AXD

Am I?

I'm pointing out we could potentially be going into an extremely important game without our best player. I haven't said we're nothing without him at all. But I think he's a big loss for such an important occasion.

 

On that we agree then, but I have enough faith in the rest of the squad to get a result at Wigan. even though it probably won't matter anyway

 

 

 

 

Are none of you super confident guys not at least a bit worried? Considering everything that can have gone against us has so far, surely I am not the only one feeling a little less comfortable this afternoon?

 

I was extremely worried in January.

 

Not worried now. We have faith in our own hands and will secure PL status with a win Sunday. 

 

And if we look back at our "must win games" history, we have only **** up against Newcastle. We won against QPR, Reading, Sunderland, West Ham, Norwich and Stoke. That is 6 out of 6 wins in high pressure games.

And we had one of the best strikers in Europe playing for us in those must win games.

We won't this time.

yes, it was benteke who won the game at Norwich and it was benteke who gave us the lead in the game against sunderland or stoke. oh no wait...

So does Benteke only score goals?

Do his performances and his ability not help the team or our other strikers when he's on the pitch?

 

So does Bent only score goals?

Do his performances and his ability not help the team or our other strikers when he's on the pitch?

Benteke had no part in Lowton's goal against Stoke, or in Vlaar's and Weimann's against against sunderland,...

Of course Benteke is a great player to have on the pitch, but you're making it out like we are nothing without him.

 

If Sunderland lose or draw today then we're safe. There's no way in hell they're beating Spurs away on the last day.

 

They wouldn't need to..if they draw today they'll only need a draw on last day if we lost as they have a much better GD

 

or maybe wigan will lose against arsenal on tuesday. meaning we have the easiest game out of us, Sunderland, Newcastle and Norwich, playing a side that already won a cup and got relegated, while the others play teams chasing CL spots or are just ManCity at home for their last game of the season.

but that is probably just crazy talk

 

 

Are none of you super confident guys not at least a bit worried? Considering everything that can have gone against us has so far, surely I am not the only one feeling a little less comfortable this afternoon?

 

I was extremely worried in January.

 

Not worried now. We have faith in our own hands and will secure PL status with a win Sunday. 

 

And if we look back at our "must win games" history, we have only **** up against Newcastle. We won against QPR, Reading, Sunderland, West Ham, Norwich and Stoke. That is 6 out of 6 wins in high pressure games.

And we had one of the best strikers in Europe playing for us in those must win games.

We won't this time.

 

yes, it was benteke who won the game at Norwich and it was benteke who gave us the lead in the game against sunderland or stoke. oh no wait...

Fulham Norwich and Newcastle all winning

FFS

how is fulham relevant unless you're thinking about moving up the table? that doesn't seem to be in line with the whole 'we're going down'-idea

it's level now anyway.

there you see benteke's still young, he shouldn't make these kind of fouls. gave a few elbows as well in the first half.

Sylla is really showing great promise. I'm no so sure we need to add to this midfield, just let them grow into it a bit more.

Strange thing is that lambert didn't sub anyone. Weimann could have gone off for Bent, let gabby occupy the flank of his choosing round Bent.

There was noone in the middle when it came to crosses

weimann off for bent please.

Really gotta take off a midfielder for Bent. We have two wide strikers and no one in the center.

maybe than take one of your wide strikers off. our midfield is performing really well and keeping is us in the game right now. a 2 man midfield is looking for trouble

Decent first half, we need to keep the ball a bit more.

you can see the experience gabby brings to the table, holding up play at times and going down for some slight touches to get the free kick.

Great goal from Benteke. a win or at least a draw is a must here.

The Mirror article says Lambert is scouting Belgium and Holland for players. I wonder if he's gone across there this evening? The Belgian Cup and Dutch Cup are both on tonight.

Brugge v Genk (Benteke's previous club) (7:45pm) and AZ Alkmaar v PSV (5pm). If that report is true then he could be at one of these.

These teams have players which I think would be interesting fits for us:

Brugge:

Maxime Lestienne, 20 yo Left Winger, 12 goals and 8 assists this season.

Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, 24 yo Central Midfielder, almost moved to Everton last year.

Genk:

Kalidou Koulibaly, 21 yo Centre Back

Jelle Vossen, 24 yo Forward, 16 goals and 5 assists in 25 league games (Benteke's old strike partner)

AZ:

Adam Maher, 19 yo Attacking Midfielder, 7 goals and 5 assists in 30 league games (Club have said he's going to be sold this summer - linked with almost all the top 6 sides in the PL. Unlikely for us)

Nick Viergever, 23 yo Centre Back. Alkmaar Captain. One international cap.

Jozy Altidore, 23 yo Forward, 23 goals in 32 league games

PSV:

Georginio Wijnaldum, 22 yo Attacking Midfielder, 14 goals and 5 assists in 32 league games

Jurgen Locadia, 19yo Forward, 6 goals and 4 assists in 14 games.

No, they just don't have to give the number to any new player in the next few years.

id like to see us take a chance on robson-kanu from reading. Think the kid has a bright future

I would fancy robson-kanu to have as a back up to Gabby and Weimann. in exchange send Albrighton on loan to reading so he can get a full season as a starter in the championship. this can't be too costly, fee or wages.

dawkins is on loan for that reason, a back-up on the wings so Lambert will probably look for this type again

Any chance we'll be back in for Jelle Vossen if Bent or god forbid Benteke leaves?

 

From what i've seen he's a bit similar to (an in form) Bent, one touch finisher who always seems to be at the right place at the right time

he plays best in a 4-4-2 though.I doubt he'll be able to perform on the wing, so he'd be a back  up to Benteke at best. the only difference with Bent would be that his wages are lower

Great result today, long overdue.

Lowton, Westwood and Benteke on excellent form. Bennett was very good tonight as well. I was hoping for Bent to get one in too.

Let's not get carried away just yet. Next up Norwich, a game we can easily win if we perform like we did tonight.

a win next weekend could see us up to 14th or 13th position, Hello mid-table

come on lads. more of the same please

 

newcastle are in trouble.

West Ham are in form, so next week they'll probably lose. then a away game QPR, who will be already relegated, so winnable last day home to Arsenal in CL ticket battle.

they can get 40 points, but this is not the time to be out of form

Sadly, they'll most likely beat QPR - though a draw there might help our cause somewhat

 

a draw would be great.

on the other hand, QPR already relegated would mean players will play for individual glory to secure a transfer. Players like Remy and Taarabt can hurt a defence that way.

newcastle are in trouble.

West Ham are in form, so next week they'll probably lose. then a away game QPR, who will be already relegated, so winnable last day home to Arsenal in CL ticket battle.

they can get 40 points, but this is not the time to be out of form

I had this game against spurs down as a loss for wigan. I also thought they'd get a point at WBA an win against swansea. If WBA beat them, that would even things out.

For us monday's game is as crucial as it gets: create a gap between us and wigan and get back in the fray with Sunderland, Norwich, Newcastle,...

good second half performance. Let's hope they can reproduce this the next two games.

I think it would have been a different game if City beat Spurs yesterday. The first 15mins, ManU just wanted to secure their title, the rest was just consolidating.

Still, there was a lot more pressure and fighting spirit form our side in the second half. We've had a few good chances as well.

if it stay s like this, i see no reason why this should damage our confidence that much. There is no disgrace in losing 3-0 away to a ManUnited playing to win their title, add the help from the linesman and you can say you've battled well.

we deserve a goal

who do wigan play next week?? I think we will lose to both Man Utd and Sunderland.

Spurs

Not the hammering we'd hoped for, but the result we needed.

Wigan have been getting lucky in the last few games, but not this time. let's hope that will have an impact on their spirits.

Westham did a decent job tonight, hopefully again this weekend

finally, 1-0