Gallowgate Toon

That was hardly a simple chance, it was on his weaker foot, bouncing and he was getting closed in on very quickly by 3 players. Put Van Persie on his right foot in that situation on the other side and you'd hardly be surprised if he didn't bury it, the disappointment for me is that he didn't hit the target. We've only given him 3 chances in his last 2 games IIRC, he's buried 1, that's still above par for the course for the vast majority of strikers (around 25% conversion). He is not a hold up player but quite frankly he shouldn't need to be with the level of talent and power in our midfield, he needs to be on the shoulder of defenders, moving around so players like Cabaye and Sissoko can play him through. We've simply not given him the service he needs of late.

I would have agreed, but I think that role works for him perfectly now that we have Sissoko. He's playing as much more of an all-rounder now imo, instead of being totally hampered by his defensive responsibilities. Agreed. I've just looked at the players' average position heat map thing, and he wasn't as deep as I first thought. I do think Cisse misses his passing ability around the box though, but hopefully HBA will fill that void when he eventually returns.

Cabaye's still a little too deep for me, we need him a little higher so he can link up with Cisse a bit more.

I think Anita and Marveaux have been treated poorly since the new lads came in mind, for all Pardew's skill as a man manager it's been bad form how he's just dumped them. They were both very good in our poor run and they would hardly be detrimental to the team if they got more than 5 minutes here and there in the league. We should rotate Tiote and Anita anyway but that's just not going to happen.

That's not exactly true like, Marveaux was excellent in Kharkiv, tracking back in the last minutes of the game etc but he's not particularly intelligent in his defensive duties. I agree with your general sentiment though, I think he can only play wide in certain situations and should mainly play as an attacking midfielder. Cabaye Sissoko Marveaux Would be a very interesting midfield 3 to try at some point (preseason).

We will make more chances when we have a more balanced attack. It can't be underestimated how little Gutierrez produces compared to Ben Arfa but I think it affects the whole balance of the front 6. We don't really want Sissoko out wide trying to create that often but he seemed to pop up there a bit yesterday, especially on the right, he did good work there but it meant when we got the ball in the box, a massive presence was missing. I think if Hatem's there, he's got the intelligence to fill that space at least but I think when he's back, we'll see Sissoko staying more central. I think that will help Cisse too. We've really not given him much to feed off over the last couple of games, Sissoko's through balls haven't been happening, there's not been many dangerous crosses and Cisse's link-up with Cabaye seems to have disappeared too. We look dangerous going forward but are lacking a bit of imagination at times.

We do too many floated balls. We're never going to be the best at corners, we just don't have any great headers of a ball, so just drill it in and see what happens. Do some short ones to add some variety. The closest we've come to scoring from a corner this year, was when Ben Arfa tried to score one against West Ham

Our defence today had quality, but it's easy to forget how new some of the lads are. Communication seemed to be a bit of a problem at times, but that's natural, the team still needs to gel.

He'll take us up another level in attack. We need his vision and quality in the final third, Cisse in particular needs another creative outlet.

If he'd made a change before the winning Swansea goal I have absolutely no doubt he'd have been slagged for changing what was working. This

He was very good in that second half, perhaps could've been a little smarter at times but he's such a terrific player. I love watching him, so many good qualities.

We just need another wide man in really, someone who can get to the byline and deliver a good ball for when Hatem's injured.

Cisse had one chance all game We're lacking someone in the final third who can provide for our goalscorers. Hatem will fill that void when he gets back but it really shows where we need to strengthen in the summer. You could say Marveaux is that man but I think we'd have struggled with him playing wide today, especially in that first period, it just doesn't suit him and he doesn't work hard enough.

Our defending and discipline when we don't have the ball needs to still be tightened up but I thought that overall, he was fine today, the players are more at fault this time. Perhaps he could have made a change a bit earlier but we'd been playing so well.

We played well for large parts, I'd say we were just about the better team overall but if you don't take your chances... Their goal was comically bad, just rubbish but we looked a bit ropy whenever they came at us and that needs to change. Ironically, we need to do a little more out-of-possession shape work on the training pitch, as we look very comfortable going forward. It was just one of those days really, you win some you lose some, things just didn't quite fall our way. No mass blame to anyone, we deserved a result but that's not how the sport works.

We need Anita's agility for winning the ball back, Tiote's strength has made him look cumbersome.

We need to tighten up the midfield. They follow the ball too much and we get moved about all over as a consequence.

Get Tiote off at half time man.

If he tries to be too clever here, this could be another Wigan.

What is with the shit pressing as well, absolutely terrible there.

Tiote and Cabaye need to be better positionally here. Same issues as last week, drifting and leaving gaps.

No complaints starting wise, really excited to see Mbiwa start. Shame about Ben Arfa but there's no point in risking him right now. I do hope Anita and Marveaux get some game time today though, they were both excellent when we were at our lowest, they deserve to be given more of a chance than they have of late.

Quite amazing that he was probably our best player against Fulham, scoring a terrific goal but his hamstring was practically hanging off at the time. It also says something about our medical staff mind, not picking up on such a serious injury.

There's physical defenders in Ligue 1 but the style of play they defend against and consequent defensive attitude is completely different. Defending there is more tactical and subtle, here centre backs are far more hands-on, particularly in the box with shirt-pulling, holding and general scuffling going on. That's natural though, as the majority of teams in the league cross the ball a lot instead of playing it into the box, so teams set up to counter that. I just don't think Gouffran's got that level of power in him to make it work as a lead striker here, especially considering the way we play. His wide role was different at Bordeaux too, he was more of a winger when played there, not a wing forward, and they didn't have a tendency to knock lots of balls in like we do. I think he'll get plenty of opportunities playing where he is now, it suits his game more, which is based around quick and intelligent movement, especially with Debuchy's delivery improving.

I agree he could do a job, but the majority of his goals when moved central for Bordeaux were finishes in the box from crosses/scrambles. That's OK in this league with a more strong, determined striker like Ba, but in the box defending is far more powerful here than in France, and I think Gouffran would struggle to get those opportunities while more closely marked.