jasonperry_uk

Too much space between our defence and midfield really, which allowed them the opportunity to put those crosses in without enough pressure being put on them (particularly for goals 2 and 3). Traore wasn't tracking back (typical really, but the second half really highlighted that) and so McNeill had all the time in the world because Cash was caught between wanting to tackle and covering the space behind him - it really needs 2 players to defend these situations properly. We have to get better at 'fighting' and pressing against physical teams like Burnley.

Largely agree, but I would like to see how El Ghazi reacts to some serious competition for his place - that and whether he can stop being such a coward when it comes to physical challenges - but I do think there is some quality in there worth keeping. Would be good for Davies to go on loan and see if he can start scoring - perhaps with a recall in Jan?

When you're looking to consolidate in the Prem, you need players like Conor who can create goals from set pieces etc. His delivery is up there with some of the best in the league, and often it's the lack of a clinical finisher that's the problem rather than Conor's input. Yes, he can be anonymous at times, but he's well worth having on the pitch/bench in order to make things happen some times. I'd love us to strengthen the midfield, but I'd also want to keep Conor because he does create a lot more chances than people give him credit for.

Playing Drinkwater, who has played 2 games all season, was always going to be harsh on him - how on earth could he be even remotely match-ready, made 1000% worse by the fact that he's supposed to come in against Man City and do a good job? Utterly bizarre from Dean, that one...

This is all about the midfield - oceans of space for the opposition. No ballwinners. No one (apart from Jack) able to pass to a team mate. The defence are trying to react as best as they can, but they're just completely overrun. Hourihane, Drinkwater and Luiz are effectively not even on the pitch - totally anonymous.

Was about to reply with this too - I've heard several times that Drinkwater should be taking his name more literally! He's gone from being a league winner to a washed-up drunkard by all accounts.

I think Wesley's main 2 issues are: 1) His attacking positioning is atrocious. He is never in the right place when we put it into the box, and so he creates no goal threat at all. Additionally, it seems like a long time since he last made a great off-the ball run like the one that got him in position for that goal against Everton. 2) His shot power seems awfully weak. Whenever he lines up a shot, it seems to end up as a pea-roller which the goalkeeper easily scoops up (I remember Brugge fans suggested this to us when we signed him, but it doesn't appear to have been developed/worked on since he arrived) This means that he has to rely on being very close to goal for a cheeky tap-in, like against Arsenal and Norwich, but that relies upon positioning, and returns us to point 1 He really needs a break from first team action, and someone to genuinely improve his game in training / matches by providing serious competition for his shirt. I think he could be great, but it's just not happening and that 'could' seems a long way off at the moment.

Konsa's positioning has worried me in the last few games - he seems to be behind the goal scorer each time, often with his hand held up incorrectly for offside - but I can see he's definitely got lots of potential. I hope this run in the team can really help him improve, but he needs to cut out the Championship-level marking as soon as possible.

I could be wrong, but I think Yerry Mina has been seen as quite injury prone at Everton. Sure I head an interview on Talksport where they were saying he hardly spends any time on the pitch, particularly in a really physically demanding league like ours.

I'd have him back and consider putting him further out wide in a front 3. I think he has the right work rate, and he's fairly tricky on the ball so could do a good job cutting in, setting up etc. I seem to remember him saying when he first arrived that he didn't see himself as a central striker (I could have made that up though).

"his apparent inability to tweak formations or tactics during matches. Whenever a rival manager re-configured his system mid-game, Bruce invariably failed to come up with a countermeasure." "That represents an unsettling "churn" factor and hardly proved conducive to developing either a clear playing philosophy or strong team spirit." "style lacked creativity, not to mention control, in central midfield. Unable to dictate play, the team frequently failed to press home early advantages." Great link! The above quotes are scarily relevant to us and have been since he took over. He is a dinosaur, and it's extremely worrying that we don't utilise our players' strengths, players which he has bought but cannot build a proper system around - why does he constantly shackle them with the hoof ball tactics?

He's got the best footballing brain of any attacking players that we have (including midfielders). His lack of pace means that he needs to be in a pair, and needs pace around him, but he can bring others into the game and set attacks going. The problem with this is you need a very specific group of players around him to make everything work, and I don't think we have those at the moment - most of our attackers like to dribble with their heads down, where McCormack's syle suits fast, direct players. I think McCormack and Kodjia could be a great partnership, but without 'proper' wingers and a center midfielder who can actually make a pass reach its intended target, McCormack is always going to look like a fish out of water. He isn't word class; there are reasons why he's always been in The Championship, but he has the ability to be good if you play him correctly. I don't think he's been utilised properly since he signed for us, so it's harsh to say he is rubbish and needs to be sold.

It's alright having dangerous forwards, and at this level we now have 4, but we don't have any style of play or the right type of midfielders to actually get the ball to these strikers. How any manager could look at Bacuna and Westwood and seriously consider them first team material is beyond me.

Ings being spotted by a security guard was started as a joke on twitter, and people just ran with it.

A few friends I've spoken to, who have seen a fair bit of Wells, say that he is a decent player at this level but is the kind of striker that needs 4 or 5 chances to score 1 goal - he can be very inconsistent as a goal scorer being the general point. He definitely seemed to bring a change to Huddersfield's play when he came on as a sub against us though, so...

I thought his tweet following the Luton defeat suggested that he felt too good for our team. Granted, with that match as an example it may have been true, but it bothers me that he chose to post the tweet considering the strong links to us signing him. If, and it is if, that is what he meant, it doesn't suggest to me that he has the right kind of attitude for us.

If his knees are bad enough to fail a medical, he needs to do the honourable thing and retire. From his performances last year, I wouldn't be the least surprised if his knees had completely given in on the walk from his car to the training ground. I'm aware of how ridiculous it sounds to ask Lescott to act honourably...

Are there any up-and-coming lower league strikers who keep banging them in? I'm thinking along the lines of Charlie Austin when he was at Swindon etc... We are useless with Gestede playing on his own up front and Ayew isn't even being used as a striker, which is completely baffling to me because at the moment he's our only striker!!

There's no point to playing with Hutton and Cissokho so far forward as neither can deliver any decent crosses, plus it just leaves us open to counters. And Gestede?! Where do we even start?!

If he strongly feels that he has been misunderstood/misquoted, Okore should be given the chance to make an official reply via the same method/medium that Eric Black used to make the original statement. If he is fit, there is no way that Okore should be benched in favour of Richards or Lescott - it seems as though there might be something more personal behind all of this.

I was initially hopeful that signing Lescott would be a positive thing for us. However it soon became clear that he has no ability to 'read' the game; his lack of positional awareness and poor decision making is scary considering how long he has played at this level. To compound things, his legs have well and truly 'gone'. He offers absolutely nothing positive either on the field or in the dressing room, so I would pay him what he needs and get rid as soon as possible. I think he'd struggle in League One to be honest (which we will potentially reach if we continue playing him next season). Let's hope the journalists at the Plymouth Herald are accurately informed

Reigns, although he is a decent performer, is shoved down people's throats. They're trying way too hard, and people just don't want it. Ambrose and Rollins are much better wrestlers than Reigns, and there are plenty of others on the roster that are more deserving of his spot too.

BLOODLINE on Netflix is well worth a watch. It's not got the same vibe as Breaking Bad or ...Saul, but it is a great series about a family that is plagued by murder and dirty secrets. Gets very tense at times.

Hopefully not a return for Hutton - his positioning is atrocious and our relative 'upturn' in results seems quite closely linked to Hutton's absence from the team. Long may it continue. Richards is great at full back, but useless at centre back; Garde needs to keep the defence as it is for now in my opinion.

Guzan is a clown when it comes to crosses and distribution. The players' confidence, with him behind them, has been completely shattered because they simply cannot rely on him to do the right thing. Bunn is doing really well with his chance, so let him continue.