villaglint

The guy seems to have lost the ability to tackle which is a pretty significant problem for a defender. From a defensive point of view it was as bad a performance as I've seen him have. He was a massively liability all game there, Vlaar bailed him out on a number of occasions. Going forward great no complaints there but it is no coincidence that our "hard to break down" defence of earlier in the season has gone downhill since he's come back in.

Yeah I thought he did well bearing in mind he played at least four different positions in the game. Gave us some drive from midfield which is a rarity. Although I have no doubt his best position is midfield I would actually play him RB for now. Lowton has been so bad defensively this season it is scary in my eyes he could and should have stopped both goals yesterday. While Bacuna had a couple of dodgy games (Fulham, WBA) at RB he also had a number of good ones and I feel his pace and strength puts him above Lowton right now.

There is logic there but it is a painful one. This fills me with no glee at all. None I tells ya. Doesn't look like Helenius is going to get much of a look in after all. I get that he needs to build up his strength to be a target man but I'm struggling to see how he could be so much worse at holding the ball up than Kozak. Granted Kozak looked a decent finisher and had good strikers instinct but he was pretty poor at holding the ball up or winning flick ons.

Lowton has gone the way of Weimann this year, really really out of form and has been all season. Struggling to remember the last time I saw him actually make a tackle. These wafted lunges are laughable against this standard of player. I'm sure I remember him making a number of great tackles last year but now I'm not too sure. Such a shame we started off pretty well. Was always going to be about concentration at the back and we gave it away in under a minute

He's had to shave his hands in the last week to make sure he doesn't get outed

I don't understand what people are finding so difficult. When players are developing you want them to play at the best standard possible to test them. Notts County beat Sheffield Utd yesterday and we lost the week before. Therefore he staying at Notts to play for the better team

Ok when I get time I'll google it and give it a try

I don't actually know how to do that on iPhone. I know you've already said you don't know either. But no is the answer

Yeah stopped working for me too. iPhone 4S on iOS 7.0.4 also not working on iPad either. Same as above says network error, cleared cache, reinstalled etc and no help. I realise we'll have to wait for the update as you stated above Limpid but just wanted to add my name to list of people struggling

Definitely dont deny that. They are two incredible players and would help anyone, just as Alonso, Di Maria, Benzema are great players and would help those around them. Think the original comment was something likes "owes his success to Xavi and Iniesta" and I disagreed with that. He is too good to owe his success to anyone.

Ronaldo has lots of attributes to his game that are far better than Messi and I agree he will be seen as a great. In terms of all round game he really is a monster. However Messi is very unique and I don't agree at all that he relies on Xavi and Iniesta. Ronaldo is hardly struggling with Alonso, Bale etc. Also if you look at most of Messi's goals they are hardly tap ins! he makes nearly all of them himself.

I think Ronaldo will definitely win the Ballon D'Or and deserves it this time around. I watched Messi's return last night and he looked very very good indeed. As quick and sharp as I have seen him for sometime, looked like scoring or creating a goal every time he got it. When he scored the last goal I was forced to shout out loud "this guy is too ****ing good" even though my misses was sleeping right next to me. The commentator said something along the lines of "that's what you get from the best player in the world" which I thought was tough on Ronaldo but you can't argue with it. Ronaldo is a truly exceptional player but Messi will go down as one of the greatest. There's probably some boxing analogy to this which someone who knows more about it than me can add.

Just to join in the Kiyotake fun, this is brilliant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ha-mjZoIUE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I think its McNobby saying to the fans that he's doing his best to keep a player they don't want to lose. Then when (hopefully) it happens he can blame it on nasty Wes for forcing the issue and betraying the club and fans

Seen him play about 4 times and never really stood out to me as someone who will make it. Skillful and quickish but still very young so would be miles away from the first team.

If this has happened wouldn't it have to be announced publicly?

Yeah I don't buy it. He posted in off topic yesterday which the real HH never did. However if he can name the starting line up several times in a row I will be convinced

Haven't seen enough of him to make a judgement on whether he can cut it in prem. At least he's scored a lot of goals at a lower level which is one thing Bowery hasn't done. Don't think he's being signed as a striker but more as a wide forward in 433. People keep saying we don't need this player but we are woefully short of wide forwards. Our current options when Gabby is injured are Tonev and Weimann both really off the pace right now. Yes we need an AM and I would be stunned if this was at the expense of that. This is filling a real hole in our squad with a promising talent. It feels to me liked we looked at Tom Ince but got wind someone else is prepared to pay a lot more than we think he's worth in terms of fee and wages. Lambert then said to himself who is the next best prospect we who fits our budget.

One thing about Lescott if we did get him on a perm deal (though don't see how the finances would work for us at all). He would do a job for us in CB this year and if Okore is to be a starter next year then maybe Lescott could go to LB. He was great there for Everton (admittedly a number of years ago) and it is a position that has dogged us for far too many years.

Would like to see Graham and possibly Robinson get similar moves to clubs where they will get lots of 1st team action

The biggest disappointment with Okore and Kozak too is that their injuries set them back a year. Not just a year of us not having them in the team. But also a year of them getting up to speed in the league. Both were to some extent projects for the future and that has now been pushed a year out in both cases. Seeing as these were the only significant fees we paid in the summer it is a big blow in both cases.

United don't want him to go to Palace - they want to see how he performs in an unfamiliar environment and they want him closer than London. Hope we don't get him personally as he is too hit and miss Lescott likely. Holtby or Hoolahan probable, Samaras possible. Defour unlikely VillaCas - I seem to remember you to some extent being ITK this time last year. Saying we were interested in Sissoko but wages were too high and we were looking at other options. Is there any knowledge behind your post above or just your hunch?

I often get confused. All I know is that I disagree with almost everything one of them says and the other is not too bad. lol am i the one you disagree with? I don't know that's why its confusing !

Yeah not sure Westwood is too much to blame for our possession stats. Although he hasn't been great this year at all in general he is fairly tidy on the ball. Bigger issue by far is that our forwards have dreadful movement and technique so as soon as we progress with the ball on the floor we lose it. Weimann has lost any semblance of first touch. Tonev is still learning how to protect that ball against far stronger and more capable defenders than he has faced in the past. Kozak is still learning how to protect that ball against far stronger and more capable defenders than he has faced in the past. Gabby holds it up well and turns his man brilliantly once every 7/8 games in the other games (see Weimann above) Benteke has been injured/out of form/targeted by defenders as someone the need to hit hard and early. He is yet to find a solution to this problem. If we solve some of these issues maybe by bringing a more technical player like Hoolahan into the advanced areas of the pitch then our ball retention will improve. Don't see what difference a deep lying play maker will make.

I often get confused. All I know is that I disagree with almost everything one of them says and the other is not too bad.