Jamaal's jizz-juggling, trouser snake-shakers v Huddersfield

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

16 minutes ago, Billy Whitehurst said:

It’s just laziness. Instead of actually watching him and seeing what he brings to a team, they just note that he is a bit petulant so these holier than thou arseholes write him off on that basis. I don’t think he is the best midfielder England have but I think he is their best passer.

 

In fairness, Danny Murphy said he’d take him to the World Cup on MOTD last night. 

 

In a way, I’m pleased, he’ll get a proper break in summer and England players are on a hiding to nothing with our press. 

 

I think the lift being picked for a world cup would provide would be more beneficial than the longer break, providing he doesn't get injured of course. There's also the worry that the constant overlooking of our players will make them believe they need that big move to Chelsea to get a look in.

Edited April 1, 2018 by TheGingerQuiff

[StoneColdStephenIreland 74]

The most baffling thing about it is that Livermore gets picked ahead of him. A nothing of a footballer.

[Anorthernsoul 1221]

18 hours ago, StoneColdStephenIreland said:

The most baffling thing about it is that Livermore gets picked ahead of him. A nothing of a footballer.

 

 

Shelvey's stats are much better than Livermore's this season. He's come into his own alongside Diame this season.

[StoneColdStephenIreland 74]

Yeah England dont have a midfielder like him at all. Kane and Vardy would thrive from his passing ability.

[Kid Dynamite 6986]

They really would. He could play alongside Henderson, who would do the donkey work, and spray the ball up to Alli, Sterling, Lingaard and Kane

[PaddockLad 17077]

Haven't seen anywhere near enough of him to make a decent comparison but it was Eric Dier that played that great ball through for Ali's first goal. Not trying to suggest he's a better midfielder than Shelvey but am sure Dier's ability to play centre back figure's high in Southgate's thoughts. Livermore's inclusion is fuckin inexplicable though..

[The Fish 10702]

In what world were Huddersfield good for a point?! 

14 fewer shots than we took, and not a single one of their 4 shots were on target. They had less possession, and a worse pass success rate, (less than half as many successful passes as we managed). Their heatmap looks like a ghost who's terrified of the penalty box.

xG alone paints a picture of a fairly dominant home performance 2.54 v 0.28. 

Bizarre to try and claim they were anything but well beaten.

Much of what I took from the game has already been mentioned; need for a striker, impressive improvement of players like Diame, Dummett and Lascelles importance. Important also to recognise Dubravka's influence imo, the defence look far more assured than they did with Elliott and Darlow.

Brighton are the only team who can leapfrog us next round of fixtures and if we can beat Leicester and they slip up against Huddersfield we could open up a little comfort zone.

Are people worrie that once safety is mathematically assured, the team will relax too much and throw away a comfortable 10-2th placed finish for a suddenly disappointing 13-15th?

 

On 31/03/2018 at 16:16, OTF said:

They didn't say why but Didgeridoo have switched the commentary suddenly just after the half to the local studio and Jason Donovan (the former actor who played Scott on neighbours) is almost irate about the chances Gayle has spurned.

 

I get the feeling if we're not ahead by 75 min they're going to lift and we'll have a very nervy end to the game.

Not sure why this slipped under the RADAR? Jason Donovan is doing commentary on a Premier League game? What the Hell is happening in Australia?!

[Rayvin 5176]

I'm not concerned about where we end up as long as we don't go down, but I'd actually be pretty surprised if the team simply switch off. Rafa doesn't seem like the kind of manager who will allow that to happen, and I don't really think the players have shown that this is something that they might do anyway. I guess on that basis it would be disappointing if they did, but the final league position isn't too important.

[Tdansmith 3207]

24 minutes ago, Rayvin said:

I'm not concerned about where we end up as long as we don't go down, but I'd actually be pretty surprised if the team simply switch off. Rafa doesn't seem like the kind of manager who will allow that to happen, and I don't really think the players have shown that this is something that they might do anyway. I guess on that basis it would be disappointing if they did, but the final league position isn't too important.

It is for Mike Ashley's wallet.

[Rayvin 5176]

I was under the impression that it didn't really make that much difference where the club finishes but I suppose an extra few million probably counts all the more for a club like ours given how tight Ashley appears to be on these matters.

[Tdansmith 3207]

4 minutes ago, Rayvin said:

I was under the impression that it didn't really make that much difference where the club finishes but I suppose an extra few million probably counts all the more for a club like ours given how tight Ashley appears to be on these matters.

I think it works out about £2million per place in the league, it's also "merit" based as well.

The the higher we finish the more money MA will get.

https://www.totalsportek.com/money/premier-league-prize-money/

[Rayvin 5176]

Fair enough then, I guess being 5 places higher gets us another £10m in the transfer fund at the end of the day.

[zerosum 234]

doubt rafa will let them switch off. shelvy and lascelles won’t switch off if there’s an outside chance of a wc call up.. (doubtful but ynk)

 

Id like to think we could finish above rafas 40 point target .. 

[Alex 34822]

I also think we've struggled in games a bit at times because of the pressure of being in a perilous league position but we appear to be playing well now and also no longer having that over us. Our win coupled with the bottom 3 all losing makes it practically inconceivable we could go down now (the Bookies have us as 33-50/1). Agree about Benitez and his work ethic and not letting the team switch off.

[Tdansmith 3207]

Just now, Rayvin said:

Fair enough then, I guess being 5 places higher gets us another £10m in the transfer fund at the end of the day.

  I like your way of thinking.

Looking at all that  horrendous amount of TV money it wouldn't take much of a percentage of it to go to small local/school clubs to help the facilities. 

[Andrew 4718]

32 minutes ago, Alex said:

I also think we've struggled in games a bit at times because of the pressure of being in a perilous league position but we appear to be playing well now and also no longer having that over us. Our win coupled with the bottom 3 all losing makes it practically inconceivable we could go down now (the Bookies have us as 33-50/1). Agree about Benitez and his work ethic and not letting the team switch off.

 

Theres still a little bit of the britteness there, towards the end of the game hudds got a bit more desperate and had us pegged back in the box a little, those sorts of breaks led to bournemouth getting back into the game and is something we need to get better at for next season, controlling the game out rather than sitting back and inviting undue pressure

[Alex 34822]

13 minutes ago, Andrew said:

 

Theres still a little bit of the britteness there, towards the end of the game hudds got a bit more desperate and had us pegged back in the box a little, those sorts of breaks led to bournemouth getting back into the game and is something we need to get better at for next season, controlling the game out rather than sitting back and inviting undue pressure

Benitez talked about that at that live Times podcast thingy at the Tyneside Cinema. He puts it down to the lack of experience and a how lot of the players are still learning how to manage games like that. I think it should improve on that basis and you'd like to think he'll be given more money to spend this summer too

[strawb 4180]

My 10th placed finish prediction is still on I reckon

[Dr Gloom 21811]

15 minutes ago, strawb said:

My 10th placed finish prediction is still on I reckon

definitely. we're only 2 points off 10th

[Rayvin 5176]

I'll be satisfied that we've done as well as we should have if we end up above both Brighton and Huddersfield. The rest are a bit of an unknown but we can peg our progress against those two quite comfortably.

[Alex 34822]

10 minutes ago, Rayvin said:

I'll be satisfied that we've done as well as we should have if we end up above both Brighton and Huddersfield. The rest are a bit of an unknown but we can peg our progress against those two quite comfortably.

On money spent alone they should both be above us.

[Rayvin 5176]

So, I see where you're coming from with that but at the same time we have brought in loan players who are all a level above anyone they have IMO. Plus we have Rafa, and his ability to train up and improve on an existing team would appear to be superior (as you would expect) to Hughton and Wagner. So I think it's fair for us to mark our progress, given our manager if nothing else, against those two...?

[Alex 34822]

Just now, Rayvin said:

So, I see where you're coming from with that but at the same time we have brought in loan players who are all a level above anyone they have IMO. Plus we have Rafa, and his ability to train up and improve on an existing team would appear to be superior (as you would expect) to Hughton and Wagner. So I think it's fair for us to mark our progress, given our manager if nothing else, against those two...?

Yeah, I should have probably elaborated. I agree with you there really, I just sort of meant that even finishing above them is a decent achievement with the lack of budget. Plus Slimani has only played about 20-odd minutes since he came but it's a fair point about the loan signings as Kenedy has really given us a different attacking dimension and the Dubravka looks class

[The Fish 10702]

1 hour ago, Rayvin said:

Fair enough then, I guess being 5 places higher gets us another £10m in the transfer fund at the end of the day.

I have some magic beans to sell if you're in the market?

[Dr Gloom 21811]

this season is all about the manager and the spirit he's fostered at the club. he's got a fairly limited bunch of players, with next to no financial assistance from the owner, outperforming. i still think it's one of the three worst squads in the division, so anything more than survival is a bonus, really.