Match day - Chelski v NUFC

[UlversToon]

It's not todays result that hurts, actually surprised is wasn't a heavier defeat, but the losses against the likes of Watford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Huddersfield and Burnley stick in the throat as we need to beating those teams if we're to finish 17th or above.

[Don Sholeone]

We are actually witnessing a synchronised "Manstrual cycle" here, let get Attenborough to narrate everyone Manstrating

[Sanchino]

I think we need a whole reshuffle. Ritchie hasn't looked good in the past 5 games or so, when he gets shut down of a game and can't produce his set-piece/crossing play then he's useless as he hasn't got Murphy's, Atsus or Aarons speed and skill. Diame is awful too, how many misplaced passes did he do? And how many times was he caught napping in the center of the park doing f*** all being useless. He shouldn't even be on the subs bench just a liability, Lejune doesn't look good either the sooner Lascells comes the better. Our team simply isn't good enough, too many mediocre players who look decent in the Championship but can't cut it in the Prem. In Jan we need a striker who can finish or Rafa godamit just start Mitrov and see how he does in a full 90, more talented and dangerous than Joselu who's just awful too. A team with Joselus, Diames and Manquillo just screams relegation and Championship.

Next week's team against Leicster

Darlow
Yedelin Lascells* Clark Mmeba*
Hayden Shevely
Murphy Perez Aarons*
Mitrovic

Swap Lejuane with Lascells if he anit fit yet and Dummet if fit for Mmeba and Atsu in for Aarons if fit. Ritchie, Joselu, Gayle, Merino to come off bench if needed. We need to refresh things up and give Mitrovic and Aarons starts as we're becoming too predictable now in attack, need something to change and Rafa needs to stop picking players who are out of form (Ritchie, Joselu, Diame, Manquillo, Lascells, etc)

[toonboy984]

We are exactly where we all thought we would be / should be in the league so not sure exactly what more people are expecting. Our good start to the season seems to have made some fans think that we should be above fighting relegation. Our sole aim this season is to get 17th, nothing else.

That's absolutely true but that doesn't mean we should just shrug and fall back on our league position. We didn't forgive that of Pardew or Carver so why do we do it now we have a supposedly top manager? We seem to have this mindset of either we want a manager out or we worship him, why are we not allowed to criticise his decisions or a performance without wanting him sacked? Yes, I expect nothing away to Chelsea or Man Utd, but to ship 3 goals at home to Watford (when they could've had 5 or 6) is pathetic. We're in a reasonable position now but we've been sliding for weeks, why are we not allowed to discuss that?

I think it’s an acceptance from the fans on how poor the squad is man for man. Obviously the recent form is a concern but in all honesty it’s very hard to get angry at Rafa because ‘on paper’ we shouldn’t even be so high up the league. I don’t think Pardew and Carver ever had squads this weak.

[Colly]

That's absolutely true but that doesn't mean we should just shrug and fall back on our league position. We didn't forgive that of Pardew or Carver so why do we do it now we have a supposedly top manager? We seem to have this mindset of either we want a manager out or we worship him, why are we not allowed to criticise his decisions or a performance without wanting him sacked? Yes, I expect nothing away to Chelsea or Man Utd, but to ship 3 goals at home to Watford (when they could've had 5 or 6) is pathetic. We're in a reasonable position now but we've been sliding for weeks, why are we not allowed to discuss that?

I think it’s an acceptance from the fans on how poor the squad is man for man. Obviously the recent form is a concern but in all honesty it’s very hard to get angry at Rafa because ‘on paper’ we shouldn’t even be so high up the league. I don’t think Pardew and Carver ever had squads this weak.

His job is to the get the best out of the players he has though, and he's not getting anywhere near that. He can't whinge about not getting enough to spend when he's leaving a £15m striker as an unused sub every week, plus there's a load of Rafa signings not even making the bench. If he's doing it to make a point then I can't see how as a match going fan I'm supposed to back that.

[Don Sholeone]

I think we need a whole reshuffle. Ritchie hasn't looked good in the past 5 games or so, when he gets shut down of a game and can't produce his set-piece/crossing play then he's useless as he hasn't got Murphy's, Atsus or Aarons speed and skill. Diame is awful too, how many misplaced passes did he do? And how many times was he caught napping in the center of the park doing f*** all being useless. He shouldn't even be on the subs bench just a liability, Lejune doesn't look good either the sooner Lascells comes the better. Our team simply isn't good enough, too many mediocre players who look decent in the Championship but can't cut it in the Prem. In Jan we need a striker who can finish or Rafa godamit just start Mitrov and see how he does in a full 90, more talented and dangerous than Joselu who's just awful too. A team with Joselus, Diames and Manquillo just screams relegation and Championship.

Next week's team against Leicster

Darlow
Yedelin Lascells* Clark Mmeba*
Hayden Shevely
Murphy Perez Aarons*
Mitrovic

Swap Lejuane with Lascells if he anit fit yet and Dummet if fit for Mmeba and Atsu in for Aarons if fit. Ritchie, Joselu, Gayle, Merino to come off bench if needed. We need to refresh things up and give Mitrovic and Aarons starts as we're becoming too predictable now in attack, need something to change and Rafa needs to stop picking players who are out of form (Ritchie, Joselu, Diame, Manquillo, Lascells, etc)

I'd try 4-3-3 personally

Darlow

Mbemba Lascelles Clark Dummett

Hayden Shelvey Merino

Murphy ..........................................Aarons

Gayle

Have Merino and Shelvey taking it in turns to push forward to support in a 10 role

[MitroMania]

It's not the defeat today, I think everyone expected the loss and probably a heavier one than we got (although it probably should have been if not for Darlow saving us quite a few times).

It's the complete lack of game plan and attacking intent. What is our style of play? We play wingers but don't cross the ball, we play a number 10 but rarely have possession long enough to play through balls to the striker etc. It's the same sh*t every week, just run around for 90 minutes without any real game plan other than to "keep solid". We don't ever look like scoring and when we do it's usually down to a mistake from the opposition.

Pathetic football. I don't mind losing, it's losing like we've done this season where we look clueless and a team of headless chickens which really boils my p*ss. If teams like burnley and Watford (both of whom have similar teams to ours) can provide some sort of attacking intent to their play, why the f*ck can't we?

Edit: And what is the point of making subs at 75/80 mins when we're already out of the game?

[toonboy984]

I think it’s an acceptance from the fans on how poor the squad is man for man. Obviously the recent form is a concern but in all honesty it’s very hard to get angry at Rafa because ‘on paper’ we shouldn’t even be so high up the league. I don’t think Pardew and Carver ever had squads this weak.

His job is to the get the best out of the players he has though, and he's not getting anywhere near that. He can't whinge about not getting enough to spend when he's leaving a £15m striker as an unused sub every week, plus there's a load of Rafa signings not even making the bench. If he's doing it to make a point then I can't see how as a match going fan I'm supposed to back that.

I understand your point but I think he’s entitled to moan about the spending when you compare it to some of the other smaller sides in the league. The squad was barely strengthened in the summer, it’s pretty much the same quality as the side that just scraped to the championship title. 15 points from 15 games is near enough the best this squad is capable of I believe. Yes you might say ‘well we were 6th in the league not so long ago’ which is true, however the quality of a squad can’t be measured over 7 games. Where we are now is a true reflection of the squad. Of course we’re on a bad run, and that is a concern right now but you can’t help but feel sorry for Benítez, he’s been completely sold down the river by Ashley.

[bodacious benny]

Both Brighton and Huddersfield were in the top 10 in Europe for net spend this summer. Whoever was in charge would struggle getting consistency and decent football from our current crop.

[Donkey Toon]

It's not the defeat today, I think everyone expected the loss and probably a heavier one than we got (although it probably should have been if not for Darlow saving us quite a few times).

It's the complete lack of game plan and attacking intent. What is our style of play? We play wingers but don't cross the ball, we play a number 10 but rarely have possession long enough to play through balls to the striker etc. It's the same sh*t every week, just run around for 90 minutes without any real game plan other than to "keep solid". We don't ever look like scoring and when we do it's usually down to a mistake from the opposition.

Pathetic football. I don't mind losing, it's losing like we've done this season where we look clueless and a team of headless chickens which really boils my p*ss. If teams like burnley and Watford (both of whom have similar teams to ours) can provide some sort of attacking intent to their play, why the f*ck can't we?

Edit: And what is the point of making subs at 75/80 mins when we're already out of the game?

This. Sums up my frustration with Benitez perfectly. For all his vaunted greatness I have yet to see anything from him that we didn't get better from the much less vaunted Chris Hughton. Infact we played much better football under him and did better with less money and arguably a weaker squad.

[ALF]

It's not the defeat today, I think everyone expected the loss and probably a heavier one than we got (although it probably should have been if not for Darlow saving us quite a few times).

It's the complete lack of game plan and attacking intent. What is our style of play? We play wingers but don't cross the ball, we play a number 10 but rarely have possession long enough to play through balls to the striker etc. It's the same sh*t every week, just run around for 90 minutes without any real game plan other than to "keep solid". We don't ever look like scoring and when we do it's usually down to a mistake from the opposition.

Pathetic football. I don't mind losing, it's losing like we've done this season where we look clueless and a team of headless chickens which really boils my p*ss. If teams like burnley and Watford (both of whom have similar teams to ours) can provide some sort of attacking intent to their play, why the f*ck can't we?

Edit: And what is the point of making subs at 75/80 mins when we're already out of the game?

This. Sums up my frustration with Benitez perfectly. For all his vaunted greatness I have yet to see anything from him that we didn't get better from the much less vaunted Chris Hughton. Infact we played much better football under him and did better with less money and arguably a weaker squad.

We played much more structured football under Hughton. There was a gameplan, it involved using a big man and a goalscoring midfielder. Barton was moved to RM because of his delivery.

Hughton was head and shoulders above what Rafa has done so far with a much poorer squad.

[Colly]

That's the big thing, the successful sides who've come up have done so with a philosophy and a game plan, even if in the case of Burnley it took them a yo-yo to get it quite right. We spent all last season going "it doesn't matter that we're crap, he's just got this team for now then we'll build a new team on promotion" which just doesn't work. Even if we had spent a fortune you still need a game plan, and ours is near non-existent.

[ALF]

That's the big thing, the successful sides who've come up have done so with a philosophy and a game plan, even if in the case of Burnley it took them a yo-yo to get it quite right. We spent all last season going "it doesn't matter that we're crap, he's just got this team for now then we'll build a new team on promotion" which just doesn't work. Even if we had spent a fortune you still need a game plan, and ours is near non-existent.

Even last year we didn't have much gameplan. We made things a lot harder than they should have been and relied heavily on Gayle and Ritchie getting goals from nowhere. The only times we looked to have a gameplan were when Mitro and sometimes Murphy played. We had more possession up the pitch and looked dangerous.

I said earlier that Rafa is out of his depth, the fact we don't have a recognised philosophy backs that up. Are we attempting to be a defensively solid side that plays on the counter? Do we want ball playing midfielders to get control of the game? Why are we crossing the ball so much with no options in the box? We genuinely look lost out there. It all seems a bit Sunday league.

[Graw]

I think it’s an acceptance from the fans on how poor the squad is man for man. Obviously the recent form is a concern but in all honesty it’s very hard to get angry at Rafa because ‘on paper’ we shouldn’t even be so high up the league. I don’t think Pardew and Carver ever had squads this weak.

His job is to the get the best out of the players he has though, and he's not getting anywhere near that. He can't whinge about not getting enough to spend when he's leaving a £15m striker as an unused sub every week, plus there's a load of Rafa signings not even making the bench. If he's doing it to make a point then I can't see how as a match going fan I'm supposed to back that.

To be fair Rafa has been tasked with making chicken salad out of chicken s*** with the squad we have and as for his signings you cant really expect every bargain basement buy to be able to perform week in week out in the premier league.

The target was 17th we are well on course for that

[Bruuuuuuuuce ()]

Was Ritchie playing left wing back today..?

[ALF]

Was Ritchie playing left wing back today..?

He was on the left of a back 5. With how defensive we were I'd call it LB more than LWB.

[Heisen]

That's the big thing, the successful sides who've come up have done so with a philosophy and a game plan, even if in the case of Burnley it took them a yo-yo to get it quite right. We spent all last season going "it doesn't matter that we're crap, he's just got this team for now then we'll build a new team on promotion" which just doesn't work. Even if we had spent a fortune you still need a game plan, and ours is near non-existent.

Even last year we didn't have much gameplan. We made things a lot harder than they should have been and relied heavily on Gayle and Ritchie getting goals from nowhere. The only times we looked to have a gameplan were when Mitro and sometimes Murphy played. We had more possession up the pitch and looked dangerous.

I said earlier that Rafa is out of his depth, the fact we don't have a recognised philosophy backs that up. Are we attempting to be a defensively solid side that plays on the counter? Do we want ball playing midfielders to get control of the game? Why are we crossing the ball so much with no options in the box? We genuinely look lost out there. It all seems a bit Sunday league.

I thought we had a very clear gameplan last year. Sit deep, give nothing away for free and exploit teams on the counter. It wasn't pretty but it was effective.

We tried to do that this year, however it's a lot harder to do that against teams so much higher in quality. We've tried mixing it up more which has resulted in us pissing goals left right and centre. In all honesty whilst you can't absolve Benitez of blame at all, he is pretty much managing with one hand tied behind his back with the players he had. Ashley moved the goalposts on player recruitment, that isn't his fault. He's basically polishing a turd week in and week out.

[beardface]

People actually think this squad is better than Hughtons Newcastle?

[Sir Bobby]

People actually think this squad is better than Hughtons Newcastle?

Crazy isn’t it? This squad is significantly worse than that squad.

[bodacious benny]

On an awful run but still 5 points outside the bottom 3. Shows how many s*** teams are down there. Stop f***ing up against the other s*** teams and we'll be fine.