MaVilla

i will caveat by saying that Gerrard & Beale seem to be all in on the 4321/4312 system, so i dont see that changing. However, a lot of the top sides seem to be playing 3421/3412/343 type formations, and to be honest, we have Digne & Cash, so i think its a formation we could play, we would ofc need upgrades elsewhere to make it work. In closing though, i just dont see Gerrard & Beale moving away from what they are doing formation wise.

2 points ahead of newcastle. lol....what a life.

@OutByEaster?, what notes?, do they get published somewhere?

the problem is, quite a few of our players arent actually very good......

next step, 4 x 15 min quarters.

i would guess its due to the fact we play them on the 23rd April.....

i would defo play him in the DM role for the rest of the season (depending on when Nakamba is/isnt ready).

Yeah, lucky for Burnley they have us to play twice in the run in. We virtually guarantee them 3-4 points in our 2 games.

Forest are playing really well, but i dont see them in the auto's, too much ground to make up. 8 points behind second, both Bournemouth & Forest have played 38 games, 8 games left, i dont see an 8/9 point swing in 8 games, unfortunately. They could feasibly be on for third though, although tbh....whats the real difference between 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th in the end.

got MOTM tonight, apparently.

i think someone said it earlier in the thread, but i agree mostly so will say it also. I think the only players in this squad who should be "safe", are Martinez, Digne, Cash, Ramsey, Coutinho & Buendia. For me, literally everyone else can be replaced with someone better (or we have recently signed them for that position, or they signed a contract extension - so we wouldnt replace them), and i wouldnt bat an eyelid if they were.

completely agree. The reason West Ham's forward players can....play.....is they know they have Rice and Soucek behind them. We dont need 11 Coutinho's, we need 1-2 really, really good DMs who are aggressive, powerful but can also play a little (as gerrard seems to like 1 x DM, then its 1 needed), to then allow our more creative players (like Coutinho, Ramsey, bailey, Buendia etc) to go and do their thing, without leaving huge gaping holes behind them that opposition teams can easily exploit, like they have been for......the entire time we have been in the PL (since promotion), we are soft, and have a soft underbelly. Yes the others players have to work hard for the team, but we need that specialised, dirty, powerful, aggressive linchpin in that DM role (before anyone loses their mind - they also need to be decent on the ball - but they also need to be top notch at the defensive side). As you say, Nakamba isnt a flash player by any stretch, but he is aggressive, works hard, defends hard, and can make the easy passes to recycle the ball and allow our forward players to play, i think there is a reason we did so well when Gerrard first came in and Nakamba was in the team. That isnt/wasnt because Nakamba is amazing, but i think he did complement the team and he did an important role (the dirty role), we need at least one, top level player who is our Rice, Soucek, Ndidi etc etc (the next level version of Nakamba). we also need a few other players too, but the DM role....if we dont sign one in the summer i think i will just give up.

such a terrible comment, but......likely completely true! , oh the irony hey!

we have a long way to go, but this should tell us all we need for now: Under Gerrard - 2021/22 - game week 12 to 30: Under Smith: (2021/22 - game week 1 to 11): Under Smith - 2020/21 - Game week 18 to 38:

upset stomach. I wonder if that was linked to the early reports of "Digne leaves the warm up and walks down the tunnel" - aka he needed a poop. Subbed in match with Gerrard saying "upset tummy" - needed a poop.

not. good. enough. ...simples.

Yeah, we need our own version of Rice & Soucek, or something similar, some real power & steel, but also able to play. Although Gerrard seems to like 1 x DM, so just one of them if thats the case..... I think it should be Ramsey, a new no.8 and a new no.6.

the first half of last season was a good season tbh, the last half was turgid, and it continued to be turgid for the first 11 games of this season. Gerrard tbh, and im not trying to defend him, as we have been very poor still at times, but he has improved us compared to the previous 12 months performances, when Smith was sacked we had less points than at the same in our near relegation year. The data: 2020/21: Game 1 to 17 (1.7 PPG) - Smith 2020/21: Game 18 to 38 (1.2 PPG) - Smith 2021/22 : Game 1 to 11 (0.9 PPG) - Smith thats 31 games where we averaged at most 1.2 PPG, and as low as 0.9 PPG, thats almost the equivalent of an entire season. 2021/22 : Game 12 to 28 (1.4 PPG) - Gerrard Hopefully Gerrard will have a large war chest this summer, and tbh, i doubt he would have joined if he wasnt promised that, i just hope we actually spend well this summer, as for some good signings in the last 3 years, we have spent 350m and still have players who a) cant pass the ball, or b) are weak as tissue paper and lack any form of aggression.

i think Buendia and Coutinho can player together in a front 3, but i also think we need a forward who complements them, i think Ings is a very good forward but im not sure he complements them well, i dont think Watkins suits them at all. I would be tempted to try Buendia in the midfield 3, he is aggressive and tenacious enough, but im not sure he retains the ball well enough for the midfield 3. Regardless, imo Buendia and Coutinho are the least of our problems, so many more massive issues in the team than those 2.

im not sure how that is a "clown", everything he said is true. He probably knows he is getting a large war chest in the summer, and is telling them to step up or be replaced. its not nice to hear im sure, and it might even mean some dont put 100% in towards the end of the season, knowing they are likely to be replaced, but this team has been too soft for too long, a lot of them probably deserve to be replaced. Bar 4-6 of them (imo Martinez, Digne, Ramsey, Coutinho, Buendia, and maybe Mings - of the usual starting 11), i think the rest are easily replaceable with higher quality players (ie: 50% of the outfield players), we seriously over-estimate some of our bang average, or even poor players. A couple i would possibly class as borderline, such as Cash, but beyong that, of the starting 11, i dont think the rest are good enough.

agreed, but what i said is also true, if your team mates cant pass 5 yards without losing it, having 1 player who has world class passing and vision isnt going to save our bacon every time. Its like Grealish, if you think back to all the times he did something amazing then looked on in disgust or threw his arms up because the moves broke down as our other players decided their feet are made of a 9 iron. We need an overhaul in the summer if we seriously intend to kick on, and Coutinho can defo be one of those players, especially if you surround him with 3-4 players who can actually kick a ball in a straight line, or can hold up a ball without it bouncing off them like they are a plank....

lol......classic!, love it. (and very true)

i agree. its clear we still have a soft underbelly and half of the team cant pass 5 yards for toffee, but thats the players, we have a lot of average/poor players imo. In terms of what gerrard has done, we have improved under him, and i think for all the frustrations, he is probably getting close to max capacity/ability out of a very average group of players (4-5 of them aside, who are clearly very good or have high potential).

he struggled to get in to the game because half of our team couldnt pass the ball 5 yards if their lives depended on it, its a recurring theme and has been for most of our time back in the PL. No point in having a world class player if the rest of the team have jelly for feet.