Jobyfox

Wow! Is Ayew the false 9 now? The problem with that system is that it really needs great movement, discipline and application from the midfielders. It’s great if you’ve got Iniesta and Xavi behind you and are we really comparing Ayew to Laudrup, De Bruyne or Firmino? We played the early games with Skipp, Soumare and an academy product, in his first season, in midfield. This is the first big test for Marti and he needs to start by dropping Ayew or shifting him to a position that better suits the team

Daka has shown that he’s not a great player and everyone hopes that Carranza will become the player we need. The team, however, would still play better with him in it than Ayew in my opinion. Last time we were in this league Daka scored 7 in 20. That’s a goals per game ratio that Ayew has only bettered once in his entire professional career - and that was over 10 years ago. Ayew has no pace, no physicality, no natural positioning and no instinct to play as a no. 9. Countless times he was out of position against Coventry and the outlet ball wasn’t available to the midfield or wingers. So many wasted through balls that he couldn’t get on the end of. Nobody is saying Daka is technically a better player but, for all his issues, he’s still a better striker than Ayew. (Let’s hope that Carranza settles and this discussion becomes obsolete)

Oh… I remember those days well ..

Interesting. Did you watch the game on Saturday and think that Hamza justified selection ahead of Ricky P??

Fix the two things that need most fixing from the Coventry game and I’ll be impressed with MC. If he doesn’t I’ll be disappointed. 1. Ayew can’t start as striker - Carranza’s audition was probably enough to justify a try 2: Mavs poor form - I’ve advocated not starting Monga to make sure that we look after him, but we can’t continue to carry SM. Probably needs someone else to start left whether it’s JM, BDCR or Ayew The manager clearly loves Ayew so there is an option to play him in the 10 position and drop Soumare or play him on the left and drop Mavididi. To be honest I’m not 100% sure of the solutions myself but, as stated, I just want Marti to do something that suggests he understands the issues. His changes in midfield (Winks and James in) already indicate he’s a proactive manager

To be fair I was expecting prime Iniesta so we shall see from here. In all seriousness the bar was to be better than Skipp and I’m already fairly confident that he’ll pass that with ease. It was a breath of fresh air having a player who looked like he was capable of carrying and progressing the ball from midfield. We need to sort out what’s ahead of him now. Play a proper striker and decide who’s best in the 10 position to join him and Winks in midfield. But this was a good start on debut

I agree. I think he did ok today and I think he’s done ok this season. I’ve been a big critic of him in the past and groaned when I realised he was going to be our starting LB this season. Not completely convinced yet, but I’m always happy to be proven wrong. There are currently much bigger issues with the team at the moment (in midfield and attack) and that’s testament to how well LT has settled so far this season

Well I don’t claim to be an accountant, but for illustration purposes let’s say we’re paying him £20k a week and sell him for £1m. When you sell a homegrown player for £1m, that shows as £1m profit on disposal of player registrations. That boosts your PSR position (since it increases profit - pure profit in this case). The £20k/week wages drag your PSR position down. The £1m sale pushes your PSR position up. Both are taken into account when calculating whether you are within allowed loss limits Happy to be corrected if I’d understood this wrong as I don’t claim to have great accounting knowledge

We probably wouldn’t get more that one or two million for him, which I suppose will just about cover his wages. But we’re clearly not going to be aligned on this so I’ll bid you good night

Semantics. He’s “signed” a new contract. I actually think he’s doing ok this season and not the biggest problem for the team by any means. I just worry that the length of the deal indicates a certain lack of ambition. If we go up he’ll never be good enough. If we stay down he’ll only ever be average

Yep - they always seem to find a way

Ipswich losing 1-0 and down to 10 men. Game has just been suspended. Knowing them they’ll get a replay 😀

Southampton losing 3-0 with 73% possession. I thought Russell Martin had gone to Rangers …

1-1 90 +10

People don’t seem to understand that he’s not the worst performer in the team, but he’s one the biggest problems in terms of team performance. No pace, no physicality and doesn’t take up a natural position for a number nine. That affects the whole team. Marti seems to love him. So he needs to find him a place somewhere else in the X1. If it were up to me he’d be on the bench as I think his biggest use is after 70 minutes when he can hold the ball up and fall over a bit

We are. The good news is that nobody else in the division looks significantly better

STOP PLAYING JORDAN AYEW AS A STRIKER!!!!!!

There are serious gaps of quality in the squad and new players (only signed on deadline day to bed in). Ridiculous to get over excited either way this early in the season. We’ve got the makings of an ok side at this level. If we stop playing Ayew as a no. 9 and fix the problem on the left side (Mav out of form) we’re not too far off.

Yes like as a support striker or no. 10. He just shouldn’t be leading the line.

Yes. That and because the other alternative is BDCR

Yeah - but he only has to be better than Skipp

Thomas was ok Soumare was his usual poor quality Mavs got better as the half wore on But how anybody can watch that half and not highlight Ayew as a major problem is beyond me

I hope we play with a striker in the 2nd half

With Ayew there is no outlet ball. No physicality and no pace. I still maintain that the team would play better, as a whole, with Daka at no. 9. Hopefully Carranza will come good.

Better! It’s getting closer to what we know is our best team. I’m hoping that Carranza doesn’t turn out to be another Edouard type signing. It’s depressing having Ayew starting as no.9 and I was hoping that situation would improve - but early days.