themanupstairs

Yeah we did and it was easy to spot. Yup. It wasn't the non-descript away performance we've become used to. It was starting to take shape as well before the dickhead got himself sent off, which is a shame.

This has got to be it.

He was booked for persistent fouling. The ref was a an inconsistent cunt aye, but the shirt pull when on a yellow makes Janmaat completely at fault for throwing the match. Should be made to pay all the expenses of the traveling support tbh.

Cisse has no presence up front whatsoever. We spent more time in Swansea's half in the 10 minutes Mitrovic was on than we did the first 80 minutes. He obviously needs to calm the fuck down, but I reckon that will come with starting matches, and not sitting on the bench itching to play, then coming on charging around like Mike Tyson in a doll house.

This tbh. He's very good. Stupid from him, but he's very good. He is very good, but the decision to pull someone's shirt in their own half when on a yellow is beyond stupid. It's irresponsible and effectively betrayed his own teammates and fans. Very cuntish behavior IMO. He's clearly one of our best players, but you just cannot throw a game away like this for a fucking shirt pull. I'm fucking livid tbh. Ruined my weekend

Simply unacceptable performance or behavior. Gone from one of my favorite players to an absolute cunt. If McClaren has anything about him, Janmaat will be disciplined heavily or sold. Utter wanker.

at those who captained Rooney. He looks way off the pace, and Man Utd still haven't figured out the best way to get him chances. Avoided making a transfer this week so I can get him out of the team next with 2 FT. Made Milner my captain instead. He'll score an OG and get sent off on Monday Edit: Just realized we play them at OT next week. Rooney stays.

Newcomer of the year Get cracking on the thread. You'll enjoy it. Welcome to the board.

I was under the impression that he wanted to peg the full backs back by offering our own threat down the wings (albeit only in the form of pace in Obertan's case). His plan was clearly to try and push Southampton into their own half due to the potential speed we had on the transition. That isn't a Pardewesque mentality at all. Exactly. I'm all for calling out a cowardly bullshitter. McClaren hasn't shown any of Pardew's character as of yet when it comes to the footballing side of things. He's in cahoots with the owner, but that's one relationship we are still yet to see how it plays out.

As if the bumlick of the people's champion al pards and Crystal Palace isn't embarrassing enough. You listen to Howe and you listen to the charlatan, and there's a world of a difference, but aye. Fuck Bournemouth.

Say what?

If we get our counter formula right, we could get a result in this game IMO. Wijnaldum with Anita in the middle, Sissoko and Aarons out wide, Ayoze and Cisse in the number 10 and 9 respectively. That's what I'd like to see.

Can't complain about a home tie against a L2 side. Really hope we have a good cup run this year, just so it can feel like we're a proper football club again.

201/209 Missed out Elliott (on account of the second T), Robert and Parker

Peddling this waste of space would earn SMC a lot of slack from my side. Took him all of 5 minutes to figure out that he's a useless pardball oaf that has no place in the PL let alone a team that should be aiming for the top 7.

Probably someone off here

Wijnaldum's set-pieces were quite poor though in the main. (black - check) (forrin - check) (criticism - check)

Well they have to cater to the level of their audience.

Not quite to the same extent but yes considering how s*** Tiote is. It's more of a indictment of how this happens pretty much every time Anita is subbed than anything. I can't remember one single game when he was subbed off and the team was still in control. Anita had had far more bad games for us than he has good and other than West Ham at the end of last season (his highlight as an NUFC player) I can't really remember us controlling many games, definitely not under Carver and very rarely under Pardew as we generally played on the back foot under him. I reckon we were in control yesterday for the majority of the game. Except after his injury.

Not quite to the same extent but yes considering how s*** Tiote is. It's more of a indictment of how this happens pretty much every time Anita is subbed than anything. I can't remember one single game when he was subbed off and the team was still in control. Has Colback ever been subbed off? Maybe once if I recall. It's definitely an issue though. He is NOT the magnificent Geordie captain many make him out to be. He's a competent PL midfielder, but I don't want him in the team at the expense of someone better, or when he's off form.

This. End of, really. Also, from the stats TCD posted, Anita barely crosses the halfway line. Colback found himself in advanced positions a lot more often. How some still don't get the difference between the two when it comes to the sideways passing is beyond me. The heat maps illustrate it perfectly.

Big Sam was on BeIn over the weekend and he brought up a very interesting matter. He said that most coaches in the PL, if not all, rely tremendously on statistical analysis of players' performances in matches. He said that it was a double-edge sword in that sometimes it can be used as an excuse to drop a player if his stats weren't good enough. On the other hand, players with good stats get upset if they're dropped, and the boss has to use man-management skills to explain that it was a tactical decision etc.. Could it be that players, who are obviously aware of this, try to use it to their advantage? Making these meaningless sideways passes surely increases a player's passing accuracy? I'm not accusing Colback of doing it. He may or may not be. He certainly has shown that he's willing to fight for the cause, but maybe this over-analysis of statistics is giving some players something to hide behind.

He doesn't keep us ticking over at all IMO. He makes some great interceptions, and bursts forward into space where he has the chance to do something good. Then he fucks it all up by suddenly stopping, and giving a meaningless pointless sideways pass. Sometimes sideways passes are important for keeping possession and frustrating opponents. They are also sometimes completely cowardly when they slow down an attack that could potentially yield a goal scoring opportunity. If he's to improve, he needs to learn when to pass sideways, and when to take a chance and make a threatening pass forward. Comparing him with Anita isn't clever at all because Anita actually has the ability and speed of thought to make the one touch first-time pass to a player better positioned than him. Colback needs too many touches, and needs to improve this side of his game. The last ditch block showed high levels of fitness and concentration at the end of a match when the rest of the team was out on its arse. He single handedly prevented us from losing, and for that he earns high praise.