Jayson

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

8

So far thats 7 long balls in a row ive counted and we've lost 7 of them

Why is Jonas barely getting the ball. Hes up against Glen johnson. All on our right hand side

Awful passes from Raylor & Jonas there. Basic stuff.

Guti man, we had 2 free in the middle

Just makes little sense. Best has been losing the ball in the last few games, long ball wasnt working. He doesnt provide anything aerially in our box when we defend so unless hes more on form going fowards he has nothing over HBA.

Pards quotes dont necessarily suggest he'll bench HBA, thats just how theyve taken it. Hes just said hes not at his best yet. On the recent performances of both players theres no reason to start Best again

Just look at the relative improvement of both clubs since he left and joined them, that should be more than enough without needing to boo the guy. Hes was a great player for us & i understand why he left, they were spending big, offering bigger contracts & looking like they might fight a bit more with the bigger clubs. Which just makes the current situation even more amusing.

Yep

What team wouldnt be relatively fucked if you took their main striker out of the side? We potentially have better back up than many in Ben Arfa & Best tbh Arsenal have Chamakh.

Why were we apparently going to buy Maiga then? Combination of the amount of work put in, 6 million not being a huge fee, his desperation to join & play for us making it easier for us to potentially bench him in future? Who knows. Seems dodgy that they supposedly had other specialists instantly do tests following ours & they confirmed him to be fine.

15 days ago Maiga had a medical with us, 12 days ago it was announced that the transfer was off because of a failed medical. Best was the non-scoring portion of the partnership that got us to 3rd. As i said, given Ba's form i doubt Maiga became the priority he once was. I also doubt the severity of any issues he has. Best is the reason for much of Ba's earlier form. He either directly or indirectly assisted many of his goals. Either way, i imagine theyll see him as a solid bench option at the least. Scoring goals has not been our issue.

The one that has gone from us wanting a forward 12 days ago to not wanting one now because Ba is now proven in the league and we don't want to waste money on a player who will fight Ben Arfa for a place on the bench. I doubt that decision was taken 12 days ago myself. Outside of that, there really isnt much of a solid argument for spending lots on a striker at this point. Scoring goals has not been our issue this season & Ben Arfa hasnt even been given a go yet. Outside of that Best was part of a partnership that got us up to 3rd regardless of current form. I dont see them seeing this as the place they need to spend & i dont much blame them.

Excellent, our transfer policy is decided on knee-jerk reactions, I feel so much better knowing that. Whats the knee jerk reaction ?

They view Ben Arfa as a striker, seems fairly obvious at this point

Hes proven himself further in the prem, in a seperate team, shown his knees not been an issue & that hes a consistant top striker. We're never going to sign another striker on the basis that Ba's gone for a few weeks. They wont see any point in spending lots of money on a new striker that will just fight Ben Arfa for the bench.

What room does do we have for another top striker? He doesnt want Ben Arfa on the wing & Ba is playing quality. Theyve simply changed their minds over needing one. Ba's form is whats done it. If we sign a striker, itll be someone whos willing to sit on the bench.

Cross for Ba v stoke, Freekick at Norwich, then at Bolton.

All his goals were assisted, theyre just spread about our team. Best/Obertan/Cabaye all have 3.

It was Simpson not Ben Arfa who dropped off. Ben Arfa was further back behind ba & he played it directly into the path Ba made his run into. Theres nothing to criticize about it if it works, fair enough if it doesnt. No chance you can call it bad wingplay.

Played a great ball through which led to Ba having a shot (absent) dont remember that. anyway my point was that given that against liverpool we are unlikely to see much possession the presence of someone who can win balls in the air (which neither ba or ben arfa are brilliant at) may be more useful. How does that work? Do you get 2 minutes possession for every header you strikers win? Alternatively, we could also try and play some proper football on the deck and keep possession that way. Who knows, it may even lead to some attacking football.. no, but when the ball is cleared upfield away from our box, which happens a gazillion times when ever we play a top 6 side, it means we aren't just automatically giving the ball back to the opposition centrebacks while we stay camped in our own half. personally once shola came on against chelsea i thought we were much better, because we had someone who could win headers and hold up possession, which is important when you are not as technically good as the other side. Maybe Hatem will start on friday and maybe it will be the right decision, however if he doesn't we shouldn't go ballistic, because unless we have the ability to keep the ball for a significant time at anfield, which our last 6 games suggest we dont, Ben Arfa's contributions will be limited. I don't see why we couldn't have the ball for a significant time at Anfield. Their midfield is not much better than ours, hell their entire team is not much better than ours.. We need to just be positive and play to our own strengths. They're not Barcelona ffs.. However, saying that, we seem to have adopted our "tactics" to much poorer opposition recently, so I'm afraid Pardew is going to go along with your line of thinking.. I just can't see Best or Shola getting much joy against their centre backs however, and even if they do win the occasional header, there is no telling where it will go.. The mood this forum goes through week by week is unbelieveable. for the last month up until approximately 4:24 we have apparently been playing like a team that has 'forgotten to play football' yet now we've got the ability to outperform liverpool at anfield. If we are going to try and out pass liverpool then fine, start Ben Arfa, but we didn't pass the ball around well against Man U or Chelsea so i'm not getting my hopes up. Liverpools main weakness is in their finishing. their overall performances in most games have been pretty good. For the last 3 games, Best/ba havent scored in open play when on the same pitch together. I dont quite understand how Pool having more possession justifies starting them again to win things in the air? If anything the more the other team has the ball, the more lethal you need to be when you actually get chances. Best/Ba did not break down Swansea, West Brom & Bolton, but you think thats the way to go against Pool as theyll be harder to play? Dont follow really.

:lol:

They seem doubtful of Gerrard starting on pool forums. I reckon Bellamy will make his comeback, hasnt started much recently. Been one of their better players to.

It take him back at say, 7m.