spacemanscott

A decent first half but the second was as bad as you'll see in the Premiership - slow, long, uninventive...dull. Those who think it wasn't too bad must have seriously low standards. Poor use of the squad/forward planning has once again caused us to run out of steam. Some really poor play at times. Brad: 7 Cuellar: 5 Dunne: 4 Collins: 6 Warnock: 4.5 Young: 7 Milner: 5 Petrov: 4 Downing: 4 Fonz: 6 Carew: 6.5 Why, oh why, do we insist on long balls that either go nowhere near a Villa shirt or give our players little opportunity to do anything with it. Fonz is clearly a good footballer but we didn't give him a chance most of the time. Arsene was flippin well right.

Milner is quite simply a superb footballer. I would let have his machine-like way with my missus. While I stroke one off over his back. However, Ashley was hit and miss again, and as for Downing, I don't get why he's an automatic starter. Sidwell didn't have long but proved once again that he has become a 'nothing' player and the sooner he is replaced the better. That's a shame because last season I was championing him as a player who will come good. Egg on my fat face. Petrov is excellent on the ball and reads the game fairly well, but he simply isn't able to assert himself as much as we need him to, and that makes it harder for Milner. He is also obsessed with playing sqaure balls rather than looking forward. I hope that next season we get someone else in and Petrov only plays in a 5 man midfield. Still, a good battling performance with a few nice passages play and an overall good game of football to watch. Which is refreshing.

Good half of football that, but we need to be more clinical. We seem to scuff so many passes and shots that I sometimes wonder about the technique of a lot of our players. Not sure what Downing, Dunne and Warnock are all doing, each of them has made more than a couple of bad decisions and fluffed passes. I really wish Downing would realise he has another foot too. Overall good performace though, we need to make sure we take advantage of all the gaps in their around.

Dont go then! They pay their money and can do what they like, the same way you pay yours to sit on your high horse. Good result i think, anything other than a loss to Utd is a good point. We're going to actually have to create something in the final mind.. He's right, though. Don't think i've ever had a season where I've been surrounded by such dickheads. Constatly moaning and getting on the players back at the first opportunity. The term "support" is lost on some of our home fans. I don't agree. Whenever I have been down this season I've found that most people try and support the team and will only let out a disappointed sigh when someone makes a mistake. There's only ever one or two blokes who sit there screaming abuse the whole game. It's an exaggeration to say the place is full of people like that.

Fair enough, your complete confidence appears to be equivalent to absolute fact. I'll repeat that I thought I saw Gabby making an awful lot of runs tonight (and holding the ball up and playing it to our midfield). You didn't. We seemed to have watched different games. OK, you didn't happen to notice what I did, that's fair enough. I'll clarify that I think Gabby is a decent player and I wouldn't want him to leave, I just don't think he's quite got enough to be our ever-present, first choice striker. This may change in time but I also worry that there is something wrong with the way he is being coached.

Downing our worst 'first-teamer'? What do you do have to do to be classed a 'first teamer'? He wasn't even playing regulary until mid-December.. :? But, quite clearly, he has been a first-teamer since then. What's your point? Plus I think you'll find he was playing quite regularly in November??

I'd suggest you were not watching tonight's game, then. Gabby moved a lot (and held the ball up a lot and played off passes to the midfielders a lot). I think you are criticizing last season's Gabby. I'm not talking of running in to big, obvious spaces, but when the play had been squeezed and defenders were nearby. In these situations, I can tell you with complete confidence that he didn't have a clue about creating space with clever movement.

In fairness mate, it was so dull and the weather so cold that it was never going to be carnival time. I hardly heard a peep out of their fans either. I know I couldn't wait to get home.

That was an absolute steaming pile of shite. All I ask for is a decent game. Man Utd had 10 men for most of the game and offered very little - even Rooney never looked like doing much. Despite that, we didn't look l like threatening them at all. Our play in the final third is astonishigly bereft of any kind of movement or skill. Friedel was good; Cueller decent; the rest around a 5, apart from the following, who were Gash out of 10: Downing: he's consistent. Consistently shit. That's not to say he's a bad player, but he has been our worst first teamer this season by a mile. Gabby: I sat and watched his movement when we had possession and my eyes didn't flicker; they remained completely fixed on the same spot. Carew: **** hell. I am peeved that I've just sat in Artic conditions having paid £36 for a shit, font-row seat, only to watch a team of players who weren't interested in winning the game. If you didn't go to the game it's easy to say 'a point is a good result and we would have loved 4 points off Man Utd before the start of the season', but I don't care about numbers on a page - all I know is that I was bored by virtually every minute of it.

I think he's been below par in most games I've seen. Think we may have to wait til next season before we see the best of him, and I can't see him going to the World Cup.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the ref. It's not often I do mention them but this guy was a prick.

Can't complain with a draw but the lack of goals is starting to piss me off. Overall good performance, the only player who really let us down tonight was Downing. Again. It pains me to say it because I like him, but he missed an absolute sitter as well as another great chance, and his final ball was really sloppy at times. If he had put one away, we'd all be buzzing, saying how great we were. And rightly so.

Really, again i thought he threaded up a lot of our better play, granted he can't do 90 mins these days but did his replacement/everybodies hero Big John offer anything more? No he offered **** all but still gets wan*ed over Definitely agree with that. When Carew came on I gave a sigh cos I knew that big lump offers no more than Heskey does, and our style of play wouldn't improve one bit. In fact, he looks half the player Heskey does at the moment. Blimey one person that agrees with me, well not me but that Heskey offers something.....35,621 to go now! Don't get me wrong though, I think they probably both need replacing! That said, some of Heskey's link-up play lately has been top notch. It's just a shame he doesn't score. But then neither does anyone else.

Really, again i thought he threaded up a lot of our better play, granted he can't do 90 mins these days but did his replacement/everybodies hero Big John offer anything more? No he offered **** all but still gets wan*ed over Definitely agree with that. When Carew came on I gave a sigh cos I knew that big lump offers no more than Heskey does, and our style of play wouldn't improve one bit. In fact, he looks half the player Heskey does at the moment.

you are not on your own, but then I don't favour 3 wingers in the side. You class Milner as a winger don't you? I wouldn't agree with that to be honest, and I think Stan and Milner can work in some games but today wasn't one of them. MON obviously knows the level Delph is currently at, but I just think he could have replaced Stan in the second half and changed the shape of the game - 2 centre mids who can cover every blade of grass. Or go with 5 in the middle. Either way, to me it was obvious we needed to change it because our football was appalling. Doesn't mean we would have scored with Gabby playing the way he was, but at least it might have made it more exciting to watch.

Have to say, I'm shocked so many people thought Dowining had a good game! I admit he looked eager to cut in and make things happen, and he knocked a couple of half-decent crosses over, but any good that he did was completely ruined by the number of times he gave the ball away so cheaply. Sitting in the lower Holte, it seemed to me that he made at least 5 misplaced passes, but maybe I need to watch the game back on TV. As for Petrov, I can see why people often think he's played well. He's comfortable on the ball, does a bit of tidying up in front of the defence and draws plenty of fouls to relieve the pressure. However, as someone who has played centre mid for years, I know it's much easier to look good on the ball when you spend most the game hanging back and reserving energy, waiting for the ball to come to you.

BOOOOOORED!!! Mind numbingly dull football, worth a tenner of my money and no more. All around the 6 mark apart from the following: Downing: 3 - gave the ball away time and time again. A Young: 5 - plays too wide and NEVER beats his man. Doesn't realise there's more to football than constantly whipping crosses in (often poor crosses at that). Petrov: 4 - although fairly decent on the ball, we needed him to move the ball quickly and get about the pitch rather than hang around in front of defence. Milner: 5 - wasteful at times but I feel sorry for him in these kind of games as he needs more help alongside him. Gabby: 3.5 - no intelligent movement, no natural finishing ability. Fluffed 2 golden chances. O'Neil: 2 - Why was Reo not on the bench (not necessairly having a go here - was he injured?)? In a game where the opposition sat deep and flooded the midfield, a central pairing including Stan had nowhere near enough energy to make things happen. The game was crying out for Reo or Delph to mix things up a little. Without a new striker, we definitely will not get champions league football.

True, but then why exclude him? He's scored a goal and is a part of their strikeforce? Because he rarely plays...at least I don't think he does. Or, just as another quicjk example, how about Owen, he never plays in the league and he brings Man U's figure down a fair bit.

I don't agree......but then I wouldn't! :winkold: I think it's important at a time when our strikeforce as a whole is coming under fire that we contrast and compare with each other strikeforce in the league, in order to do so you need to include each one that has scored, irregardless of whether they've played 20 minutes or 20 matches, IMO. I see what you're getting at but taking the dirty heathen bastards for example, if you discount O'Connor and his one goal, it bumps their figure to 2.25.

I don't think that really proves anything as it includes all sorts of players who rarely play and it therefore skews the figures.

I can see both sides of the argument. It's easy to say that winning cups is what it's all about and that CL qualification doesn't in itself mean anything. However, though it's nice to have a fleeting moment of pride and excitement at winning a trophy, that soon disappears. It should be a reward for of having a good team rather than something to aim for regardless of how we achieve it. I believe most fans, whether they realise it or not, love about football because it's a form of entertainment like any other; we love seeing players do things most people can't. Bolton don't have too many fans because their football is traditionally poor, but those that do attend regularly do so because they live in hope that they will one day improve. I'm sure Pompey fans don't care a great deal about their FA cup victory a couple of years back now they are now rooted to the bottom of the table and on the verge of bankruptcy. I'm sure if you asked their fans now, they'd say they'd forfeit that trophy in place of an improved team which is fighting for a UEFA cup spot. That's progress. We all live in hope that we will see world class players producing football which astounds us - players we talk about in the same way as Man U fans talked about Cantona and Ronaldo (and we used to in years gone by). There is only one way this is likely to happen, and it's not by simply winning the League Cup.

I liked, 'What the **** is going on' and 'Reina, you're a clearing in the woods, Reina, Reina, you're a clearing in the woods'. Made me chuckle for some reason.

We weren't that bad imo. I think I've some decent company in that view. We weren't amazing but we weren't so bad that we deserved to lose, as said we lost to a lucky break falling to a world class player, shit happens. Maybe I just have my feet on the ground. I don't expect us to finish 4th, and I don't fly off the handle when we lose and lose sight of the bigger picture. Life isn't easy thanks. My standards aren't low. Hmmm, I just don't see it at all. I'm pretty level-headed but it's all about relativity. If we were Heathens watching that display we'd feel happy with the performace, and probably rightly so. However, we should already be at that level so it's completely deflating to watch my team unable to assert any kind of control in a game against a team who were continually sloppy themselves (and their fans should be rightly annoyed too). All I want to see is some sign of improvement. We thought we saw it in a couple of games with some nice pass-move football, but all of sudden it appears we've decided to revert back to the tactic of knocking it directly to the front pair with no idea what to do next and no real confidence that we'll even keep hold of the ball. If that isn't something to criticise, I don't know what is.

This was a SIGNIFICANT improvement on the Arsenal performance. In horrendous conditions, there was no shortage of skill, passion and desire to win. MON got the tactics spot on and made, I believe, the correct substitutions. He went to win the match and for the last 20 mins we had Liverpool petrified. Spot on. It's not hard to not be better than the Arsenal game (that match lacked the endeavor we expect of this side), but we weren't bad in this game. We weren't fantastic either, but it was good enough and we deserved something. The difference between us and them was 1 class strike from a world class player, born of a lucky break. Speaks volumes. Onwards and upwards. You honestly thought that was good enough? If you do then I'm envious of you because life must always be good for you. You have some pretty low **** standards my friend. Liverpool were poor and we were worse.

I don't know what game some people were watching, I really don't....'dominated the game'? 'played well'?? We couldn't control the play at all, we just watched Liverpool walk towards out goal for 90 minutes, other than a couple of 5 minute spells.