Gallowgate Toon

Packed defences are very hard to break down. It takes creativity and high levels of technical ability to consistently do it, so, to be fair to Pardew, I don't think that's all down to him. A better coach would improve the movement but there's still the other things to address.

We've generally started games in an attacking manner, why would Pardew suddenly decide not to against Stoke? I saw a lot of lax play going back and forward, I took it more as a lack of focus than something tactical. Same s*** being spouted during the 5th season when we couldn't attack teams like stoke at home properly. If it's the players fault in this case then, do they take all the credit when we put in a good shift away home? I believe as the manager he's responsible for it all, not just what you pick and choose. I never said it was wholly the players' fault, the manager's the one that motivates them. I'm just saying I highly doubt it was tactical considering our performances against lesser opposition, this season, which have generally been positive. Edit: positive in how we've started games.

We've generally started games in an attacking manner, why would Pardew suddenly decide not to against Stoke? I saw a lot of lax play going back and forward, I took it more as a lack of focus than something tactical.

We really missed him. Anita and Sissoko were surprisingly poor positionally and lacked energy before the sending off. We were open as in the middle, I think it was Adam that had a lot of space on the edge of the box on 2 or 3 occasions.

Thought the first red was arguable but it was hardly an unjust sending off. The foul on Sissoko was poor and the intent with the little kick was clear. Just stupid. Williamson 'handball' is just clutching at straws, IMO.

His decision-making is getting better, like. Hope to see it continue, he still has time to hit some real heights.

He was probably the best of a pretty poor bunch, he wasn't exactly great. That said, I would actually start HBA against Arsenal, I really like Anita but don't think it's the game for him. General point was that Sissoko has been excellent and shouldn't be dropped for one bad performance, he's put in numerous fantastic contributions for us over the last 2 months and against a team like Arsenal, he's just got to play, IMO.

It's between him and HBA. HBA just simply doesn't deserve to be dropped. HBA put in a very good second half performance against 9 man Stoke. Sissoko, bar today, has been putting in a great shift for weeks, creating goals and opportunities, being a constant thorn in the opposition's side. I just can't agree that he should be dropped, if anything, it's games like Sunday where he's theoretically at his best.

I would, he gives the ball away more than anyone else in the team, against Arsenal i would leave him out. Horses for courses like. I don't know of that's a true stat but he's been a brilliant and effective creative outlet for weeks. He's an absolute beast on the counter, we'll need that as there will be space come Sunday.

Sissoko is an absolute must for a game like Arsenal, think it would be ludicrous to drop him. He's been a key part of our recent form and we'll need his attributes for Sunday.

You'd drop him for one poor game? He's been generally excellent for weeks.

Was absolutely fuming after 40 minutes. Seeing our lot trot about while Stoke players had the ball in the edge of our box, treating Crouch like some sort of God by quadruple marking him and just letting them have the ball far too much had me pretty animated Hadn't felt like that since Hull, I don't know if it was mixed instructions or lazy play but some of our lot looked asleep, 2 defensive midfielders so deep made matters worse. Perhaps there was one eye on Arsenal. Was delighted come full time though, some really enjoyable moments in the second half. The roll continues.

We spend so much time worrying about the opposition that we don't have a style of play that we can call our own. The main reason we've often looked clueless is because we don't have a well known way of playing which the players know well enough and that's part of why we had a season like last. We tried to work on the weaknesses of the opposition instead of our own strengths. Our players are suited to playing the type of game we played against Man U and Palace and that's why it worked for us. The better teams have a style of play that they know and that suits the players they have, we need the same. They suited that style in those situations, that doesn't mean they can play like that in every game. Away games are naturally more open for us, you can't discount that when you look into how we should be playing. Manchester United have been the most successful domestic team in my lifetime, they've seldom had a defined style to me. In fact, I think the reason for their success has pretty much been that they've been a multi-faceted team that can adapt their strategy to different situations. I just don't look at these players and think they can play possession-based tiki-taka style stuff, it's just not what they're best at. We can go possession, at times, but it's not something we should exclusively be doing.

You're probably right but a new manager would have come in and would have had to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the players before finding a way to control a game. Pardew knew what he had and it still took him 15 games to do that and he abandoned it for game 16 only to bring it back, thankfully, for game 17. But that's not assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the players. It's not as simple as saying, 'we should play this style all the time', because that doesn't necessarily suit our personnel when taking into account the opposition and their style, strengths and weaknesses. We've shown we can play possession football to frustrate teams away from home but we've not shown that it's something we can do when we need play through teams that look to shut space down, especially when they come to our place. I don't think we've got enough specialists in tight areas to really make it our proper philosophy. We've seen lots of teams come here over the last few years and look to give us the ball, frustrate and catch us on the break and we've often looked a bit clueless in terms of breaking those barriers down.

I don't think possession-based is really the way to go here but I think they'll pretty much give us the ball anyway. I know some might think yesterday's style was the way forward but I just don't believe it suits us at home to 'lesser' teams, we've used it well for nullifying certain opposition when playing away but this will be a different type of match. We don't have loads of creativity in the squad and if you're going to play possession against a team like this - a side that will probably sit back in numbers and look to contain - that's important, as is having attackers that can play quick football in tighter spaces. We should start this at a really high tempo, lots of high pressing, playing at pace and taking risks. Force them into being unbalanced and capitalise. If we get the early goal, can see us getting 3 or 4. Fancy Hatem to start and produce a bit magic. 3-0 - Remy, HBA, Sissoko.

Think we could push 11/12, to be honest. Can see Gomis and another coming in in January, perhaps Marveaux out and a couple of the young lads going on loan.

Is that our 5th away win of the year?

Think Pardew will start him against Stoke, Cabaye moves back alongside Anita and HBA as no.10. That, or 4-4-2 with HBA and Sissoko on the wings, Gouff and Remy up top.

I think he's edging towards something more 'free' in the second half of the season. He's not been perfect but this has been a good first half of the campaign.

Really enjoyed that cameo. Showed good intelligence and had a nice balance to his game, just like the Man U match.

Good team. Think Cabaye's passing could do some damage if he's playing no.10. Hopefully, Sissoko and Gouffran keep their recent good movement going.

Lovely move, great finish.

It's direct football and it's great.

He'll play a big part on the second half of the season, IMO. I think that, since Everton, Pardew has been looking to get the work ethic back that was in the side 2 years ago, re-building that foundation. Hatem will be re-introduced pretty soon, I'm sure of it.

This is about right, for me. I think we've seen him given freedom over the past season and a third and it's not as good as when he was an important part of the system, rather than the focal point. I think he's just too maverick in his head to be given a really free role, he might be one that ages into it when his other qualities become more prominent. I think he's a player that needs to be well-controlled, managing him into the right mindset is key to getting the most out of him for the team.