Are you suggesting we can do better than 10tj last season ? Its worth pointing out we might finish between 10th and say 12 th this ?? Stop picking at rafa hes done very well abd hes had the balls to stand up to ashley
Of course I have to take all the credit for the result today with another match winning thread ;-) as well as my very presence of being at the game. I must admit I had to think twice about wearing my colours as I thought it was tempting fate but clearly everything was lined up very nicely! As for the game, that was some debut from Miggy, absolutely lit the place up. What I liked about having him on the pitch wasn’t so much what he did with the ball etc, it was more about how the rest of our midfield and our strikers seemed to want to put in a performance as well. Haven’t seen the sending off on the telly, only in real-time at the match and it looked ****ing dirty and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in thinking that Miggy was gonna be cattled for a while afterwards, thankfully not. Longstaff just seems to get better game by game. So much went through him today and a lot of our players were looking to give the ball to him all game which was very encouraging. His tackling is absolutely spot on and his range of passing is pretty impressive and will only get better with time, he’s been an absolute find this season that’s for sure, does the simple stuff very well and he is so calm and composed on the ball it’s unreal. Can’t wait for Tuesday now.
Almiron - new Tactics - different to earlier in season Whingeing about money - irrelevant Berating players - when? Performances - due to players, manager and staff all pulling together Yes some performances earlier were too defensive but as with most issues, judge over a season not just a few games.
Rafa's learned, which is encouraging. I hope he's still with us, for sure, but keeps 'learning' too so we don't start badly. Berate is wrong word - belittle is better. He's fantastic to have around and as has been proven 2nd half of the season we do kick on. I like our tactics now, we have an identity. This 5-2-3 is really interesting. Too long spent fannying around with 4-2-3-1 (and various defensive variations of it, including 9-0-1 vs Chelsea) but as I say he has learned which is positive.
Just watched the game and thought we looked good. Creating numerous chances. Almiron always on the front foot and seems to make the whole team more positive.
I think Hayden has really helped Longstaff. Can you see him being as good with Shelvey or anyone else. Time will tell. Under 21 manager was there watching him. Good future ahead of him.
Just watched MOTD, that tackle on Almiron was ****ing nawty like! I’m stunned he came out of that and carried on, thankfully he didn’t have his foot planted or it could have been the end of him this season for sure. They always look rash and reckless in real-time and sometimes the replays dumb it down a bit, bit on this occasion like. Welcome to the EPL Miggy !! Didn’t realise Longstaff had rattled the upright at the time due to angle I was sitting at but he was damned unlucky, he’s gonna be some player for us I feel.
Best performance of the season by far! Only Huddersfield, but some of our passing and crosses verged on brilliance!
What I found most striking was the pace of our counter attacks. We were far more fluid and some of the passing was sumptuous
Lets remember who we where playing and until the sending off they where more tha snatch for us. However a win is a win.
No doubt about it, Rafa has learnt. You would hope he will err away from the overly defensive tactics or the constant pissing on in the press. There is no doubt in my mind this did not help our efforts. But lets be honest, it would be even nicer if he wasn't put in that position by our **** of an owner. That is the reason afterall that he got into that early season funk. Yes he has to be bigger and not whine. The overly defensive stuff wasn't all down to that, although it maybe contributed as he got into a negative mindset. He began convincing himself we were one of the worst 3 sides which we clearly weren't. I'm making excuses for it all of course, but I think they are valid. Obviously if he was put in the same situ again and made the same mistakes then that is different. You have to see it from Rafa's perspective though. He has come from managing Real Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, Inter, Napoli. Money is no object, training grounds and youth systems state of the art. No worries. Then to us and you have an owner running it like his cheap sports store, despite telling you it would be different. You are gonna get frustrated and sound off a bit. As I say as long as you learn from your mistakes I think managers have to be allowed to make them. Repeat them no, but making them is only human. The overall package with Rafa is good. We have certainly got into a better state of mind from the Arsenal game at home. Mistakes have happened along the way but we've generally approached games a lot better. Basically about a month after the window shut! The difference coming out of a window like the last one having delivered for the manager is huge. Fans are up, Rafa is in a good frame of mind and the other players can see the club making an effort too. Its not a coincidence.
I'm convinced the Chronicle are reading this forum: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spo...ws/isaac-hayden-says-sean-longstaffs-15888321
You've gotta take your hat off and give credit where credit's due to Hayden like. He openly admitted to wanting to leave before the season even started and his chances were few and far between up until the turn of the year really. He was on the verge of going to WBA (if i remember rightly) in the January transfer window. When you see the performances he has been putting in, for someone who doesn't want to be here, he's giving 110% every game. Don't get me wrong he's no world beater but you can't knock his committment to the club when he's been put in the team of late.