StriderHiryu

He needs to be scoring goals too, but this is a fluid system where he's operating more like a Bobby Firmino than a standard number 9. Ayew was excellent in preseason but he did drop a couple of stinkers against Preston and Charlton. He was good today, and should have gotten an assist. At the end of the day I can't think of many times where he's gad a gilt-edged opportunity to score which he's missed. So it's up to the team to give him more service, even if he is guilty of not getting into the box enough. In general the team needs to link up with him better, more one-twos and crashing the box to support him. His lack of pace lets him down which prevents him form sometimes rejoining a move he started. That's maybe where Carranza could step in. But put it this way, Ayew has done a lot of good stuff this season, whereas Daka looks totally lost when he comes on. He isn't the biggest problem. Overall the team is badly missing goals. Vardy was prolific, Daka and Ayew aren't. And none of Winks, Soumare or Skipp are known for getting good numbers from midfield. Add to this a misfiring Mavididi, and we can all see the area which needs improving. Ricardo has done well, 2 goals already despite limited appearances when he's the spare man. Hopefully we can see more from JJ and Ramsey, but even Luke Thomas who also inverts in at times. Against Coventry, it was the first time we had control of the game and sustained attacks for long periods of time. If we do that every week, I'd be fairly confident that multiple players in the team will start to hit the next frequently.

The Oxford game was ruined tactically as soon as a man was sent off for us. I think after the next 5 we can pass a bit more judgement. I didn't like Marti's initial team selection but you have to say his half time tweaks were great and we got control of the game despite having fewer players. For me the biggest issue is that Skipp and Soumare as a pairing cant control the game. Now that Winks is here until at least January, he has to start for me. And Ricardo over Hamza.

I didn't catch the question, so am listening to it now!

Here's analysis of the Birmingham game, as well as taking a close look at the 3 new signings and how they might fit into the team going forwards.

Agent will have offered him around, that’s what this means. And with the wages he’s on, if there’s a reasonable offer we would take it, even without a replacement. Still think this is unlikely but all it takes is a last minute injury and clubs get desperate.

We were linked with him under Enzo before going for Fatawu. He’d be good squad depth for that position, but what about Jake Evans and Bobby Reid? On a loan though he’d improve any squad in this division and has a high ceiling.

I sure as well hope so! But I would agree with you. Last Championship season, Doyle, Fatawu, Akgun and Casadei were all loan signings, maxing out on the four you can have. I would expect a few as a result.

One of the key issues in this setup from Marti. The problem is that if he wants either attackind midfielders or inverted fullbacks to support and do this... we don't have players for either to really make it work. Marti needs supporting big time, otherwise he's going to have to change it up.

Grab your kits lads, the way things are going, first 5 people to the KP on Saturday will be in the matchday squad!

Every time I see that clip again I just even more infuriated! Vardy makes that pass every single time, and he's a player who's way better than Ayew will ever be. I am really concerned that we are a team of individuals and we are not working together as a team.

The idea is that the full backs in the offensive phase are the free men, so they have fairly crazy touch maps. In general there are specific positions on the pitch, but who is in those position is supposed to be fluid as an element of surprise. It's the Cruyff 433 we've seen over the years deployed by many teams. However, I think your crititcsm is warranted, especially around the midfielders who have been a massive disapointment in this style of play so far. If a system is going to be fluid, so do the players! I think Marti needs to very quickly learn who can play the system, or heavily modify it and go for more fixed positioning instead.

Our latest episode: You can probably guess exactly what the talking points were if you saw the game! Being caught out of position on transition Being outmuscled and losing the physical battle Magnificent Monga A lack of pace at the back Not enough Support for the wingers Add to this the lack of willingness to run from some players and it looks like a challenging season ahead as it stands...

Really well said. I say something similar on Blue Tinted Glasses frequently along the same lines. With all the good will that had been built up with the league and cup win, had the ownership come out and said something like "we pushed too hard, it caught up with us and now we are in a tough situation, but we are determined to turn things around", many people would get behind them. But a weakly worded statement in the prgram notes after months of non communication just doesn't cut it. For me even if the current situation is bleak, it's not the thing that I am most upset about. It's actually the utter disdain the club treats it's own fans with that gets me.

I'll cover it on the BTG analysis show on Tuesday, but even in the Championship, you can't play suicide ball with Luke Thomas and Vestergaard next to another on transition. That was hopelessly naive from Marti. He's also got to coach Fatawu and tell him to pass it again, not try to glory ball it every time. Enzo would have given him a massive dressing down. It's a tough job for anyone in charge though. Restless fans (for good reasons), players who don't want to be here, players who are well past their sell by date... tough times.

Wow! Should have been all over this one. Very jealous.

On paper he's a physically intimidating player with a high short pass percentage that can play at the base of a midfield 3 or as part of a midfield 2 to help build, but also offer something defensively. Notice how I put "on paper" He had a 93% pass percentage yesterday and generally kept his position well, which is important in a system like this. But in my first video about Cifuentes, I highlighted how Guardiola as a player was integral to the way Cruyff's Barcelona team played thanks to his high football IQ and ability to spot and play line breaking passes, and we don't really see how Soumare does that side of the game. Compare the to Winks who for all his faults, was doing that, and got us going after half time. If it was me, I would have Winks as the Regista and Soumare as the box-to-box player. But in the modern game, and even in the Championship physicality is important. With Ndidi gone, having a tall player in the 6 position should help against long balls from the opposition.

Despite the game feeling like a below-par performance, in game week one, we had the most shots on goal of any team in the league. Southampton had the highest xG, we were second. However, the disparity in squad value was also the highest in our game. With 28 shots, that's the highest amount we have had in any game since the famous 9-0 win against Southampton, with 6 big chances also the highest amount created since that game.

Analysis of the game against Fiorentina, as well as our overall thoughts of preseason as a whole. Despite uncertainties off the pitch, the team looks extremely well coached and I am excited to see us play this season!

Sad to see him go, this was a guy that played in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League, the final of the FA Cup, the Semi finals of the Conference Cup, got two 5th places for us and helped us win promotion back to the Premier League. I've always found the pelters that he gets from many to be utterly baffling. The guy stayed around for longer and had more impact than players like Tielemans, Barnes and Maddison, even if he wasn't technically as good. It is time to go and that is a reasonable fee, so I wish him the best of luck for the future. But I personally will miss him a lot.

Blue Tinted Glasses is definitely the best