themanupstairs

I just don't think a first class top division striker doesn't care about being offside. This is what it looks like on some occasions. Take for example that time when Ba played him in from the right channel and he didn't adjust his run. I reckon Cisse thought Ba would carry the ball further up the field before playing him in which is why he raced ahead to make sure he stays clear of his marker before checking his run. It's frustrating as fuck, and it's to the detriment of the team. But imo it's a symptom of our lack of attacking structure rather than a cause of it.

You must have missed Napoli taking 15k to Bologna last season I doubt it was that many... Their crowd was only up 6k on its average for that game... Might have been the season before, I think many didn't get tickets for the match. Was reported as 10-15k made the journey to the city They took 11k to Roma season before last when they finished 3rd. Video of all the fans at the train station can be found on that well known video site. Which well known site would that be?

Actually if you notice his runs, he strays offside to lose his markers at times, and tries to get back on. We don't pick him out with precise passes timed to his runs. The one time it worked perfectly that I can remember recently was when Anita played it to him, either at Southampton or Stoke, can't really remember. It was his first chance of the game and he fluffed it completely. But that's the kind of service he needs. He needs someone to pick him out first time and play it into his path. The guy is not a blithering fool. He's just not clicking with our supply line. They are on different planets so to speak. Having said that, he should have spotted it by now that those behind him won't give him the ball the way he wants, and should adjust his game for that. If he can't win it in the air, he should be ready to pounce on the loose ball. I haven't seen him try something different yet, knowing that he's in a bit of a rut.

He doesn't look anything special anyway. Next.

this si what i'm talking about. The Fulham winner was largely his fault. His man looked unmarked and he didn't even move! He was nowhere near the second ball for Stoke's winner. Nobody elses fault but his own. Against Kenwyne Jones most defenders will be in for a tough time in the air, the key is the second ball. I don't think anyone is arguing the contrary. Everyone can see he was at fault for those two particular moments. But you're making it sound like he's in last chance saloon or something. Coloccini isn't safe from criticism when he deserves it, just like any other player in our squad. Unlike every other player in our squad however, the times when Colo has let us done pale in comparison to the likes of Williamson, Simpson and the other usual suspects.

Fuck me that stupid Arsenal song

Falcao has more sell on value. Ah well, Mike and Bill will be in Madrid soon. http://i46.tinypic.com/15f3vx2.jpg bit late but :lol:

Possibly off his shin pads? Watching the replay on a dodgy vid now, and that's the only point of contact it would have made with his leg. You just don't see an obvious change in the flight of the ball at all, which is why I still think it was a superb golazo

I dunno man. The flight of the ball looks natural to me in the replays from as soon as it leaves his foot. It certainly didn't change direction. A slight deflection may have changed it trajectory tho. Schwarzer was expecting a cross, and I think that's why he was caught out.

Right. So Neil just trying to fuck with my mind then? Bastard. And to think I was cheering for the smackems to beat the spuds

Swear I've seen a hundred replays of HBA's goal, and none of the angles show a deflection. I thought it was when it first went in, but having seen the replays changed my mind.

Not sure if sarcasm... What I'm trying to say is that he didn't hide. He clearly knew he made a hash of a couple of situations, but he put in the effort to try to rectify them. Which is the least I'd expect from such a brilliant footballer, and club captain no less.

He's having a poor season. Absolutely nothing wrong in pointing that out. People need to accept that certain supporters don't give a flying f*** if it hurts them that we're criticising their most loved and favourite players. No arguments there at all. He's not put in the near 10/10 displays he managed last season, and he still struggles with the same type of forward. But I find it ridiculous to question his commitment during a game like yesterday. Of course, when someone who is normally on top of his game makes a mistake, it gets highlighted more because it is not expected. I just don't think his temperament or his commitment can be questioned when you see what he's done for the rest of the game.

Is Fletcher back for them tonight?

Excellent little performance last night from this guy. His passing and movement is so crisp, sharp and done with a certain level of "know-how". His technique is a cut above. Good to see that he also has the heart to match.

Whatever it is, the manager should make a decision and stick to it. The indecision isn't clever, and the in-game dicking about with formations isn't a deliberate plan of attack. It's part of the indecision. Cisse is a center forward. Full stop. Either play him there, or keep him on the bench. If Obertan had been fit, I wouldn't mind going back to the way we played first half of last season with him on the right, HBA behind Ba. Would definitely work better than the shambles we're witnessing now.

To be fair to Simpson, even the good ones he put in led to nothing due to our abysmal movement. It's a bit more than that imo. We never hit a cross at full sprint. We never cross the ball, either in the air or along the deck (between the goalie and the penalty spot) with our players moving forward at pace. If we did we'd have the oppo defenders facing their goal, trying to track our runs and we'd be creating some indecsion in their backline. That's exactly the situation in which players like Cisse will thrive. Instead we stop or slow down, our forwards have to check and their defenders get to turn and face us and then just pick our crosses off. Spot on. Ironically it was Cisse who put in our most dangerous cross when he played it early to Ba after Schwarzer had fluffed his clearance. That's the difference between a real footballer and Danny Simpson. Schwarzer made the catch at the time, but it was crossed early, at pace, and into a dangerous area. 5 or 6 of these a game, and our strikers should fill their boots.

Love how some people just creep out of the wood work when certain players have a bad game. Coloccini was partly at fault for the first goal. Imo he shouldn't have gone to ground. He risked giving away a penalty. Great tackle no doubt it was, but facing the way he did he always risked putting it back into a dangerous area. But then there are 3 other defenders, and 2 midfielders who should have been back there somewhere by then. 100% at fault not marking Rodallega for the second. All started when Simpson remembered he's shagging Tulla for a moment, dallied on the ball and gave it away in our own half. Soon after, Tiote gave away the stupid foul, and they scored. Other than that, Coloccini was flawless. The effort he put into trying to drag us out of the mire was incredible. Had two brilliant attempts at goal, and if his second had gone in, we'd have been sitting here talking about goal of the season. Coming on here to have a dig at the skipper, who DID make mistakes, but in context it was the team overall that let us down....have a word man.

This spell has brought back those horrible memories of the Souness era where we had some excellent footballers turned cloggers. Souness had no influence on the way we played football as a team, and no impact on matches. He really had no gameplan, by his own admission. Pardew is exactly the same. He rode the wave of some individual brilliance last season, and I reckon he couldn't believe his luck. I don't doubt that he's a good man manager, and that he has something about him when it comes to managing the CLUB overall. He's just a clueless football manager. He would make a good GM, but he's not a "football man". There is absolutely nothing in his PR, his press, his interviews that shows he's that much of a "football man". He is ineloquent, and speaks in vague generalizations. Unless he plays stupid on purpose, I don't really feel confident when I hear him speak or read his quotes. We should have won last night. I don't know why, it's been really hard taking this defeat specifically. Before Monday I had mostly dismissed the bad run as just a bad run. Last night something changed. The fact that he did not bring Marveaux on for Ben Arfa spoke volumes for the way he sees the game in context of its particular situation. That substitution was a massive massive telling sign.

I reckon a 14th place finish is on the cards. Survival, sure. Pitiful and pathetic all the same.

We played right into Hangeland's (head). Time and time again. When we did play the ball on the deck in those dangerous positions, we could have got somewhere. Shame 99% of the time we passed it out wide to Simpson whose cross was cut out by Hangeland. Time and time again.

For some reason I am absolutely livid at losing this game more than any other game this season. I think when Ben Arfa scored, and we had that dominant spell, I genuinely thought we could go on to win it. Fucking distraught to be honest.

First time this season that I have felt a shiver down my spine from the fear of even the remotest possibility that we'll fuck it all up big style. We need reinforcements in January, and we need to start winning games before then to make sure that nightmare scenario isn't even a possibility come April.