Hanshithispantz Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Some of those 'big pluses' being like one of the best strikers of the PL era, arguably one of the best DMs of all time in any league, Raheem Sterling who's now scored like 15 goals so far this season from the wing, and one of the best ball playing midfielders in Premiership history. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howaythetoon Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Love Rafa me Just have a nap, and regroup, man. Need more than that, need time out. Sorry for calling you a knob man, easily one of the posters I respect most on here. Just thought we would show more today and needed to as well. Unless we can get some really top players in in Jan I fear it’s all too late even with a takeover. p*ssed off with Rafa, but it is what it is and we go again with Stoke up next. I called you.a.knob too sorry as well..I have a lot of time for you, as you are normally very sound, and a fantastic source for football knowledge. I can understand your anger. Just hate to see people see red over this s***. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ElCid Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Didn't think we'd see the point at which people would genuinely prefer us to sign nobody at all than take desperate punts on cheap players that haven't worked out. Didn't think we'd see the point at which people would genuinely prefer us to sign nobody at all than take desperate punts on cheap players that haven't worked out. Didn't think we'd see the point at which people would genuinely prefer us to sign nobody at all than take desperate punts on cheap players that haven't worked out. If you buy shit you get shit nothing will ever change that. You don’t take chances on players that have not done anything there entire career and are currently 4th choice at another premier league club. But the most glaring thing is that shit he has just bought then proceeds to get more game time than just about any other player that I find staggering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinport53 Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Some of those 'big pluses' being like one of the best strikers of the PL era, arguably one of the best DMs of all time in any league, Raheem Sterling who's now scored like 15 goals so far this season from the wing, and one of the best ball playing midfielders in Premiership history. bUt HE waNtEd JOseLu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howaythetoon Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Right I’ve calmed down, just about anyway. I’m still with Rafa and know only too well what he’s working with, but he isn’t blameless in where we are at right now in the table and especially performance and form wise. Obviously Ashley is the main culprit, but Rafa need to sort this out quick because he’s making as many errors as the players are for me. This takeover obviously cannot come soon enough. I still dislike the way we play under Rafa though and his tactics, but that wouldn’t even be an issue if we were winning or performing well as a team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 If we can end up with a midfield of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano with 2008 era Fernando Torres up front then he spend whatever the fuck he likes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Didn't think we'd see the point at which people would genuinely prefer us to sign nobody at all than take desperate punts on cheap players that haven't worked out. Didn't think we'd see the point at which people would genuinely prefer us to sign nobody at all than take desperate punts on cheap players that haven't worked out. Didn't think we'd see the point at which people would genuinely prefer us to sign nobody at all than take desperate punts on cheap players that haven't worked out. If you buy s*** you get s*** nothing will ever change that. You don’t take chances on players that have not done anything there entire career and are currently 4th choice at another premier league club. But the most glaring thing is that s*** he has just bought then proceeds to get more game time than just about any other player that I find staggering. So we shouldn't have signed anyone at all? "We have what we have because we did what we did" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemtizz Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Some of those 'big pluses' being like one of the best strikers of the PL era, arguably one of the best DMs of all time in any league, Raheem Sterling who's now scored like 15 goals so far this season from the wing, and one of the best ball playing midfielders in Premiership history. bUt HE waNtEd JOseLu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 The squad is what it is. Hoofing the ball up to Joselu and seeing him lose out time and time again against a big side with questionable mobility is all about set up and ambition within the match. Joselu should have been off at half time and Shelvey should have had at least 30 minutes. We needed to get in behind them and break their shape. Defensively they’ll not have had an issue easier away game all season. Joselu isn’t fit to wear the shirt and is a nailed on starter every week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBingo Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Question for the Rafa haters.......given our spend in the Summer, and the 'quality' of our squad, where did you expect us to finish in the league this season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 I'm a fan of his and always will be but I found it surprising that, with 10 minutes to go and with us desperate for a goal to nick the game 1-0 he took off the one striker who he's showed more faith in than any of the others (and tbf he was doing ok) and replaced him with a winger who has never scored a PL goal. Aside from that what an absolutely utterly dreadful performance. Nothing at all there to be optimistic about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordiedean Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Right I’ve calmed down, just about anyway. I’m still with Rafa and know only too well what he’s working with, but he isn’t blameless in where we are at right now in the table and especially performance and form wise. Obviously Ashley is the main culprit, but Rafa need to sort this out quick because he’s making as many errors as the players are for me. This takeover obviously cannot come soon enough. I still dislike the way we play under Rafa though and his tactics, but that wouldn’t even be an issue if we were winning or performing well as a team. Its not about the performances if dull performances are getting results then you have stumbled upon a working system. Take George Grahams Arsenal for example. My absolute main grief with Rafa's pragmatic and negative approach which is why i'm blaming him and questioning his decisions is the fact that we aren't even trying to compete in these games. Any kind of team sport you have to at least compete to stand a chance of winning, Today and Wednesday was just unacceptable and its as if weve forfeited the chance of even competing or winning before kickoff and our main aim is to stifle our way to a damage limitation or a draw. The tactics he is employing gives us very very little chance of scoring goals. how many games at home have we actually scored in 4 or 5?? Home form is what gives a very poor team a chance of survival without it we are sunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 From Sewelly a few months back: In his first season at Napoli Rafa signed Higuain, Albiol, Mertens, Callejon, Ghoulam, Jorginho and Reina for around £65 million. The market has been inflated since 2013, and obviously they could offer CL football, but it shows what you can get for that kind of money. We need to focus on markets not just in the UK but across Europe. With buy-out clauses, expiring contracts etc, you can certainly do a lot with £70 million+ even in today's market. Not to mention some loans to pad out the squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chopey Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 The one thing I will never defend Rafa for is his subs he seems to have them planned before the game starts and then makes them at pre determined times no matter how the game is going Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 I’m behind him 100%, and he has got it spot on recently (West Ham and Man City). However he got it massively wrong today, even 2 out of 3 of his subs today were ineffective, and the positive one was far too late. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordiedean Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Question for the Rafa haters.......given our spend in the Summer, and the 'quality' of our squad, where did you expect us to finish in the league this season? I did expect us to be around the bottom 6 granted but its the nature of the tactics and performances that is the main gripe and dislike of the situation. Wagner and Hughton at least have a go at teams. Its as if we are shit scared of the teams in this division Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Did you see how Brighton set up today? Like fuck is Hughton "having a go" at teams this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ElCid Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Right I’ve calmed down, just about anyway. I’m still with Rafa and know only too well what he’s working with, but he isn’t blameless in where we are at right now in the table and especially performance and form wise. Obviously Ashley is the main culprit, but Rafa need to sort this out quick because he’s making as many errors as the players are for me. This takeover obviously cannot come soon enough. I still dislike the way we play under Rafa though and his tactics, but that wouldn’t even be an issue if we were winning or performing well as a team. Ashley is by far and away the main culprit and no one can argue with that but the manager is not blameless this season either. Some of the signings, tactics and team selections have been woeful. 6 points out of 33 and 1 home point out of 18 with many winnable games amongst them is not good enough. We will see what happens in January but if something special doesn’t happen very quickly then this club will go down with a whimper like a puppy with a smacked arse and may well not recover for a lot of years. Got to hope this takeover is happening cos we’re fucked otherwise personally I don’t think it will. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Apart from the Gayle chance, I didn't see much in either team having a go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huss9 Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 havent read the past 15 pages or so but it must have been mentioned. rafa needs to come out and explain why he is persisting with a 442 when a 4231 was getting results. he may have tried it initially to keep those that wanted more attacking football happy. but when it was clear it wasnt working - why hasnt he reverted to our initial formation. we dont have enough quality in a midfield duo to dominate even the lower haf teams. we need a 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-421 Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 In all honesty, I think Lascelles injury showed just how much of a key player he is for us. That is borne out by the run and goals conceded without him, to that since his return. Unfortunately, the team nosedived in that period without him and the confidence is now shot. That is the key. I'm definitely not a Rafa hater, but with our squad at the start of the season, I'd hoped for a mid-lower mid table finish - staying up, with a view to the big TV budget next summer. However, I think our fairly decent start made people think we were better than we were. But we were probably really just a Lascelles injury away from bother. And again that comes down to the squad Rafa was able/allowed to assemble. Hopefully, we can bring some players in, which may give the squad a lift, and a takeover can be finalised this month, and everyone can get a lift, and we can push on to a safe position by the end of the season. Would I take a 17th place finish right now? Probably! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinoasprilla Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 no one hates rafa. People like myself ate just frustrated with his negative tactics. Treatment of some players and i honestly think he has wasted a significant amount of the small bugets he has had to answer your question i thought we would struggle but would at least go down fighting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 havent read the past 15 pages or so but it must have been mentioned. rafa needs to come out and explain why he is persisting with a 442 when a 4231 was getting results. he may have tried it initially to keep those that wanted more attacking football happy. but when it was clear it wasnt working - why hasnt he reverted to our initial formation. we dont have enough quality in a midfield duo to dominate even the lower haf teams. we need a 3. Trying to get goals from Gayle maybe? He's usually invisible when he plays as a lone striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Probably a question that would be better asked in the match thread but I dread to think how that is looking right now. : Was it actually his tactics today? I was only able to tune my TV from the 15th minute to half time. Rather than it being a game plan to sit back. One second a player under pressure would hoof it to no one, the next they'd try and play it on the deck and it was a wayward short pass that got intercepted. The next they'd try and dance their way out of trouble and run into the opposition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huss9 Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 havent read the past 15 pages or so but it must have been mentioned. rafa needs to come out and explain why he is persisting with a 442 when a 4231 was getting results. he may have tried it initially to keep those that wanted more attacking football happy. but when it was clear it wasnt working - why hasnt he reverted to our initial formation. we dont have enough quality in a midfield duo to dominate even the lower haf teams. we need a 3. Trying to get goals from Gayle maybe? He's usually invisible when he plays as a lone striker. but its not working. it was worth a go initially but we have to go back to what worked best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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