VillanousOne

It is impossible to say if Luna is better than Bennett or vice versa yet and I like Luna, but in terms of someone with a little of technical ability and composure on the ball Bennett was one of few players we had who can 'sometimes' do that. Most will argue he doesn't have the physical frame to be a midfielder, but considering our lack of other options I just don't buy that.

putting it out there, but do we look better with Luna in the team? I'm not sure i rate Bennett as a defender although he did get better towards the end of the season, but i do know his passing and crossing puts most of the rest of the midfield to shame. it's too early to write Luna off as i still think he has great qualities, but so far I think bringing Luna in and KEA back has taken us backwards.

i don't get why we continue to play Andi as a winger, Gabby has done this in the past so at least we know he can do it (sort of), Andi is as many have said on here a goal poacher. I understand why Lambert has set us up in the past because of the limited options we had across the squad, Zog, Albrighton, Holman and even Dawkins failed to provide the width he craved so he went with 3 strikers, also KEA, Ireland failed to give us any stability or creativity in midfield. But he has had plenty of time to bring in new players to change/improve how we play.

So even when the weight of opinion was almost 80% of fans and tabloid media stating we want or need an attacking midfielder all close season - we don't sign one, instead we sign Kozak the one type of player no-one thought we needed - remember Heskey? (And yes that is harsh on Kozak who could turn out to be a hell of a player) When we were crying out for an experience defender we got Dawkins and Sylla When many (not all) though Bent should still be part of our squad and on the bench at the very least, Lambert plays Bowery. Despite the loss at Bradford, Lambert hasn't learnt the lesson that playing 4 attackers when your midfield is being over run is not a good plan - cue us getting beaten by Newcastle We managed to get so much from players we had no right to expect so much of such us Lowton, Westwood, Weimann etc. now some of those players could struggle with second season syndrome. Tactically i can honestly think of less than a handful of times Lambert's subs/formation changes have ended with us turning defeat into a draw or win. I like the idea behind a squad of young hungry players and pacy attacking football, but it's not quite working out. Lambert has had enough time now, their is no excuses.

It may sound ridiculous so early on in the season, but my optimism is already fast fading. 1) Passing - if we aren't hitting teams on the break then most of our passing seems to be backwards or hoofed to Benteke as we have no middle through play. Delph tries - and I think he will get there, but he is the only one. Westwood is very tidy and I really like him as he is so consistent, KEA is also tidy but for me he is too slow especially with his decision making. Sylla is all action, not sure he is especially creative but he adds energy to our midfield and you'd hope that other players could feed off that. Bacuna was poor against Liverpool but too early to judge him, Tonev or Helenius. 2) Set pieces - Westwood isn't great, nor is he terrible, 1 in 4 set pieces might pose a threat - which is better than Bannan ever was. But we need more options. Most training ground based set pieces are useless and we still pose no threat whatsover from free kicks. 3) Counter attacking - Our best hope still, but if Weimann continues to be poor or we get heavily marked we lose our shape and it becomes all about hoof ball to Benteke. 4) Defending - we've stopped looking so fragile at set pieces, but we are still giving away poor goals, usually as a result of mistakes in possession or poor marking. I feel much happier with the likes of Vlaar, Clark, Baker and Okore as options now. But it feels like that has come at the expense of Lowton and Luna - who have been sketchy at best. Looking at Newcastle today that had much more physical presence and won more balls than us and they countered much better than we did. If 433 means we are utter cobblers at home and have to out score teams people after giving them one goal leads away then i'd rather we ripped up the game plan and started again as i've seen enough. I want to see what Tonev, Gardener and Helenius can do, utterly sick and tired of being outplayed at home. Plus I think teams are wising up to the way we play now. So Lambert show why exactly we should be lauding your greatness.

Guzan: 6 - couple of good saves but the one into the path of Gouffan was iffy Lowton: 5 - just not at the races Vlaar: 6 - the best defender out there Clark: 6 - hardly saw him do much aside from almost concede a penalty (no point in including Okore but hope he isn't crocked) Luna: 4 - dreadful Delph: 5 - burned bright then fizzled out completely KEA: 5 - Did not play well and just doesn't know who to pass to or when to pass Westwood: 6 - One good cross, mainly tidy play Gabby 5: Poor miss Weimann: 3 - useless Benteke 5: Aside from the goal did very little subs: Kozak, Tonev - not possible to rate the two touches they had between them

what no ratings thread?

I think taking KEA off really just lost us the midfield and the game

they have one the physical battle all afternoon

hooooooooooof

are we the home team?

Weimann has been **** awful and so as our defence

utter defensive wankery.

it's like the second half of the season didn't happen

do we actually pratice set pieces?

does KEA Think he plays for Newcastle?

I know we've improved but this whole 'the opposition will always gain a one goal lead' really fecks me off

Pardew said that? Excellent. 'He’s a handful. We dealt with him last time, and we’ll have to do that again.' says failed Charlton and West Ham manager Alan Pardew on Christian Benteke.

we need to improve our crossing and set pieces to make the most of playing both Tekkers and Kozak but having read Pards smug assertion that his defenders can deal with Benteke - i'd like to see them deal with both Tekkers and Kozak at the same time!

22 players at least

he's the most uninspiring manager England have had in decades and he has a bunch of ageing old pros and incredibly overrated players that he is picking from.

so Hutton is whinging that we had three options to loan him to Spanish clubs and didn't agree a deal. so that translates to a Spanish club saying 'hey we'll have your player but will pay only 20% of his wages' and us saying 'erm **** no'. If Hutton wants to play so bad he could agree to take a pay cut or cancel his contract by mutual consent, but is he going to give up his lovely big wages for that '**** no'

if he can just stop flying into tackles/blocks/interceptions that he can't recover from - then he would be fine. It's heroic to commit if it comes off but is pretty terrible if it doesn't.

I remember no-one at all rated Benteke when we signed him, even the Genk fans dribbled on about how he wasn't ready for the Premiership and they were surprised we signed him. that basis alone gives me hope that Kozak will be a real find. was just thinking though if we played 442 do we have anyone particulalry good player who can play on the right wing? Presuming Albrighton is unlikely to get a look in?

horrible luck with Injury and lack of confidence have ruined him, rather than lack of talent but i agree he won't get the run of games he needs here. bottom line is any player can have a good run of form and games and then never find that form again, would love Marc to find his mojo with us but doubt it will happen.