Lush Vlad

We won’t get much Wednesday. Then the two games against Brentford and Leicester are massive. I don’t think he is under much pressure from above or match going fans just yet. But the second half against West Ham followed up by that isn’t really acceptable. Not like the bad, toothless performances have been rare this season, either. I hope we can turn it around. But an injury to Isak in a team already lacking goals and creativity means I have my doubts.

Yeah. What a ridiculously reductive view. If we drew in an even game and there was a response from Monday. The reaction would be totally different. As it is. We’ve scored from one shot all game, none on target and we were atrocious for pretty much the whole game. I wonder why people are fucked off. It’s not like a one off after loads of impressive, high scoring performances is it?

Like I said first half. As a response to Monday. That is fucking rancid.

Deserved fuck all. Shit from Joelinton and Pope. 0 for them -1 for us would have been fair.

Some set piece trickery. You love to see it.

Competitive field. But that is the worst half I’ve seen from us this season. Not had a shot and some of the usual slack defending. The worry to me is that in a lot of games this season. The players don’t seem like themselves. Not playing with energy and aggression. I’m not suggesting Howe’s lost the dressing room. But something is amiss. Just looks a bit flat and stale. Which is half expected after the last two transfer windows.

The stop/start nature hasn’t helped things. But as a response to Monday. This is horrendous so far. Tonali and Hall (as usual) the only positives.

Yep. Much better in the build up. Same old shit when we get near their box. Absolutely clueless.

Well the good news is it can’t get much worse.

Lovely play from back to front a while back for that Barnes cross/cutback. Hall and Tonali setting it off. More of that. Less passing straight to their back 3 please

Half the team are fucked here what a shambles.

The Isak/Wilson boom/bust cycle continues only one can be fully fit at the same time.

Targeting Isak then. That’s the second heavy challenge on him. Gordon been so wasteful again.

Surely Fulham fans?

I think it is because it’s been mentioned before about him leaving Chelsea because he was homesick. Might have a different outlook nowadays, of course.

Would have taken a draw if we beat West Ham. But we need a win now. Woke up feeling more positive about the game today. I think we’ll make a few necessary tweaks/changes and we’ll win. I’m not saying it is what I’d like to see him do. But with Liverpool coming up and after Howe’s comments about protecting Joelinton due to him being on 4 yellows. I wonder if he might start this one on the bench?

Plenty of players are back playing 9-12 months after an ACL, no? Mings seems an odd example. He took a long time to return. Wasn’t even back in matchday squads a full year after doing it. Whether Botman will be anywhere near his best is another matter. Some players seem to come back ok. Some take a while to get back to it. VVD, for example. Hard to tell when we have no idea what stage he is at with his training or how his recovery has gone. Has all sounded pretty positive so far.

The fact Miley played probably means Willock and Bruno are in the squad tomorrow then.

Because seemingly. Our midfield somehow revolves around Longstaff being really good out of possession. Tonali can’t do that as well or isn’t doing it as well, currently. Albeit a small sample size and he came out the side before we switched back to the Big Joe/Little Joe combo. We’ve hardly been dominant in the midfield all season with or without him. First hour against Brighton he was very good and so was the midfield, from memory. Forest away with Longstaff. Can’t think of many others.

Feel like Southampton have been robbed of 2 points there. The league showing yet again that nobody bar Liverpool seem to be anything close to consistent.

Weirdly. I think the lino put his flag up late. Hence Brighton fans cheering. More concerning than the, in my opinion, dodgy reason for disallowing the goal. Was the fact they took at least 4 minutes to confirm Archer was onside. How in the fuck is it taking that long?!

I get they are going by letter of the law and that Armstrong made a play for the ball. But fucking hell. He sort of wafted his heel at a ball neither he nor the defender were getting to. The defender is going to try and cut that cross out regardless and it’s not like Armstrong was pushing him or stopping him from playing the ball. More worrying that they took 4-5 minutes to get to that point. Just a farce all round. Looks like a massive grey area and perhaps a marginal call for Armstrong’s involvement.

Took them 5 minutes FFS. What the fuck were they doing? Is he onside or behind/inline with the ball? Yes or no. Did Armstrong make a move for the ball? Yes or no? I can’t stand this shite.

How has that offside decision taken so long and then to not give it. What an absolute farce.

The key is in your last paragraph. Like fuck could he do a job as a 10 in this league. Even if he did look lively playing behind Rondon with Perez. I might be wrong, but didn’t he play more as a second striker type for Atlanta? Can’t see him in a more technical role as a 10. His assist numbers are diabolical (12 in 216) playing in a front 3 where he can drift infield. His passing, vision, quickness of thought, touch. All massively lacking. Bit of a moot point. As it seems like Howe no longer fancies him in the side and the club have been trying to peddle him for a while.