dmayne7

It's certainly a different take, I'll give you that! Not really sure what it clicking looks like for Faes but he'll never be great because he simply can't do that basics well as is so arrogant/has an over inflated opinion of his ability, he would have to completely reinvent himself as a player and a person to become a top defender.

Is he? He's guaranteed to make at least one big error a game and when you watch the highlights yesterday, he's at fault for the first 3 Villa chances and hardly covers himself in glory on either goal. The only thing he has on the others is his ability to bring the ball out with pace but that's it. You could kind of forgive the mistakes if he actually dominated the attackers he's up against but he never truly does that.

What?! An absolute cult hero. 39 is just far, far too young. Thoughts and prayers to his family

Just watched the highlights and on the goal, it's both him and Faes at fault. No communication or passing on the man properly and then Okoli just gets lost. And Faes at fault for the first 2 chances on the highlights and others. At least Okoli has a bit of presence about him and isn't totally up himself.

Just watched the Southampton highlights; jesus, never seen anything like that. Genuinely given up 4/5 absolutely sitters from trying to play our from the back. Absolutely embarrassing.

Cristiano Ronaldo? He's certainly old enough for our recruitment team

Yeah, he looks like he's trying to prove himself too much and the adrenaline is pumping. Few wayward shots, poorly weighted passes but I think that's because of the above as opposed to his ability. When he settles down, he will really flourish.

I'm not going to sit here and say wow, wasn't he wonderful, but this is so over the top. He was ok

Miles better than Faes was

Probably overpaid but he's a decent player. Actually been impressed with some of his forward runs

Quality assist from Wilf

Ndidi stays on

I did say they are doggo, just that they have been doggo. Point being if you can't get on top of teams when they play well below themselves, then you've got no chance of doing anything in the season.

I mean it's not hard to do is it?

Villa have been doggo

Wrong thread

Maybe but he's out on the left so that's then creating another problem. I guess I meant, get a number 10 on!

Need to get somebody closer Vardy. If we do that we have a chance

But what's the point on Ndidi in this set up? He won the ball a few times at the start and that's it.

And Ricardo was absolutely pony against Tranmere in the first half? JJ also played well against Fulham with the caveat being that you might blame him for both goals. Would obviously want Ricardo in as he's our best player but he really didn't do himself any favours

So what do people expect? I can think of 3 obvious changes: Ricardo in - unfortunately was very poor in the first half during the week so obviously that's used against him Ndidi out for Buonanotte - Ndidi was also pretty pants and then scored a great goal. Said at the time that was the worst thing that could have happened as it meant he'd come into the team. FB was completely ineffective against Fulham as well. Mavididi - He was absolutely abysmal against Tranmere until the last 20 mins or so. So if you're looking at it with Cooper's lens, these decisions are all justified. Like most of you, if rather see these changes but I've accepted the way things are for us so not surprised and just feel a bit meh, rather than super annoyed.

But we didn't play really negative football and at least tried to score (not leveling that at Cooper yet)

It's certainly not as bad as it feels. It's feels like a terrible window because of how it's panned out and everything else going on, but it's pretty average when you're being objective. But to actually be happy with it? How low must your expectations have been? The squad has more depth but is the starting lineup improved? Don't think so. Vaguely content maybe. Goalkeepers: the same. No Improvement. Centre backs: Okoli not looking like a starter so effectively he's been swapped for Nelson. Squad and starting lineup; No Improvement. Full backs: VK coming back obviously adds a decent option on there but not better than Justin or Ricardo; Improved Squad Centre mid: Skipp is a decent signing if too expensive but he's quite similar to what we already have and a downgrade on KDH, certainly in terms of the qualities and options given; Weakened Starting Lineup and Squad Wingers: Assuming BDR and Ayew are used as wingers, whilst they're not going to be better than what we have, they do bring different qualities and options; Improved Squad Attacking midfield: The flip side to KDH going is that we've actually got a couple of proper number 10's/attacking midfielders in. Both got lots of potential (FB not ours though) but are going to have deliver much better numbers than they ever have. Also might see a bit of Alves; Improved Squad and Starting Lineup Strikers: We've let 2 go and 1 is injured, yet only brought 1 in. It was time for Iheanacho to go but he's a better player than Edouard based on their time in the prem. Vardy isn't going to be able to play every game or even manage 90 mins that often meaning the backup will be playing a lot. And even if it's very marginal, Vardy will be on the decline so; Weakened Squad and (probably) Starting Lineup As I say, I think it's hard to not feel despondent because of the general vibes around the club but I also think the uninspiring signings in forward areas haven't helped. FB looks a prospect but he's only on loan with no option to buy and Bilal (a player I was super excited about) has absolutely woeful numbers in terms of goal contributions. Ayew and BDR don't need much saying in terms of general enthusiasm even if they're decent signings. Edouard has been poor in the prem so real question marks over whether he is good enough although maybe this move could be the catalyst for him? Also think the outlook would be so different if we had improved the spine of the team that meant Faes/Vestergaard, Ndidi, Vardy became the back up options. Would completely change the dynamic as you'd think you have some really solid players to come in, so the starting lineup must be good. There's also the reality that if we're resigning ourselves to relegation, we're going to lose a LOT of this squad so we're not necessarily in a great place to bounce back. Still, looking at the team if we can get some of these players near their best, we've got a chance. Got a very good goalkeeper and (if near their best) 2 brilliant full backs so maybe with Coady's leadership we can finally get that defence organised and use that as our basis for success. It would then mean that spreading the goals around the team would give us enough to survive.

EN does a that phone celebration (I think)

No, I'm pretty sure his name is Brad Young?