Probably no great surprise that we lost at home to Spurs, but the manner of the defeat in the sense of it bursting the bubble of optimism following the transfer window and the fact that we couldn't keep them out for more than two minutes is pretty galling. It's also a concern that we put out a pretty defensive formation and still conceded about 20 shots. What's even more alarming is the run of form since our unusually good run over the Christmas period. That's five defeats in a row, and if memory serves 17 goals conceded in that period. I'm not sure we can read too much into Klose, or even Pinto, yet. But, I do think it's time to forgive and forget and put Ruddy back between the sticks. Couple of vital games coming up against Villa and West Ham - six points there would put a very different slant on things.
You make a couple of valid points Dorset and had Rudd caught the ball which led to the first goal, things cold have been different. The penalty was just in front of me and it was a very soft decision - I also feel we should have been awarded a penalty when Mbokani was bundled over, but the referee should definitely have been wearing white, as it was also a foul on Olsson which led to the 3rd goal.
I agree that as long as his head is in the right place, and I expect the management team to be the best judges of that, that is bring Ruddy back in as well and just pray he can recapture the form of 2/3 years ago because boy do we need a rock in between the sticks between now and May. I don't know if we were looking around for an experienced keeper to come in during January, I know they aren't easy to find, but if we weren't at least looking I think that could turn out to be a massive mistake.
I'm sure JR would have done better against Liverpool and I wonder if the number of goals we've conceded recently has affected his confidence????
I think it probably has - it must be hurting his back bending down so many times to pick the ball out of the net. Time for big John to return methinks and make himself a hero.
Certainly Ruddy is a bigger presence between the sticks, and he should have more experience in critical situations, and Rudd´s confidence looks completely shot at the moment, so a rest wouldn´t do him any harm imo. Otherwise, sifting through last night´s ashes does not make for pleasant viewing. Disregarding Pinto and Klose, who still need more time to settle, I can´t think of anyone who came anywhere near up to scratch, Naismith and Mbokani possibly, for workrate, but that´s about it. Mulumbu and Tettey huffed and puffed but were totally non-instrumental in getting us moving forward, and Tettey again picked up his obligatory yellow. Howson I thought was very poor last night, passing was terrible, Jarvis was slightly better, at least in patches, but we need much more of the same, before we can expect to be competitive. Naturally, as Dorset said, the realistic among us, never expected us to win these last two matches, but the Liverpool extravaganza has I fear, taken its toll on the players, they certainly looked pretty shell-shocked for most of that 90 minutes. Not only do we need to win on Saturday, but we need to win playing well, to give the players a bit of a confidence booster.
Your last sentence sums it all up for me RBF and we MUST put on a good display on Saturday as well as win!!!!!
I agree it would be nice to play well and win, but to be honest I don't care if we have 12% possession and they hit the bar a dozen times just as long as we get the three points, that has to be priority, though obviously the chances of doing so increase if we play well
I too wish we had bought a keeper in the transfer window, I'm not sure Declan is up to it but I'm also fairly sure Ruddy isn't either. His form was very poor before and his one chance to impress since, against Citeh in the cup, he was awful again. I think the concensus then was that Rudd was still the better option then, I'm not sure he still isn't but I think AN needs to be pretty sure Ruddy will improve things before dropping Declan, otherwise Declan's probably already dented confidence may never recover. I noticed that Villa have become so desperate that they have been fielding Bunn in goal. They were however before last night and Ayew's transgression becoming harder to beat. So with our away record and current form I'd take any sort of win, no matter how scrappy/lucky or undeserved. On another point, from AN post match interview, is he starting to really lose patience with his players, he has always said things like they are, but he actually individually singled out Tettey for criticism for his booking and was quite critical of the defending. I realise that there were few positives to take from last nights match but is he feeling the pressure? Some could argue that with the game all but gone he could have withdrawn Tettey second half to ensure he was available for the more important Villa game? Bah!
Actually Melchy, I´m not sure I would have dropped Ruddy, although he probably deserved to be, despite Rudd waiting in the wings to get a go, because what we have now, is Kean away on loan, and the other two keepers, both with their confidence in tatters, Ruddy because he was dropped, and Rudd because of the goals whistling past him left, right and centre. Can´t honestly see that situation improving, whoever gets the nod for the next few games. Difficult one for Neil though at the time, because Ruddy had been well under par for some time, but then again, he is your number one keeper, do you keep faith with him and hope he´ll improve, or dump him.
Damned one way or another now. But Rudd would have been increasingly demoralised seeing Ruddy play so poorly and not getting a shot and I would think Ruddy's confidence was (or should have been) in tatters because he was making all the mistakes, not because of being dropped. And your number one is your number one only until he plays himself out of the team or someone plays their way in. In this case the former, but whether Rudd is doing enough to keep him out is also questionable. With both making mistakes and neither seemingly able to make the odd game changing save, maybe experience should be the decider. But I personnally have no faith in Ruddy improving matters. Bah!
We aren't in a good situation with goalkeepers! My thoughts are that i would probably rather have the more vocal and bigger presence of Ruddy in goal for key times. Yes he was poor at the start of ther season but we all know what he is capable of and we might need that moving towards the end of the season. Hopefully being dropped will have given him a kick up the arse!
I don't know about the kick up the arse, but he definitely got a headbutt to his fist! I'm just excedingly worried that no ammount of ass kicking will bring back what has been missing for quite some time now. I hate to say it and hope I'm wrong but I think he is a spent force and will never get back to where he was pre-injury. Bah!
