switters

hate when keepers are given such soft free kicks. as if no-one is allowed to challenge for the ball with them.

previously we couldn't score but at least were not conceding too many. now we've got nothing to cling to. chronic lack of confidence throughout the team. Guzan was abysmal, Centre backs looked horribly out of depth. Sanchez was back to his early days in the shirt where half his passes go straight to opposition. Delph and Cleverley couldn't get in the game at all. Benteke offered less than nothing - what happened to the player who used to physically dominate the opposition defenders? Gil was the slight glimmer of hope, at least managed to put in a couple of dangerous crosses and look vaguely like he knew when he got the round thing at his feet. can't judge the subs 'cause the game was way over by the time they were on. Lambert's game plan played into Arsenal hands & while there was resiliance at 1-0, there was nothing left after the 2nd.

Cole and Grealish to bring on for the creativity which we will almost certainly lack in first half. could be a lot worse.

they were never going to overturn this, esp straight after rescinding Gabby's. for me it was a clear yellow, but not bad enough for red. Richardson's was red all the way 'cause he went in two footed and out of control, Delph was one-footed and late without the same degree of recklessness. Still a silly challenge to make, but harshly treated 'cause I think that sort of challenge would be given yellow more often than not. It's the inconsistency that's frustrating. What's rather more annoying is that Villa got a £30k fine for the players' reaction to Gabby's red card. surely they should be issuing us an apology for that one not a fine ffs!

We're keeping possession of the ball better these days, but we were poor up front, indeed Benteke had an off-day, couldn't make the ball stick at all and then didn't take the chance when it finally came (though it was not an easy one with the players in front of him limiting what he had to aim for). Good in defence for the most part & Okore-Clark continues to look a good pairing, but sadly have to ask questions about Guzan again for the goal. other plus points would be Sanchez looking more the part - he protects the ball much better now he's getting used to the pace - and Delph returning. Don't think we can blame Lambert too much, the half time change was the sensible response to the red card. Maybe needed to act sooner to make another change before their goal though, 'cause that came at the end of a long spell of pressure (albeit pretty low-quality pressure).

ffs. the ugliest scrappiest goal you'll ever see as well.

I'd think Weimann for Cleverley soon. Cleverley on a yellow and tends to fade in latter stages. Hutton needs some help on the right too and Weimann can do that.

he could've got away with a yellow if he was lucky, but most refs would give a red. nothing harsh about that decision: he went in full-paced & out of control when he was not favourite to get to the ball, definition of a reckless tackle. Complete cretin, particularly as it was in such a nothing area of the pitch. Delph on at half time for Zog I think. West Brom just playing for penalties now. probably the only way they likely to score.

Richardson you stupid, stupid idiot. Just lost us the match.

I guess Zog is going to be given free role behind Benteke. He's better there than wide: Sanchez-Cleverley Richardson-Zog-Gabby Benteke

I gave Clark MOTM, thought he was excellent throughout. his and Okore's performances since being drafted in have been very impressive & make me hopeful that we won't miss Vlaar too much. indeed, it might pave the way for him to go in January. Hutton has really turned things around - got a bit lucky avoiding a red card as it's risky to shove a player like that, but did very well both in defensive & attacking sense. looks a very confident player these days and is always wanting the ball which is good to see. not so convinced by Cissokho on the other side - he can put in a good cross sometimes but too often he has to check back and doesn't look confident on the ball. Plus he struggled vs Mahrez first half in particular. Benteke's return has been crucial to these two wins. This time he was creator, last time both creator & finisher. he's the difference between us drawing and winning - we drew three times when he was suspended and any of them could have been wins if he'd been available. Also a good chance we would have beat Spurs had he not been red-carded, so you could say that one moment cost us quite a few points. It was a mostly positive performance, especially pleasing that we came back from behind and showed patience in attacking in the 2nd half which paid off. And nice that the two goals came from defenders, we need the whole team to chip in over the season. There were a couple of downsides: firstly, Guzan's handling was costly for their goal and I've noticed he's been spilling a few shots like that lately. did pull out a great save later in the match though. and secondly N'Zogbia disappointed again, had a chance to stake a claim to be starting matches over Weimann but did not do enough. I don't know that Grealish is ready to be starting regularly but I think it is about time he was given a start to see what he can do. WBA would be a good opportunity.

Benteke's other shot. Shanchez's wild shot. The other...? Benteke's other shot. Shanchez's wild shot. The other...? was there half an effort from a corner perhaps? I think the telling fact would be where the possession was. We had harmless possession in the middle third, they had dangerous possession in the attacking third

Jedinak too - thought he was someone we could've gone for in the summer. That said, Sanchez has been our best midfielder since coming on and has shown signs of being that type of midfield presence we were hoping for

Brilliant goal by Benteke. but we are all over the place defensively. how we haven't conceded yet I do not know. desperately need to take this lead to half time and regroup

So, so frustrating. First 80 mins was best performance of the season. But we really needed a more secure lead as we know we're incapable of holding a 1-goal lead in the last ten mins. The goal was so avoidable, it wasn't just Okore's mistake, I think it was Gabby who made a stupid run to nowhere and lost the ball in the build-up. We just always manage to do these things. We've got 3 winnable fixtures now, but without a win since early September, actually getting three points from a match seems utterly beyond us at the minute.

Pretty sure we'd have got rid of him in the summer had it not been for Kozak & Benteke injuries. The fact that we're willing to let him go now, with Kozak still injured and Benteke working his way back to full fitness shows just how little impact Bent makes on a football pitch these days. Unless he can regain some sharpness, he really is finished at any decent level of football, because he doesn't have anything else to his game which could allow him to adapt to a different role in the team (in the way that players like Dwight Yorke did in the latter stages of their career). let's hope Callum Robinson takes the chance to step up.

really has to cut the sloppy passes out. still fairly early days, but the problem at this point is any opposition manager who does his homework will see that you can get a lot of joy if you make Sanchez pass it quickly and he seems to lose confidence quickly so one bad pass is usually followed shortly by another.

Hard to understand why Okore hasn't had a chance earlier. I assumed he'd become sheit, but he showed me today he hasn't. There is a lot of competition in the position - would be a big call to select the unproven kid just back from longterm injury when you have Vlaar & Senderos, plus Baker has been pretty dependable this season. I do wonder if we'll look at 352/532 again at some point when we have all our CBs fit.

disappointing that we couldn't hold on at the end, but decent result all things considered. Clark & Okore did very well considering they probably haven't played together before & neither has played much this year - kept Pelle and Long quiet all match & we defended setpieces well for once. Gabby was v.good first half but tired as game went on. Bringing on Bent for Sanchez confused me: surely Bacuna would be the kind of player to bring on at that point. or put Grealish on, as he's shown in previous games he can be useful outlet to win fouls and ease pressure. Bent offers nothing these days.

okay how the **** did that not fall for us on the rebound.

great clearing header by Cole. did brilliantly to get in front of Benteke there

Ref is giving so many soft ones to QPR. very frustrating.

4 goals in 9 matches? We couldn't score versus Orient. runs like that don't last forever and we've probably already had more efforts in this game than the last 4 combined. --- Sanchez has been about 100x better than his last appearance. looks well up for this match. only slight worry is he could be a card risk if he is over-exuberant.

key is to not panic, it was a goal from nothing and we'd been doing well. plenty of time to come back and I think if we score 1 we'll score 2 or more. just need that breakthrough to restore confidence.

3 big question marks in the lineup: will Clark, Lowton and Sanchez be up to speed. all played little-to-no football this season. I especially worry about Lowton - if they've got sense they'll put Vargas against him and he's quality. on the more positive side, our front 3 should cause them problems and hopefully Cleverley can push on and support the attack with Sanchez and Westwood there to sit. glad Richardson has been dropped, he's been completely anonymous for several matches running. N'Zogbia hasn't done enough to warrant a place either, Weimann is limited but more likely to make a telling impact.