Rayvin

Reckon we should consider swapping Gouffran with Ben Arfa soon...

We've started brightly but if they score we'll retreat into ourselves...

Cardiff have had only two attempts and neither of them on target. We'd have to pull something special out of the bag to fuck this up.

Yeah, the complexion of this game will change markedly next half. With that said, they've offered no penetration themselves so I think we should be able to hold this.

YEEESSSS

Now if we can just go for the kill rather than sitting back.

FUCKING YES!

Game feels a bit scrappier now... this is where I fear for us usually.

Couple of good chances there, hope we can keep this up.

Dare I say it - we're looking quite the better team at this point.

Whichever way you view the teamsheet... it's still a better collection of players than Cardiff. With that said, I'm not expecting anything from this in the hope that I'm pleasantly surprised.

Pretty comfortable all said.

Thanks. I was tempted to reply to your earlier post that Gouffran was similar to Obertan save for their overall ability to affect the outcome of the game. That play was probably case and point.

Obertan was never going to score that but superb layoff. Couldn't make out who it was from my stream though...

Well this was more straightforward than feared.

We have zero ability to retain any form of meaningful possession in the final third...

Sigh...Cisse...

That does seem to be true. On the other hand, Short is a bit of a pillock; As long as NUFC's interests are aligned with Mashley's, I think we do well. It's only when the two diverge that we get shafted. Short on the other hand just isn't a very good chairman.

I don't understand why Leeds have taken so long to re-emerge... they don't look likely to return to being the established top flight force they once were any time soon. Anyway, I'd be disappointed to lose this of course. Would be nice to think we could make a go of the League Cup this year even if it'd put us in contention for the dreaded Europa League.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/18/barcelona-gerardo-martino-tiki-taka This was an interesting read - about the invention and growth of 'possession football'. Newcastle were involved in the very early stages (1912) as what appears to be the first English club to adopt it (we've obviously regressed since then...) Bobby Robson was also one of the key proponents. Good article though cos it traces the growth of the thing through key individuals across different clubs and eras.

That is staggering... you'd think that would be enough for people but apparently not.

I'd argue we were better to be honest, just mentally weaker.. certainly with Shearer anyway. Although he probably would have tipped the scales their way had he gone to Manchester.

I reckon that a couple of years ago it was obvious that Messi was better. These days, I actually think if it's just that 'Messi is the best' is what people are used to. Ronaldo is amazing, and I'd pick him over Messi myself, even if the latter is still better.

I thought Aeris needed to start these for us to continue winning...

This is actually a fair point - although I do feel like we actively try to sell the players even if its for high prices. And remember that the chances are we'll only see about half of the amount reinvested. I reckon we'd have taken 15 for Cabaye even though we frequently said it would be 20+