Mat Kendrick's Dentist

A lot of people seem to have forgotten how unbearably awful Lambert was due to what came next. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to picking the worst manager to have taken charge of us in recent times, but he's at the very bottom of the pile for me.

Neymar

Messi

Forsberg, Keita and Werner are the 3 players they need to keep if they want to compete. Financially, they have no need to sell, and I don't think clubs like Liverpool are a step up tbh. Barca/Real/Bayern/Juve are a different story of course, but I think only Keita would interest them atm. Interesting to see how Leipzig approach the market themselves as they have cash to burn and will offer Champions League football. Until now they've exclusively bought youngsters for relatively small fees (Oliver Burke is the exception) so I wonder if they'll change tack in the summer.

Great to watch, with lots of top young players. Think their title hopes ended tonight, but it'll be interesting to see them in the Champions League next season.

Naby Keita

I've only done anal once and I'm afraid to try it again, as I think something went wrong the first time. My arse was raw for a week .

I think he'll go to Inter, Paul. Big connection with the club as a player, and the Italian journos all see Pioli as a seat-filler for Simeone's eventual return. His son also plays in Italy. I see it as a shame that despite all of the top Argentinian managers (Simeone, Sampaoli, Bielsa, etc) the national team's golden era has been left with such poor coaches. I reckon Simeone could lead Argentina to a World Cup win in 2018, but their FA is a shambles, so nobody worth their salt will take the job.

Still plays centre-mid, but I agree there was always a player in there! Stoke's landslide POTY before leaving. I can see France caps for him before long. Back OT, good chance for Leipzig to move within 2 points of Bayern tonight against Augsburg.

Federico Fazio is looking brilliant this season for Roma after being horrendous for Spurs too! Iago Aspas another example.

Short loan spell the year they went down (2011/12?) iirc. He was a good underage player for France, coming through in the Benzema/Nasri/Menez/Payet/Ben Arfa crop. He was good with Bastia and Hoffenheim (alongside Firmino, Volland, etc) but was always streaky before landing at Koln.

Am I the only one who loves the constant superfluous info on Noel?!

Hope Roma go on to win the Europa league this season (and they're favourites for me). With a TIM cup semi-final against Lazio coming up it could be a great swansong for Totti.

Even better goal to follow it up!

Ah, pressure back on so! Good chance for Hoffenheim to steal a march in the Champions League running tomorrow with Frankfurt stalling now.

They've won their last 2 in the league haven't they? Admittedly they were poor vs Atleti, but I reckon the heat is off Schmidt for now.

C'mon mate, it's a family forum.

He's at Depor, not Eibar . Agree with the rest of your post though. I've seen quite a bit of them this season, and they are a much better team than us. They have also been better when he has been on the pitch. I disagree totally with those who say that he is unsuited to "English football". IMO he's unsuited to playing in a team that can't build the play properly, rather than bypassing midfield and lumping it.

TBF, he only listed some (reasonably well-known) players that he rates, as per the thread, and then described who they play for after you asked who they were.

Dreadful, pathetic, it's all been covered. We're simply a team without an idea, without an identity, happy to recycle possession back to Alan Hutton to perpetually hump it out for a throw-in until the end of time. Johnstone 4: At least 2 of the goals couldn't be considered "unstoppable", and yet he never looked like saving them. Was also shaky on a number of crosses/through balls. Hutton 3: Unbearably awful, but then that's par for the course for Big Al. A black hole on the ball, riddled with errors, and constantly defending too narrow. Amavi 6: Made some mistakes, but also defended well at times against Brentford's best player. Was the least culpable of our defenders/keeper for the goals we conceded. Chester 2: Seems to be a hero among Villa fans, but he's a bit of a myth imo. He keeps costing us by stupidly vacating his position, and the worrying thing is that he's not learning from these constant mistakes. Dreadful decision to step up for the first, marked absent for the second, and crazily out of position for the third. Baker 4: Poor for the first and third goals, but was left between a rock and a hard place by Chester's rashness. Lansbury 6 (MOTM): Started off well, but was soon marshalled when Brentford dropped Jozefzoon back on him. Wasn't great at tracking runners, but worked hard overall. Hourihane 4: Wasn't able to stamp his authority on the game. Felt the obvious move was to bring him back alongside Lansbury in a 4231 when Henri was being man-marked. Instead, we back to hoof, bypassing midfield totally. Not great defensively. Bjarnason 3: Looked like a player who hasn't played 90 minutes in 6 weeks (and he is). Didn't offer anything after the first 10 minutes. Average technically, and not the quickest, so we'll have to move him higher up the pitch to see the best of him imo. Green 5: He lived up to his name. He has plenty of ability, but for now is very "green" and remains a player for the future, rather than the present imo. Plenty of pace and nice dribbling, but not yet enough knowledge of when to cross/pass/hold onto the ball. Weak defensively also. Adomah 5: Worked hard as ever. Received poor service, but also provided poor service in turn. Got plenty of crosses in, but we never got enough bodies forward to get onto them. Kodjia 5: Given very poor supply overall. Didn't make use of the 3/4 occasions he was played through because of poor finishing or straying offside. Bacuna 5: Some good, some bad, worked hard at least. Grealish 6: Did more in 15 minutes than some did in 90. He has his detractors, but I think it's madness leaving him on the bench. Bruce 3: We flew out of the traps, but once Lansbury was man-marked we made no attempt to drop another CM (Hourihane) back in order to build the play. Instead we launched it towards an outnumbered Kodjia. In terms of team selection, regardless of how recently he was signed, Bree is better than Hutton, he literally has to be. Grealish also has to start, as when he doesn't there is a chasm the size of McCormack's arse between our midfield and Kodjia. Finally, subs came far too late to change anything. PS Brentford's Jota deserves a mention as the best opposition player I've seen this campaign. He wasn't all that in La Liga this season but today was a 10/10 performance from him.

Literally no evidence whatsoever, but okay. I might be in the minority, but I think in Ayew we've lost one of our best footballers today. I think there's something wrong with the system, if it's seen as worthwhile to sell your best players because they don't fit in to your style of play. I saw Ayew, Amavi, and Grealish as the talents in our squad, capable of playing at a level higher than the Championship, but they seem to be becoming sacrificial lambs in the quest to produce turgid "Championship-style" football.

Agreed. His value and age have nothing to do with his musculoskeletal system.

Johnstone Bree Chester Baker Amavi Hourihane Lansbury Bjarnason Grealish Ayew Kodjia Bunn Richards Elphick Bacuna McCormack Agbonlahor Adomah I think we now have 2 CMs who will be able to (at least) hold their own in midfield as a pair, rather than relying on a third pair of legs in there. A massive problem for us so far has been that we've had nobody to play an accurate vertical ball in midfield. Instead, it's inevitably recycled back to the CBs and out to the full-backs. This either leads to Hutton humping it into row Z, or Amavi giving it to an attacking mid who has dropped to halfway, and still has the whole defense to beat (with only 2 attack-minded teammates for assistance). Hourihane and Lansbury can not only allow us to play an extra AM, they can also pass it in between the opposition lines, finding Jack, Ayew, et al in space, and allowing them to get turned and attack. Bjarnason isn't quick or technical, but he's a workhorse and can provide energy with and without the ball. He and Ayew are both quick to get back into shape when possession is lost, so I feel we can live without a Jedinak in the middle. I actually think that having an able midfield behind him would suit McCormack too, but he obviously has a lot of work to do to prove himself worthy of another chance. If I'm greedy, Rhodes and versatile full-back cover would be great, given how we've struggled without Kodjia, and the trend of Hutton's rivals getting injured!

HOW?!!! HOW have I not seen this before?!

Richards on the bench! Not great but surely a better option than Mutton?