thunderball

We need to keep Berkeley and upgrade Luiz and [undroppable] McGinn

Poor. Again. Difficult to see what the issue is here: safety breeds complacency? Coaching? Midfield and forwards (except Watkins) not good enough? What I do know is something drastic needs to change, sick of hearing about Grealish's absence this has nothing to do with what is going on. What I can say is that Targett for me is up for Player of the Season, he was more than solid again yesterday. Watkins is quality and we need to build a system around him as much as around Grealish. We just have nothing on the bench that can change a game, and seem to play the same way every minute of every game. Our midfield doesnt work on any level - its no longer creative, it has no pace or snap, the movement and interplay is slow and predictable (Man City are the exact opposite). Luiz and McGinn got a goal and an assist in the first 20 seconds which is great but doesn't let them off everything thereafter which remains lacking. I thought Ramsey was promising and he does show a bit of bite and determination which is great to see in a youngster. A lot of work is needed to push on, we are barely above circling-the-drain on these performances.

I am clearly on my own suggesting he is being scapegoated for a disappointing result and period of games, but your observation is mine also and was my take away from the match. I thought he had some useful moments and showed some quality. You are not going to get a McGinn headless chicken run-out with Barkley which for some seems to carry a lot, but he has quality that others lack. If he had high energy and quality he wouldnt be here, he'd be in the mix a Chelsea or elsewhere. He is no where near as bad as is suggested here, but has been disappointing but is in very good company at the moment, however he hasnt had the recent game time to showcase his talent, which is a double whammy as coming on for 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there is very difficult, especially when the whole team is basically abject. For me we have lots of passengers in the midfield and problems to solve, maybe Barkley would be just another. But I feel if we had three or four much better midfielders they would all rub off on each other and we would see a more productive output collectively and therefore in terms of results. I still hope he signs for a decent price and they add more big names in the summer. I am certainly going cold on McGinn; Luiz is young and will improve; Nakamba perhaps just too limited and one dimensional; AEG and Trez both limited and below the ambition of the club.

Rubbish. Another very angry post defeat outburst.

McGinn barely controls a ball all game, miss places passes all over the pitch runs around like a headless chicken, falls over a lot, like every game for the past 3 months. mings sends another brain fart sliced back pass that should have cost us a goal; let’s Salah get in front of him for their goal. ATA scored a worldie 30 yard rocket through a packed defence. Barkley comes on finds space (all the time), sends a lovely penetrating pass to AEG with one touch; takes the ball on but fails to get a shot away (just like Watkins earlier in the game?) fails to score due to indecisiveness and suddenly he is the reason we lost. Re watch the game, this scapegoating is utterly ridiculous, actually try and think what the problem is, it’s not Barkley.

Agree with this view mostly. Defo thought in the game that We could do with better quality on the wings, that’s certainly how we improve, nothing that £60-80m wouldn’t couldn’t sort out, and that’s what it’s going to take. I also think that Grealish has flattered McGinn and to a lesser extent Luiz. I feel we are asking a lot of Luiz as such a young man. But the McGinn thing is eating at me now, it’s another position that we could and should upgrade. I personally think Barkley is decent, if lacking game time and confidence, he certainly has it in his locker but our shape only unlocks it when he has better players around him. I hope we buy him, but also spend big on forwards. I’d like to see if we could get Barkley, Tammy and Loftus-Cheek in the summer, plus a very good winger.

TBH if we had decent offers for McGinn I would take it. Luiz Is young and Dean plays him despite his form, that’s on Smith.

Jeez, it’s like Twitter on here.

Calm down, try posting tomorrow

Cannot believe these reactionary comments. Did more in his time than McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey and Najamba combined. Knee jerk Irrational Loan bias response.

Deserves to lose. Midfield sloppy and poor, could have got something if we didn’t keep giving it away so cheaply. Massive over reaction to Barkley who I think offers more than McGinn or Luiz who offer nothing nor have done most of the season. Should have used The bench better, Smith is so reluctant to admit he gets it wrong and makes it worse by sticking to a losing formula. Hope Trez is OK

I like him

Other than that moment, I thought Barkley has shown enough to start next game

That Leeds finish above us this season is a disgrace

FFS

Those Liverpool shirts look like they are on back to front

What’s has McGinn got to do to be dropped?

Has McGinn always had a really poor first touch?

And Luiz. And honestly McGinn too

But we have been abject though, as poor as any game recently. We are a very poor second to Louverpool no matter how below standard they are

Use the **** bench Smith

We are bound to concede. Cmon Dean, make some changes, role the dice

The midfield is a shambles today. Ming’s tried to get in the act too. Just get it up to Olly

Still poor though. McGinn looks rough round the edges, Luiz not doing enough and Traore looks off form too. We need to shake it up early, more early super subs dean please.

He was doing to Fulham what RLC was doing to us all game, just running through the opposition using his physicality. It was great to see. He's arguably (along with Wes) the only player in our squad that can do this but its this plan B that we havent used often enough when Jack's guile doesnt work (it usually does) or when Jack isnt playing.We just dont run through teams directly into the box. Hopefully this strikes a chord with Smith and he uses this more often rather than in the last 10 minutes of a game we are chasing.