AVTuco

Thank you very much for your kind words. Sure you can, although I think I'm quite handsome really.

There are quite contradicting views on here regarding our full backs. Last year I undersood the stick Bennet got, but now I really don't. Full backs are not our problem, and yet some here want to change/drop them. Also, Lambert seems to want his full backs to take active part in attacking. Therefore, when assessing the quality of our full back's play, putting more weigh on their play forward is warranted.

Yeah, me too. Only one poster here, but others in match threads.

Ok, thanks for the discussion Isa. Let's come back to it after the soton game.

Very unfortunate there are "fans" like that out there.

Eight times. Do you do this to all our players, or just Luna?

Luna being here is also good for Bennet since he can work on some basic things while Luna carries the torch. Bennet's time is next season and onwards.

I did watch it, thank you. You're right in that I based my opinion on the fact that Bacuna hasn't played there since, not on how he played. I think you're making Luna look worse defensively than he really is. He is sometimes out of position because he tries to get things done going forward, but he's quite good at recovering too. And he doesn't make silly mistakes like some of our other defensemen. I think Luna's mishaps overall have not been dangerous, I don't remember him being directly at fault of any of our conceded goals. I get your point of wanting a more defensive minded and defensively reliable full back, but I don't feel Luna is a liability back there.

Ok, so which joker bumped this thread?

So Luna out and Lowton in with Bacuna playing on the wrong side. And your goal is to be better defensively? No thanks. I don't recall Bacuna playing so well on that side. Anyway, for some reason that experiment did not last long. Lowton in and maybe KEA out, that I could try.

Luna has looked just as bad defensively so no idea why you had made up your mind he is so much better already. Not sure you remember the Joe that played last season? My post earlier was incomplete in that I think Joe has something in him. I don't think he's rubbish. He needs confidence and strength, and he could be a good player. I merely think Luna is overshadowing him for the moment.

But we have progressed with him holding in midfield though. We'll never progress [to anything vaguely acceptable] with somebody like him holding midfield. 'This' is acceptable for most on here though it would seem. I don't think 'this' is acceptable longer term, but it suffices now. Most of us probably either expect him to improve quite a bit, or Lambert to bring in someone new when the finances allow for it. If your expectation now is very high, you'll always be disappointed after games.

Not sure if I agree he's been our best player all season, but I'm happy to read he is respected. Fair play HeyAnty. Who u think is our best player is thus far, it has to be a defender with the clean sheets we are keeping surely? Like Stefan said, Vlaar has been a rock. Ciaran has been one of our best players, that I would agree with.

Although I would like to see this tried soon, I'm not sure KEA deserves to be benched now. And Benteke is a difficult one. Something needs to be done to get him going, but do you bench him because he can't be arsed, or do you show faith in him through a bad streak of games? I suspect Lambert thinks that by taking Benteke off yesterday he showed Christian he is not playing well enough. But sticks with him.

I mean it's safe to say it's the norm for him. The reason I like Luna is mostly his contribution going forward. And that is because our midfield is what it is. So we need something else. Luna gives us width, which we lack desperately. He won't be dropped. Apart from me thinking there's no reason to, it seems like Lambert likes him quite a bit, since he brought him back to the line up as soon as Luna was fit enough to play. Also, our only other natural LB Bennet is injured, so dropping Luna would mean Baker gets back moving Clark to LB. Do you think that's better? I don't, and clearly neither does Lambert.

No.

Unnoticeable in a good way today.

Not sure if I agree he's been our best player all season, but I'm happy to read he is respected. Fair play HeyAnty.

I don't think so. As usual, he was better going forward, especially during the first 20 minutes when we had our moments.

I thought Andi was quite good actually, on an attack that got nothing going he wasn't the worst. During the opening 20 minutes he was one of the most active out there, together with Luna. Andi would benefit greatly from an on-form Benteke.

Glad to see Antonio back and playing well. Probably got tired on second half since he faded away a bit.

I'm a fan of Ciaran, but I have to admit he hasn't been quite as good after his illness (that kept him out for one game) as he was before it. He has still been good enough, and clearly better than Baker.

Rotterdam, I think you chose a bad day to bash Gabby and Andi, who were two of the few better performers today. Getting rid of Gabby and Andi would not make Benteke any better, they have to find a way to get back into form together. They need each other. I also don't believe we should drop Benteke just yet, since he is obviously heavily short of confidence. When he shot over that first chance he had, his eyes didn't have that killer look they should. He wasn't expecting to score. This has to change somehow. It's purely mental now.

Gabby and Andi tried, Gabby was better. Westwood was alright aswell, especially in the first half. Luna dropped out of the picture totally in the second half, he probably got tired. Benteke was so bad I can't believe it. Ok result since we were closer to losing than winning. Ofcourse, we should've won, Sunderland is pure rubbish. We cannot create or score.

We're winning possession 52-48!