gets it absolutely spot on.

Don't know how you can see some of the things he did last week and conclude he looks an oaf. He's not quick, aye, but he showed some great footwork, strength, general play and heading ability in that game. Think he'll be great.

Austin isn't much of a footballer and his success at QPR came alongside a target man, did it not?

Apart from the first match where we didn't at all

Let's not forget the age of consent varies wildly. Spain's is surprisingly low, iirc.

Or the product of signing our targets They've built a proper good system and stuck with players like Shelvey and developed them, as well as buying some quality players.

Swansea are really good, like. The product of building well.

goes both ways tbh, there's only one poster who has come out with something totally outrageous that i can see so where the rest of your post comes from is a mystery, other people think it's fair to point out that he's made mistakes in his selections and tactics so far, which he f***ing has overall i'm personally not unhappy but instead of getting more quality at the back and forming a solid defensive unit we've 'opted' to get the whole team to protect the defence that's still as shaky as f*** when exposed imo and that's coming at the expense of our own attacking intent you'd have to be overly harsh not to accept that we're going through a process mind and that mclaren is clearly trying to instill some professionalism all over the place and we'll be the better for it in the long run, he's being cautious and i can accept that but he can't do it forever he's actually going to have to get some points on the board, which i'm sure he will I was referring to both Elcid and TCD who have made comments on the fact that SMC is s*** because we're not playing attacking football (amongst other things). Of course he is going to make mistakes early on, he's been manager for four games for crying out loud - he's got new players he's trying to fit in around the existing team. If we had lost every game and been battered in each one, I'd understand peoples comments - but so far we've looked more organised (especially defensively) then we have for years. I just think he is a s*** manager end of and just have a look at the number of times he has been sacked fully illustrates that. He is here though (how many actually wanted him though lets be honest) but to continue to play Colback and Anita to the detriment of the team is just totally baffling - doesn't matter if it's only four games or not a it was a lot more last season when they played together - the two don't work together as they neither have the physique or the passing ability to dominate the centre of midfield and are overrun very easily and in just about every game also. I could get away with Anita (though even then he would not be by first choice as he is just brushed aside too easily) but to play both is honestly just shocking management and I don't care how you dress it up it is. Perez has done a million times more than these two and contributes a lot more also but is dropped and as a result we isolate our main striker. Sissoko is not a winger as he can't cross the ball and if he is to play should be in the centre of the pitch. Looks like everyone would not play Colback and Anita and yet I am being seen at 'outrageous' for criticising the man who is selecting them to play lol - totally unreal - the formation is wrong, the tactics are wrong and playing on the break howay man do you really want to watch the passing of the ball 10 - 15 yards for 90 minutes between the midfield and defence to then have the odd break away. I put money on now that McClaren will continuously play Anita and Colback doesn't matter what - I wonder what would be said if a certain Mr Pardew carried out the same selection if he was still here. Tiote is a better option as long as he is told to win the ball and play it simple as he is the one defensive midfielder who is not bullied by other players and if that doesn't work then yes get a new defensive midfielder both options in my opinion are better than Anita or Colback being bullied and outplayed every week. Wijnaldum and Sissoko are not defensive midfielders and so shouldn't even be considered that. I still say we need a playmaking midfielder in the middle who can pass the ball more than 10 - 15 yards sideways or backwards. My points is that playing both Anita and Colback is detrimental to the team and most options compared to that would be better. We played Perez last week on the wing not as a support player though and maybe away from home to the better teams I would agree (still not Colback and Anita though) but at home nope and if you set up to play with two defensive midfielders at home your inviting pressure and for teams to attack and the top teams don't need a second invitation to do that. De Jong would also be a good option in these matches against the top teams as he is a clever player and brings other players into play. I know Aarons had a poor game on Tuesday (not surprising as he never gets a look in) but his pace is key because at the moment we are so narrow in the centre of the pitch we are inviting full backs to attack. Sissoko is not a winger and if he is to play should be in a middle. We will see but I very much doubt it and I'll wager also that unless through injury neither are dropped in the next five games. I don't want to see Anita-Colback in a lot of games but I can understand why it's been used as a starter and can really see why we played it yesterday. I didn't see them as purely defensive choices yesterday, either, they're both adept enough at keeping the ball and I think their inclusion was to allow us to hold the ball more and be more patient when going forward, frustrating Arsenal - plus they let our full backs get higher up. Our possession play was a concern in the opening 10 minutes, though, we were way too keen to get the ball up to Mitrovic at the earliest opportunity and kept on losing it. I hope that wasn't instructional and was just a confidence thing. Someone said we sat quite deep, I've just watched it back and we pressed them quite high on a couple of occasions in the opening 10 minutes, they just cut through us with interchanges on the flanks. We did leave their centre halves to play it, I'm assuming that was to get them to play it long to their small forwards. I really like de Jong and want to see him more but I don't think yesterday was quite the game for him, he lacks the dynamism on the break and it's not like Mitrovic is quick himself, we'd have been ponderous in that central area. SDJ is someone I'd definitely be starting against West Ham, especially now we've lost a central physical presence, and he should always play against teams of that ilk. Perez and Wijnaldum as support are much of a muchness, IMO, and you can't drop Wijnaldum back in games like that when he doesn't have a suitable partner. Sissoko was excellent out wide against Southampton and he was already threatening yesterday before the card, I don't see him as much of an issue, he generally sticks wide too and tracks his man well. Thauvin is a true wide left player, so I don't think Aarons was missed all that much from a positional point of view. Not happy that Aarons wasn't on the bench, though, he should be one of our first choice subs.