Match day thread - Bournemouth v NUFC

[Sanchino]

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bund ... 473302.jsp

Good lil' summary of what Lazaro brings to the table even though this was written a couple years ago it goes on to state ''The modern attacking midfielder doesn’t just set up on the left, right or through the middle, he can do it all. And so it has proven with Lazaro, whose versatility paves the way for his talents to shine. Operating anywhere behind the striker, the young midfielder’s lightning feet both in speed of sprint and dribbling make him a must-watch player.''

His movement and coolness in front of goal shows he's a natural in that position and he's comfortable. Promising signs after today. Let him start upfront with Carroll/Joelinton/Gayle see how he does with ASM / Miggy on the wings supporting him could be interesting.

[TJR]

We were brilliant to watch today. Another top performance from ASM as well. He wouldn't look out of place in the Liverpool or Man City team on his current form.

I know Bournemouth are awful and have seemingly gave up on trying to fight for survival but even so we played some great football.

Hopefully Brucey sets us up in a similarly attacking matter against West Ham at the weekend. If we attack them I reckon we'll beat them. I'd like to see a front 4 of:

Lazaro Almiron ASMaximin
Gayle

I was very impressed with Lazaro when he came on and I think he deserves a start. Also 2 goals in 2 league games for Gayle, hopefully that can be the beginning of a decent run. Almiron's finish was delightful and he should be able to take some confidence from that going forwards.

[Blue & Maroon]

So glad I was at work

[biggeordiedave]

We were brilliant to watch today. Another top performance from ASM as well. He wouldn't look out of place in the Liverpool or Man City team on his current form.

I know Bournemouth are awful and have seemingly gave up on trying to fight for survival but even so we played some great football.

Hopefully Brucey sets us up in a similarly attacking matter against West Ham at the weekend. If we attack them I reckon we'll beat them. I'd like to see a front 4 of:

Lazaro Almiron ASMaximin
Gayle

I was very impressed with Lazaro when he came on and I think he deserves a start. Also 2 goals in 2 league games for Gayle, hopefully that can be the beginning of a decent run. Almiron's finish was delightful and he should be able to take some confidence from that going forwards.

It's the best football we've played since we had that run of games under Pardew where Ben Arfa, Cisse and Cabaye were absolutely destroying everyone.

[Don Sholeone]

We seem to be playing with so much confidence at the moment. I dont really want to bring Rafa up but I think it's a good comparison atm, i don't see us playing like we did yesterday under Rafa, we would have probably tried to see out a 2-0. I think Bruce gives the players more confidence and belief compared to Rafa.
At times yesterday I saw about 4/5 players pressing Bournemouth defenders in line with their own box and soon as I saw that I had no doubts about the result, it did remind me of what city did to us in the first half of the cup, although not as intense and effectively. Also the fact this was away from home too was even more impressive. Bruce had us playing some really nice football yesterday, hopefully it continues.

[biggeordiedave]

We seem to be playing with so much confidence at the moment. I dont really want to bring Rafa up but I think it's a good comparison atm, i don't see us playing like we did yesterday under Rafa, we would have probably tried to see out a 2-0. I think Bruce gives the players more confidence and belief compared to Rafa.
At times yesterday I saw about 4/5 players pressing Bournemouth defenders in line with their own box and soon as I saw that I had no doubts about the result, it did remind me of what city did to us in the first half of the cup, although not as intense and effectively. Also the fact this was away from home too was even more impressive. Bruce had us playing some really nice football yesterday, hopefully it continues.

Totally agree. Under Rafa, we would have gone into the second half in ultra-defensive mode and maybe occasionally tried to hit them on the break. This is why I have a lot of respect for managers like Brendan Rodgers. If he senses there is an opportunity to score a lot of goals, he will take it. If he sees that he needs to play a defensive game and protect a 1-0 lead then he'll do it, but it's not his default position.

[krully]

Have to say, that is probably the first game in maybe two years where we comfortably dominated from th get go. Very impressed with bentaleb, only one to get me to roll my eyes was shelvey but he did get the assist for Lazaro who has a cracker of a shot in him.

[bodacious benny]

Early goal was key yesterday, they looked beaten as soon as that went in and we took full advantage.

[Remember Colo]

We seem to be playing with so much confidence at the moment. I dont really want to bring Rafa up but I think it's a good comparison atm, i don't see us playing like we did yesterday under Rafa, we would have probably tried to see out a 2-0. I think Bruce gives the players more confidence and belief compared to Rafa.
At times yesterday I saw about 4/5 players pressing Bournemouth defenders in line with their own box and soon as I saw that I had no doubts about the result, it did remind me of what city did to us in the first half of the cup, although not as intense and effectively. Also the fact this was away from home too was even more impressive. Bruce had us playing some really nice football yesterday, hopefully it continues.

Also agree. Problem with Rafa (and maybe it was the players we had then too), but we played so conservatively in almost every match, that the players didn't seem to know what to do in ones against lesser opposition or when they had more of the ball. At least with Bruce it has seemed they can switch more effectively between different tactics and turn in performances like this and the Sheffield win.

[Remember Colo]

Have to say, that is probably the first game in maybe two years where we comfortably dominated from th get go. Very impressed with bentaleb, only one to get me to roll my eyes was shelvey but he did get the assist for Lazaro who has a cracker of a shot in him.

I actually thought Shelvey pinged a lot of good passes around for most of the game, and played an important role when we were dominating play in the middle third of the match. Though I'd agree with some of the criticism people gave him later in the match as he moved farther forward (though it was a perfectly placed and timed assist.

[bodacious benny]

Shame that the shot Carroll caught well at the end didn't fly in, would have been the icing on the cake.

[krully]

Have to say, that is probably the first game in maybe two years where we comfortably dominated from th get go. Very impressed with bentaleb, only one to get me to roll my eyes was shelvey but he did get the assist for Lazaro who has a cracker of a shot in him.

I actually thought Shelvey pinged a lot of good passes around for most of the game, and played an important role when we were dominating play in the middle third of the match. Though I'd agree with some of the criticism people gave him later in the match as he moved farther forward (though it was a perfectly placed and timed assist.

yeah, it was only a minor knitpick on my part, he was well out of gas 60 minutes into the game. That and Hayden's miss

[Colly]

Yeah, Carroll's shot should have been the cherry on top on Hayden's icing.

Or something.

[Don Sholeone]

Shelvey has been a necessary (dr.)evil for us over the past few years, he's far too self centred on the pitch to play for a top 6 club. When he has a good game he can be a game changer, but when he doesn't he's a complete liability. I hate how every ball has to be a hollywood ball from him. If this takeover goes through before he retires then he has to be the first one out the door if we are seriously going to push on.

[Remember Colo]

Shelvey has been a necessary (dr.)evil for us over the past few years, he's far too self centred on the pitch to play for a top 6 club. When he has a good game he can be a game changer, but when he doesn't he's a complete liability. I hate how every ball has to be a hollywood ball from him. If this takeover goes through before he retires then he has to be the first one out the door if we are seriously going to push on.

I've relatively speaking been a defender of his, but I'll also say CM has been the biggest area of need for years now. It's such an important area of the pitch when it comes to controlling and influencing play, and we haven't had seriously influential CMs since Cabaye and Tiote.

[Valentino's fast feet]

Shelvey has been a necessary (dr.)evil for us over the past few years, he's far too self centred on the pitch to play for a top 6 club. When he has a good game he can be a game changer, but when he doesn't he's a complete liability. I hate how every ball has to be a hollywood ball from him. If this takeover goes through before he retires then he has to be the first one out the door if we are seriously going to push on.

I've relatively speaking been a defender of his, but I'll also say CM has been the biggest area of need for years now. It's such an important area of the pitch when it comes to controlling and influencing play, and we haven't had seriously influential CMs since Cabaye and Tiote.

Agree with that on the Cabaye/Tiote partnership. As well as this, with the exception of six months of Willems, we've not really had a decent left back since Enrique.

[Don Sholeone]

Shelvey has been a necessary (dr.)evil for us over the past few years, he's far too self centred on the pitch to play for a top 6 club. When he has a good game he can be a game changer, but when he doesn't he's a complete liability. I hate how every ball has to be a hollywood ball from him. If this takeover goes through before he retires then he has to be the first one out the door if we are seriously going to push on.

I've relatively speaking been a defender of his, but I'll also say CM has been the biggest area of need for years now. It's such an important area of the pitch when it comes to controlling and influencing play, and we haven't had seriously influential CMs since Cabaye and Tiote.

I think he's found his level with us, but moving forward we definitely need a much better and more consistent midfield. Think Shelvey is forgiven more because when he's on his game he helps us massively, so although he's so frustrating at times we definitely need him at this moment in time.

[Remember Colo]

I've relatively speaking been a defender of his, but I'll also say CM has been the biggest area of need for years now. It's such an important area of the pitch when it comes to controlling and influencing play, and we haven't had seriously influential CMs since Cabaye and Tiote.

Agree with that on the Cabaye/Tiote partnership. As well as this, with the exception of six months of Willems, we've not really had a decent left back since Enrique.

Completely agree with that too. Dummett was a safe pair of hands that rarely screwed up, but Willems highlighted how much a skilled fullback can offer to attack. And a team like ours that has been missing high scoring players that can lift a game on their own needed as many minor threats as possible.

[beatski]

Yeah we've needed a better midfield and better full backs for ages now. Hopefully we address both this summer window.

[bodacious benny]

Anyone else think Joelinton looked far more comfortable v Bournemouth than we’ve seen him before. I thought he played pretty well out wide and as he played there in Germany seemed a lot happier.