aimaad22

Nice draw to top off a lovely transfer window! If we put out a decent team we may have a chance, however our involvement in Europe and the fact we have very little squad depth will enusre that wont likely happen.

Rooney

Apart from the fact Debuchy/Douglas would be improvements on the first team and not backup

Thats just what I was thinking. Much happier with Shola as backup for strikers than Williamson/Raylor for defence.

Agreed, especially about Debuchy. Disappointing when we aren't willing to spend a bit more than 6M on the guy considering that he's one of two or three players we need to complete a very capable team.

Off to Spurs apparently. Very good signing for them.

Yup seems to me Ba, Cisse, Cabaye etc are in need of a bit of a confidence boost. A good outing on Thursday and they should be back to their best soon.

He would be devastating in the Barcelona team

We did? I was under the impression De Jong broke it?

Agreed. People these days just use pace. Not saying thats bad but its what makes HBA so refreshing, overflowing natural ability. Thats why I liked Ronaldinho better than any of the so called stars we have these days, he just oozed skill and talent although didn't lack for pace. Its what makes football wonderful, and anybody trying to tell these players to play differently needs shooting! As for Ben Arfa, last year some people had concerns about his workrate and backtracking, he seems to have sorted that out too. In addition so far he's looked hungrier than any of our players willing to take responsiblity (penalty incident against Spurs, told Ba in no uncertain terms he's taking it) Rather than whinge about some small issue or speculate when he's going to leave the club or anything of the sort, Im just going to sit back and enjoy his time here because it is very unlikely we'll see a more talented player at the club for a very long time.

Aye, and a certain outrageous freekick against Derby was it? When he bend it in from around the side of the wall that is not behind the goal directly. Heck I dont even know how to describe it! But it was good

Yes, lets give him this season, an injury free season hopefully! Robert's goals used to be something, and those freekicks! Miss those. Obviously considering how he is playing these days we're all singing praises of HBA, and I've very rarely seen a footballer as naturally talented as him in this league, and definitely not at this club. However some of the moments provided by those two were magic. Still cant believe the goal Robert scored against Fulham

A lot of it was down to Krul as well. I do like Simpson, I think he's ok defensively. But these days you just gota have something from your full backs going forward and he just seems clueless with the ball at his feet in an offensive position.

If only we had gotten Debuchy.

Hopefully Obertan can be classified under that by virtue of head size.

Seems HBA can do the job but he isn't an out and out winger imo and would be at his devastating best in a free role behind the strikers. As has been pointed out Jonas doesn't have the delivery. Hopefully Marveaux can do something for us this season. The likes of Ba and Cisse could do with a proper winger floating in balls from time to time. As has been mentioned defenders are vary of them now and we'll have to mix it up a bit more this season.

Not outstanding by any means but there were far worse performances than Santon's.

The sad thing is they were far from their best. We just didnt look up for it.

An absolutely abysmal first half lost the game. Pardew has to take the fall for it. Everyone standing back at the edge of the box waiting for them to come at the goal. You cant let a team of that quality do that. No pressing or urgency whatsoever. Ben Arfa was the only one looking to go at players and trying to make something happen. Much better second half and we could have gotten back in the game, both the strikers had great chances to score but it just wasnt happening today. Horrible performances from Cabaye, Ba and Cisse. Worst I've seen them play. Especially the strikers, the passing was woeful and they seemed completely off the pace, much likes the Spurs game. Hope these three can get back to close to their best soon. Anita seemed like a poor man's Tiote, although much too early to judge him of course and he does look to have some good attributes once he gets used to this league. Really really disappointed with this performance, for the first time in a long time felt like some of the players just weren't up for it. Plus the tactics were woeful. Only bright side was HBA again, absolute class and the only one looking to make things happen.

Aye, nobody just seems to 'dribble' any more. Even with the likes of Ronaldo, its mostly just hitting the ball ahead and using your pace to get there first. With HBA its pure ability to get past people, half the time it seems like you are watching him in slow motion. Not many players like that left these days.

Well Downing and Henderson play for England so.......

I just dont get whats happened to him. At his best at Liverpool, there was not a more dangerous striker in the world in my opinion. He had everything. Change of club, city etc can be unsettling I know but such a drastic performance drop is just mind boggling. The guy must have personal problems or something.

Could be true but it wouldn't be solely down to him anyway.He is slow and gives away needless freekicks that so often end up costing you. Decent enough player for backup no doubt he did a job for us last season but we really really need a proper CB as Williamson will end up being our starting CB for a good portion of the season considering Taylor's injury record.

I think that was the case for the first hour or so but he started getting his act together in the latter part of the game. No doubt he was way way off his best though.

6 days to go, either of Peiters/Douglas in and maybe some striking backup and this will have been a great window.