I seriously worry for us if we don't make 'proper signings' and the first choice signings poch wants. If we don't reinforce we will fade really really badly
[vine]Op909ZAM2m9[/vine]
Out of interest, which first choice players do you think need replacing?
We brought in back-ups this summer. I was just talking to Pirate55 about this: almost every player we brought in was bought as a back-up, and thus they should be judged based on their intended squad-role as back-ups. And to that extent they've been decent signings for the most part. What we didn't do was bring in quality, the quality Poch asked for and the quality that would have ensured an easier transition for him. Instead, we faffed around making one solitary ten million pound bid for Schneiderlin in the hope that it would trigger some release clause, and then gleefully sodding off when it didn't and we were asked to pay what he was really worth: avoiding spending on the quality additions because we decided to go down the sneaky route and buy the 'back-ups' first instead, because that was cheaper and easier. We probably assured Poch that we'd bring in the actual 'quality' in future windows.
I'm not looking forward to Poch getting his hopes dashed when those 'future windows' arrive and our Glorious Leader proves the worth of his words yet again, but that's for another time. Yes, we brought in back-ups this summer. Yes, Poch now probably knows what we need and where the squad is at. But we also made absolutely pathetic, abortive attempts to sign quality in the summer, and the failure of those pathetic, pallid attempts has held him back and led to situations where throwing on Capoue is seen as a viable solution to the loss of control in a game.
I am not LCLC, but in the long run I think we need new center backs. I don't rate any of our current senior center backs. Vertonghen is the best of the lot, but still not good enough. I also think we need new central midfielders. Bentaleb has the potential to become very good, but is still inconsistent, we can't rely on him to put in a top performance every week. Mason and Dembele can be decent squad players. The others we can get rid of. We also need one or two attacking midfielders. Behind Eriksen and Chadli, our options aren't good enough. Lamela might come good, and he might not. Behind these three there are no one, at least as long as Lennon is in the doghouse. Kane can drop back, but for him to do that, we also need a new striker or two.
But what do YOU know about what Poch asked for? You're making all kinds of assumptions to suit your agenda and it's getting really tiresome,.
By the way, I cannot believe the negativity here. A side building. A squad transitioning into something. A young squad with some not good enough players replacing first choice players...until we are patient and recognize trends occurring at the club, we get what we deserve. Sometimes it makes me so angry.
Apologies if you thought I was putting words in your mouth mate, it was more a general statement on the amount of posts by people about the ref. I can see why the ref gave the penalty, it was the stupidity of our player to blame, not the refs fault. Of course we could have had one too, but how much luck have we had this season ? A fair quota I would say.
We were poor today and Im very frustrated that Poch cannot get us up for games against relegation fodder. As I said earlier the squad is not thst strong, I agree, but the squad is better then Crystal Palace. But we still lost.
In truth, it doesnt actually hurt as much as I thought it would as it was 100% expected. I understand tour points completely mate. Lets move on to the next game. Jan is a massive month for us.
This game wasn't much different to most other games we have played against this kind of opposition this season. A fairly even game, could have gone either way, but this time it went against us. This is our level at the moment. We're simply not good enough to dominate these games from start to finish. I think the Chelsea game gave a lot of fans a false hope, me included. I think everyone agreed from the beginning of the season that we are not good enough to finish in the top 4 this season, but after such a result it is difficult not to start to dream. Today we weren't great, but we played at pretty much the same level we have played at in most games this season. We've had the rub of the green in a few games this season, tonight it went the other way.
I noticed that a lot of people blame the central midfielders today, but I don't think they were that bad. I thought Dembele and Stambouli were okay. Not great, but okay. Capoue wasn't that horrible after coming on. I don't think he is good enough, but we didn't lose because of him. Palace were in the ascendancy for pretty much the entire second half. Nothing changed after Capoue came on.
A bigger problem today was that the players who need to produce the goods for us, Chadli (despite his assist), Eriksen and even Kane (despite his goal), weren't very good. I am one of Eriksen's biggest fans, but he must have put in his worst performance for us today. Slow, weak and seemed unable to control the ball (which seemed to be a problem for a lot of our players today. The pitch didn't look great, but still.)
We are also very dependent on a few players to do the business for us. We have a lot of players, but not a lot of good players. Townsend is far too close to a place in the team. After his injury he isn't not even quick anymore. I can't see anything he brings to the team. I hope that we can find a few players to strengthen us in the transfer window. We need to get more quality in, although I realize it is a difficult time. I am surprised we weren't in for a player like Shaqiri, though. Surely we can compete with Inter Milan for players these days?
The hungrier, fresher team won it, just.
Ref was poor, if one was a pen then so was the other. Difficult to see how the game finished with 22. I thought puncheon stamped on Hugo and it's very suspicious sky didn't even mention during the game.
Move on, nothing to say arsenal and Man U will will both win tomorrow.
Sent from my Magellanic flightless steamer duck using Rufous gnateater
It was Gayle who stamped on Lloris, went totally unnoticed by the officials (despite Lloris laying injured with a cut around his neck) and sky and MotD. Wonder if Kamara and co. will mention it on Goals on Sunday this morning because it was definitely intentional!
Stop whining! This was a game of fine margins, and we happened to be on the wrong side of it. Eriksen missed a sitter, A mildly speaking, soft penalty for them, penalty not given for us, and a deflected pass that produces the winner. **** happens! Move on and get on with it! COYS!
We knew Palace would get stuck in with Pardew back, we just lacked 2% of quality to finish them off at 2-0 and then it is all down to the ref to make some really tricky calls that could go either way
Look at the CMs. Slow. Delivery. Slow. It impacts everything.
Look at the CMs. Slow. Delivery. Slow. It impacts everything.