I Make Pies

Enjoyed MOTD much more last night without all the pointless yakking. It shows how much of the program is filler when the highlights are only 20 minutes.

Good first half. Second half seemed to drift but we were never in danger of conceding. Emery saw a potential drop in confidence at home after our recent results and addressed it by pushing the players for a win with a clean sheet. Boring match but impressive management. After watching this game, plus the U21s in the last couple of weeks, Cash may not be done here after all. I was under the impression Emery always pushed the left back up to attack and got the right back to defend, but he was getting forward regularly. Played well, too. I would be worried if I was a Crystal Palace fan. The only player who showed any quality, Zaha, is leaving them in three months. He may not be everyone's cup of tea but I would take him here. He would be an improvement on our forward options, although he'll probably end up at Chelsea on £300k a week.

Just watched the game back. Good old fashioned away win. Everton put us under pressure with their percentage style Dycheball but, aside from the Konsa ricochet, never really looked liked scoring. We got stuck in our own half a little too much but managed to create enough clear cut chances to win.

We were too good for Sunderland but I was disappointed in our inability to take the sting out of the game in the second half. It's great to watch the team going forward trying to score more goals as a fan but you don't leave the door open for the opposition like that at senior level.

Has that natural striker's instinct and the technique to go with it. Great prospect.

Pretty good performance given Leeds were playing £70m+ worth of players, and an entertaining game. The players looked comfortable under pressure and our patterns of play in the final third were reminscent of the first team. Out of our full backs KKH did most of the attacking in the first half and Revan in the second. Apart from one error Zych was impressive and seems more comfortable with his distribution than our other keepers. The centre back partnership functioned well although they still look a little shaky on crosses. Raikhy Motm with his usual technical masterclass. With a couple more of our starters fit and/or Leeds not playing first team players we may have won. Ref was atrocious. Their midfielder Gyabi shoved Lindley and one or two others. Ref decided to book him then randomly booked two of our players presumably to appease the crowd? Who knows. The crowd were booing our youngsters throughout of course - classy as ever from Leeds.

It's an interesting quandry as to why clubs get stuck in the same positions for such a long time despite the constant churn of players and managers. When I was a kid we were always challenging for Europe bar the odd blip, whereas in the last 12 years it has been lower half/just above the relegation zone. Liverpool have finished in the top 8 every season since they were promoted to the top flight in 1962! You'd think they would have one bad season at least. I did see a graphic recently showing our spending in the 90s and it was much closer to the other top teams in the league than it is now. Probably answers the question as to why. During our period of dominance during the 1890s we broke the world transfer record twice.

Scrappy, competitive game won by a great finish from Kellyman. We'll have to play better to keep this run going but it's pleasing to see them grind out another clean sheet. That's 4 in the last 5 games. Don't think it's a coincidence that Aaron O'Reilly has played in all those games. He may not be as technically gifted as Smith or Feeney but he can defend. It's him, Revan or Frith for Motm today. Maybe Revan just edges it. Not so easy to tell watching on the OS but it looked like we were set up in Emery's 4-4-2 with Wilson and Frith up top, Kellyman and Afoka on the wings.

Emery said he was our "big injury" when he joined and has been talking him up since then. I think he'll be back in as soon as he's ready.

Premier League teams are so well organised these days it's difficult to score unless you create an overload or win the ball back while the opposition are out of position. Bielsa created overloads but Marsch doesn't really do either. Saw the Nottingham-Leeds game yesterday and Leeds were pressing high, sort of, but not really converting that into chances. They were just winning it back and keeping possession. Maybe a new approach is needed.

Went today for the first time under Emery. The build up to each game now is so much more epic than it was 25 years ago with the fire, flags, music etc. It's like a stand alone event rather than just another match. No wonder the tourists enjoy so much. Encouraged by the performance overall despite the result, and you could see why Emery has been successful with his system. The passing around at the back creates an overload up front if/when we get it through. Every time we were in their final third we looked like scoring. Conversely, there is an element of risk to it and today it went wrong. Moreno added an extra attacking dimension when he came on. It was a bit like watching KKH for the U21s but on the other side with his runs in behind the last man. Kamara was a bit too casual for their first goal then lost his confidence. Luiz and Buendia played well as did Watkins. Ramsey had some nice touches but needs to affect the game more. Didn't see much of him. Thought Coutinho was poor tbh. He was the most skilful player on the pitch but seemed to make the wrong choices throughout. Bailey has a great left foot but we need to sharpen him up somehow. Seems to be on his heels too often. Duran was big and fast - encouraging cameo. Leicester's best player was Dewsbury-Hall, and I thought the winger Tete added something for them. They were fortunate we gave them some late Xmas presents today but they should be too good to go down anyway.

I was just reading about Musah who plays international football for the USA. He has Ghanaian parents, grew up in Italy until age 9, then moved to England and represented England at all youth levels. The only link to the USA is he was born there while his mother was on holiday. You'd think he would feel more of a connection with one of the other three countries. I still can't understand this country-hopping stuff in international football.

Or maybe Sancho? He doesn't play for them much either and we need a winger. A little out of reach perhaps.

Wan-Bissaka has only played nine games for them this season so he might be available.

Is it just me or does he look slimmer than six months ago? Maybe he has reduced some of his bulk for more pace. Looked fast against Sunderland at the weekend.

I like Cash but I don't think he is the type of right back Emery wants. Saw a video when Emery joined explaining his tactics at Villareal where the left back was given freedom to attack but the right back stayed back so they always had three defenders plus the holding midfielders to stop a counter attack. In a recent game I saw Cash bomb forwards only to remember his instructions and rush back.

What position do you think he will end up in? I've seen in play at left back, centre mid and #10.

No complaints about the result. We were thoroughly outplayed and never laid a glove on them. If only this team had a player like Iroegbunam in the middle to win some of those 50:50s. Southampton's star player had no shin pads on so a physical challenge or two may have put him off his game but instead he had the freedom of the pitch. There was some nice interplay between Kellyman and Young towards the end of the game and our attackers all have something about them. Just need to get them the ball! Unless I'm mistaken a number of our better players will still be eligible for next season's competition so hopefully they can put a run together next time.

Are we allowed to clone Kamara?

True, we did get a good fee and the number of decent youngsters coming through should increase with the added investment so maybe we can get closer to Man City's or Chelsea's youth factories in the coming years. Man City made approximately £55m this summer from selling academy prospects who aren't good enough for them.

It's not just FFP. We have the new £100m+ North Stand to budget for. I don't know whether that is included in the FFP calculation or not as they have changed the rules recently, but it is certainly a lot of money to find. At least we are not £760m in the red like Everton are with their new stadium. I have a feeling these value signings are going to be the norm in the short term, but once these youngsters start coming through that should put us in a stronger position financially. It may take a few years though before the academy investment pays off.

What I said may very well be porkies as I don't speak a word of Spanish! (I used google translate) No idea if he is better but it seems he is more like a little Spanish winger with pace and dribbling skills who plays left back rather than someone who likes to whip crosses in like Digne.

I had a quick look on a Betis forum earlier and they seem disappointed to be (potentially) losing him for only £10m - £15m. They think he is worth more, but their financial position is not great and I think his contract might be winding down (not sure if I read that correctly).

Oh no not again. Poor lad. Thought he was starting to pick up a bit of form after his last layoff too.

There are no easy games in the Premier League any more. Everyone is well organised and can play. The best teams have more quality in the final third and greater levels of consistency and confidence but that's about it. Barring a couple of exceptions, we stopped having bad teams in the league about five or six years ago when the new tv deal came in. In the old days a game at home against the team second bottom was expected to be an easy win, and the players got hammered if it was anything but (I remember us being 2-0 down vs Coventry in 2001?2002? and the whole crowd sung "what a load of rubbish" as the players went off at half time). It's a different league now but expectations remain the same.