Tiresias

Krul Simmo Willo Colo Santo Perch Abeid HBA Vuckic Jonas Ba Cisse on for Vuckic towards end, Ba drops deep and Cisse taking his place upfront (i imagine he'll only get a debut, maybe he'll get a start, in which place Ba in the hole behind and Cisse upfront

Sessegnon has none of the pace Ben arfa has but he's a fine player.

They look good of late, players motivated as expected but got some pace in what i previously found one of the most sluggish teams in the league. Worrying.

That's too narrow, thing is though he needs close support, if he's alone he'll just waste possession, he scored goals and made assists in the last few games, always a mercurial one who will have bad games too though.

Quick give Shola a knighthood so we can strip him of it after the game

Is Pardew just Alex McLeish in disguise?

I approve really, good for the players, if they go off and get some footy elsewhere rather than sit in the reserves. If we do a good job will set us up well for the future, assuming financial fair play does anything to improve footy.

Generally it comes to, do you build formations around the players you have or the football you want to play? With the right players you can perfectly well play good football with any formation, and i think with how Ba plays, with the addition of Cisse we may see a 4-4-2 with Ba dropping back to midfield as he does but with less need to do it all himself. With HBA on wing likely to cut in and Jonas same on other I have no tactical issue with 4-4-2 as someone who wants footy played on the grass. One of the reasons we have been so lax in defence of late has been willingness to give away in possession, not in HBA way that pardew blames, i think generally he keeps the ball more than he loses it, most players would often pass back under pressure whereas he can keep move going forward. Pardew teams seem to hoof it when running out of ideas, that creates more goal chances for them, than us imo, especially with a depleted front line.

The problem with the 'ref saw it' rule is that refs seem to frequently bottle big decisions like sending off rooney, so they see it and then don't do enough and then can't be punished imo

I don't really think the failure of the FA to fairly apply the law excuses this, as frustrating as it is. The punishment is not as severe as a court of law and as such the burden of proof required to punish is lower than needing to be absolutely certain, and this seems bad, if possible accident. We're going to struggle next few games.

Gah. Deserves it really, but sadly, hopefully this will calm him down in the long run. Still can see us struggling without him.

I thought they've always been loaded, Wenger just refuses to spend? Could be an old footballing wives tale. I've always kind of assumed that it was a bluff and they don't really have that much to spend. They have a reasonable cash flow and good money from sales, but think they're run pretty tight, and without champions league footy next season whose gonna go to them? It's pretty evident their youth talent hasn't really come good apart from Wilshere.

more like a 4-2-3-1 for me, with Cisse up front and a HBA, Ba and Jonas behind, Ba being most advanced obviously. Does lack width though, fairly happy with the old 4-4-2 really, it's more about what roles Cabaye and HBA play than anything.

Could almost see him trying to do a rescue job with Arsenal, Wenger seems to sink further into despair, can't quite see him staying when they finish out of the champions league spots. Having said that can't see him joining a club, a) not in champions league and b) without that much money.

Even when Tiote was here, he still wasn't playing like he did at Lille, consistently. As soon as Pardew saw he could run around a bit and tackle, he restricted him. He's far too good a player to be fannying on trying to get tackles in all the time, good bonus but where's this ball player we were supposed to have? Where's this pass and move football we were promised in the summer? Pardew used to produce lively teams with some shoddy footballers and yet, with some of the lot he has at his disposal here, he can't even get off the ball movement going. Absolutely, Cabaye needs to be getting forward, he's a goal threat and can thread great passes, and yet he's doing an anchor man's job too often.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/28/liverpool-andy-carroll-carlos-tevez I would have liked to see the office at Man City when that offer came in :lol: :lol:

As I understood it Neymar picked Barca instead, and Real were pretty peeved, may have changed though

It's that plan b is always just lumping it up which worries me. He tries the more complex stuff, but as soon as things go wrong, just kick it to Ba. Works fine when we have Ba... He sometimes gets it spot on, but that's only if he starts the game like that, he seems incapable of changing for the better half way through so far.

SACK PARDEW GET IN MOU

I'd like to see a slightly reckless Krul Simo Willo Colo Santon Guthrie HBA Cabaye Jonas Best Ba But Ba drops back enough to make it more a 4-1-4-1, width is the problem still, but always the case with out set up. Think Cabaye gets frustrated defending too much, he's a good goal threat and should keep possession in last third with some cutting edge.

I've calmed down now, dunno why, just sort of resigned to it, oh well.

Unless it's ben arfa!

It's not the formation per se, the players there, some aren't suited at all.

the sad thing is Pardew will blame Ben Arfa for Simpson's abysmal performances.