Gallowgate Toon

I think saying we'd be generally brilliant with just a bit of fluid movement is a bit of a stretch. Genuine question, Bimpy, if you take Pardew out of the equation, what are the weaknesses of this squad (lack of numbers aside)? Pretty much agree on the Shola/HBA side of it, by the way.

If Shola's dropped/'rested' it'll be Anita that comes in for him. No way the others are going to be displaced. Hatem will get his chance over the next month, I'm sure he'll take it.

Don't think we'll lose, actually feeling quite confident of a win despite their better recent form. 1-3 - Remy, Gouff and Sissoko to score.

It really is a mystery as to what goes on. I don't know if he actively encourages sitting back or if he just doesn't give players enough direction which makes them withdraw, it really is strange. I think I read a stat the other day that said we were one of two teams that haven't scored more than 2 in a game this season.

Happens every game, the goalkeeper usually never makes that mistake. So yes I'd call it a fluke. It's not a fluke. There's an element of fortune to it, of course, but when you're closing down opposition so they a) make a rubbish back pass, and b) rush their consequent clearance, you're very much in the realms of making your own luck.

Remy chasing down a ball to panic the 'keeper into a rushed clearance isn't a fluke. A sheer fluke would have been Remy standing still and the 'keeper hitting it right at him.

Sissoko makes good decisions, he just doesn't always execute them well.

The only time Shola should be involved in this is if we need to alleviate some pressure. I'd be tempted to have Hatem start. I reckon Pardew will just go with the side that faced Man U though, perhaps putting Haidara in for Santon.

I think we need a big man for some games and situations but not all.

Wonder how much influence Pardew has on his play. Surely it can't be hard to instruct him to lay it off it earlier, maybe he does. I think hes tried that with him, and as he didnt heed it, he was benched. Thought that was always more to do with his workrate in a defensive capacity. Which to be fair I think paid off to some degree. There were definitely some quotes around from Pardew saying he wanted HBA to play at a quicker tempo, think it was around the time of the Fulham game. I thought there was a noticeable difference in his mentality against Man U.

Aye, that dribble man Pity no f***er was interested in getting forward to offer him a pass. Couldn't understand that. Yet, when Debuchy put in a cross 5 minutes later, we had 3 in there.

Nowt. It's just frustrating knowing that we could play a different, more pleasing on the eye and more effective game - given the talent we have across the squad. But, like I say, if we want long-term results then I think Pardew has to re-hash the squad into one that suits him more. Get rid of the cultured (or s***) wingers in favour of orthodox ones, get a target man or two. It'll be a real wrench if someone like Hatem was to leave, but I'm starting to wonder what his point in the squad actually is. He's no impact sub. We can play a pleasing-on-the-eye game with a targetman type. Dortmund do it, Arsenal do it, City do it, Munich have done it etc. I think we've played some really great stuff over the last 2 months, the problem has been keeping the tempo of it up. We've generally used Shola well enough, in my opinion, not been too direct with his presence and he's linked up with others pretty effectively on the deck (well, in spells, at least). That's why the likes of Dortmund have prospered, they don't rely too much on one approach but vary it. Shola isn't a good enough long-term option, but he's shown the benefits of having a player like him in a modern team that has lots of pace etc. Buying someone that can take his role with better fitness, more energy and a couple more goals in him should be our first move, IMO.

What's wrong with having someone that can play as a targetman? There are quite a few good footballing sides that use someone of that ilk.

Also, the Sissoko-Anita-Remy passing move was brilliant.

Our last away game suggests otherwise. It suggested that we can hold teams off by keeping the ball but what else? Correct me if I'm wrong, but we didn't really create an awful lot, did we?

Spurs' defensive organisation has been absolutely woeful. They're completely wide open.

Absolutely appalling defending. Cracking finish though.

They mainly hoofed it yesterday. Righto. While I don't agree that they mainly hoofed it, they certainly weren't against going more direct, which is fine. I think it was VI that said Pochettino's Espanyol didn't really have a defined system for attacking, he had a defensive strategy that revolved around hard work, organisation and good pressing and left the offensive stuff to flair players, like Coutinho. The impression I got yesterday was that they could mix it up and went a bit more direct in the second half, trying to get the most out of Rodriguez's pace.

He's got great movement. That's one reason I'm not missing Hatem too much, at the minute, we've got 2 wide men who aren't as talented but move so much better off the ball and make better decisions in areas that count. If we can get HBA in the mindset of Gouff and Sissoko, he (and we) will be incredibly difficult to stop.

I'm pretty sure he changed to 4-2-3-1 not long after we scored.

I thought some of our pressing was positive and generally good, it was very good in spells in the first half. We pressed them really high and they launched it quite a few times as a result, IIRC. They came with a different approach to us though, they pressed to win the ball and keep it, we pressed to get the ball and go straight for goal. I thought we looked to move quicker than them which is going to result in higher turnover of possession. It should feel like an opportunity missed because we missed two absolute sitters and created some dangerous situations that could have been capitalised on much better. I'm disappointed we didn't get all 3.

Never noticed he was already celebrating for the off the line clearance. Good defending but way too central. Hopefully, yesterday's game will just spur him on against Palace. I fancy him to bag two there.

Krul Debuchy Williamson MYM Santon Sissoko Cabaye Anita Ben Arfa Gouffran Remy Is what I'd play for the majority of games, would change it up for certain ones though. I'd like to see Haidara pushing Santon for his spot too. Probably be a bit harsh on Cheik but he'd still get on in some matches, I just thought Cabaye-Anita against Chelsea was really impressive and has more of an offensive 'fret'.

Spot on. The focus on possession and the likes of passing completion has gone a little too far. They had more of the ball but we created more, a long range strike really isn't the same as 2 clear cut chances. We had more shots on and off target despite having less of the ball. I don't think this team will ever be that suited to a slower possession game, even with better coaching. We've got good players but we're not the most agile side and I wouldn't say we've got anyone outside HBA and Marveaux who can play in tight spaces. We can mix it up, yeah, but what we did at a more open Man U wouldn't necessarily apply to a really well organised Southampton who came with a deeper approach. We're not very good at breaking teams like that down, our lack of creativity usually means we chuck people forward and are then susceptible to the counter. We've got a pacy squad who should be copying the models of recent Dortmund/Napoli/Atletico sides. Possession isn't the focus, it's about energy, pressing and attacking with explosive speed. I thought we 'copied' those sorts of sides for good periods of the game yesterday, seeing us counterpress effectively was good, we caught them off balance a lot (which is our best chance against teams like these) and we were simply the more dangerous side.