Mistle17

So they brought Capoue on tonight and he scored. Must have been a class hit to score from his own half. He makes some very good points, I must say. However, nowadays due to the lack of contact in the game 'holding' midfielders are required to have high standard of distribution and provide a 'screen' in front of the back four by having the intelligence to intercept passes- players like Karl Henry (v.flippant example) are redundant at the top level because they can't pass forward and don't have the intelligence, only physical capabilities. If I was a manager I would prefer a playmaker who sits deep- in the mould of Pirlo. But, then again, with the increased involvement of full backs in the attacking phase, sometimes a holding midfielder (or two) is necessary to secure against counter attacks. I do think that in Man City's system Ferdinand's said way of playing a midfield pairing is spot on

Yep, especially those twits that sing his name about a week later. As Wullie said, we'll never win another derby with this cunt in charge. Fuck him.

You can fucking guarantee it's going to be a complete defeatist attitude all week at the training ground, too.

I love him. I think he's overrated on here but he's our best player by a distance now and has been criminally used by Pardew since September. We share the same opinon then. I absolutely adore him, but for a few years now, I can clearly see all his flaws and I sadly think he'll never fulfil his potential. Because he's in the totally wrong environment.

I don't think I'll ever recover if we lose this. Last years still haunts me regularly...

Shola's absolutely finished, man.

Absolute genius this chap, such an immensely gifted player. If there is any silver lining to the sale of Cabaye it is that he SHOULD feature more. However, the fact that it takes us to be on the bones of our ass in terms of attacking options- following the sale of our star player- for Hatem to start just says it all about our manager.

Bastard

Chuck in an extra player and you've got a good shout

What's the tune to this one like? And that Remy one is hilarious!

It's become a narrative though, once it gets said on match of the day, You'll find people just take it as read and repeat it as fact. Very annoying Very true. If these pundits knew a thing or two, they could highlight his incredible goals and his match winning ability- before questioning the lunacy of his lack of involvement- which would see a bit more public appreciation for the guy. But, instead, 'oh no, you can't play him there because he just won't work back....Ben Arfa's a liability against the bigger teams' etc etc.

Imagine this cunt in the Championship, his head would explode with 46 games a season/2 matches a week Can't even imagine his treatment of the cup comps!

Should Marveaux play and not make an impact then I expect in typical Pardew fashion that he will be dropped with the justification that he 'didn't take his chance', much like his treatment of Ben Arfa. It's laughable that you can play players out of position following a very long absence from first team football and expect them to set the world alight. But we shouldn't have to worry about that, Obertan to start....

Out for the derby, again. Fantastic.

If we're insistent on sticking with a 4-4-2, then play him up front with Remy- but as a false 9. Whenever we have tried the F9 tactic it has been in an incredibly disjointed, misunderstood 4-3-3 that has seen us eliminate any attacking threat of our own. At least this way we can still incorporate Remy in the team to stretch defences with Hatem dropping inbetween the lines- service from a midfield partnership of Cabaye and Anita would only enhance this. (Good) formations/systems are so flexible nowadays that it would mirror a 4-2-3-1 when attacking. Please. Alan. Just give him that #10 role.

He's not playing in the right country. With a player of his talent and all we can shite on about is his fucking work rate.

We're at home, playing players like Anita and Ben Arfa are a necessity.

Would love Boro or Leeds away. Will get some dead awkward tie like Everton or Burnley away.

8 points, man

He's such a beautiful human.

Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

I agree with your point, although now really is not the time to be worried about them. If we want to win then we have to play our strongest team- they're defensively vulnerable, look how many they conceded to teams like Cardiff, West Brom etc. I also don't think that Williamson is near as prolific in the air as people make him out to be. Mapou would be better choice imo, certainly to deal with the potential threat of Hernandez.

Less of a need to play Tiote with Rooney and RVP out. Would go 4-4-1-1, Anita for Tiote and Hatem for Shola- two big CB's who will win those long balls all day, and a lax midfield who will allow space for Ben Arfa in key areas. Will not happen, though. Reserved performance, 2-0 loss. Never ever a better time to play these wankers. Man, I would do anything to turn them over on their own patch- we have to one day!!

Play a high line, especially with Williamson, and we'll be in trouble. Thankfully we won't have to face Lukaku this year as well. Would prefer to see Anita instead of Tiote, but don't think that Pardew will make any changes, which is understandable.

Here's an idea, stop placing so much defensive responsibility on him. Don't know why we insist on it, just have him drop off the front man and look to initiate counter attacks.