escape2victory

Schmeichel Ricardo Amartey Soyuncu Thomas Mendy Tielemans Dewsbury-Hall Maddison Iheanacho Barnes

Fair play at the end, some huge blocks and saves somehow kept them out. Fofana, Schmeichel, Amartey superb and shout out to Vestergaard Huge fan of Justin but he really needs to start switching on defensively, got caught out time and time again, has cost us 3 or 4 goals since coming back in.

Probably the best rendition in recent times https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Pbep_YR_aA&feature=share

Whilst I think Smith-Rowe is a good player, he is pretty lucky to get into that squad. Only started 2 of Arsenals last 13 games.

Unless Lookman has a slight knock I don’t understand Albrighton playing another 90 today. Think you have to keep Iheanacho over Daka as his hold up play is better, but you need runners around him, so I’d have Lookman and Barnes up there with him. Solid 3 in the middle, Tielemans, Ndidi and KDH. Harsh on Maddison and Albrighton but think that offers the best balance currently

Because then you will lose at least one of Tielemans, Barnes and Maddison

Solid enough defensively as always, needs to sharpen up on the ball and improve his quality when gets into the final third. I think when you have Barnes as the left sided wide player, you need a pragmatic slightly more defensive left back like Thomas, bit like the old Simpson and Mahrez combination.

Schmeichel Justin Amartey Soyuncu Thomas Tielemans Ndidi Dewsbury-Hall Maddison Iheanacho Barnes

Yeah I’ve been impressed with how Villa have recently played the 4-3-1-2 with Coutinho as the 10 behind 2 forwards. Is something we could replicate with Barnes as left sided forward

I love Maddison and he is probably our best player but the 4-3-3 is really working for us and is difficult to fit him into the system unless he plays as an 8, which I’m dubious about or as an inverted wide player. in many ways the game is moving away from these mercurial number 10 types. If he was born 10 years earlier and was in prime Barclays premier league era, the team would be built around him in a 4-2-3-1. As a romantic of the game it’s a shame the game has evolved more and more and being strong, quick and athletic is the default. There should always be a place for the Le Tissier types ! The likes of De Bruyne and Silva at Man City have a lot to answer for, working their arses off every week whilst being amazing technically

It’s all well and good to say sell Perez, Praet, Choudhury, Bertrand, Vestergaard, but I think in the summer we will realise it’s easier said than done. With the high wages they are on it will be incredibly difficult to shift them. A loan where the club pays a percentage of their wages is probably the best we will get with some of them

Really good from him last few games. Is more heavily involved and influences the game. At times earlier in the season he was on the periphery. I think having 2 left footers in Thomas and Dewsbury Hall around on that side helps as better passing lines and can feed him the ball more. When you have Castagne/Justin at left back there is a tendency to play the ball inside rather than down the line with a left foot to Barnes

Pretty much agree with the above other than Soyuncu will definitely be off and I think the club would be open to offers for Castagne also, so a young understudy to Ricardo (Ramsay from Aberdeen ?) could be on the cards

I don’t think this will be the summer we sell Kasper. He is contracted until 2023, and I think then will be a good time for both to part ways. If we are having a bit of an overhaul this summer, the likes of Kasper, Vardy and Albrighton will be key in keeping continuity and leadership in a changing squad.

I might be in the minority here but I’m quite optimistic for the rest of the season, players like Barnes, Lookman, Maddison, KDH and Ricardo are all finding form, plus in the coming weeks the return of Vardy and Fofana, and our remaining home games are Leeds, Norwich, Brentford, Villa, Everton, Palace and Southampton……surely we will win a fair few of them and carry on being battered away from home !

Poor second half by his high standards, few poor touches and misplaced passes, looked knackered and probably not used to the Thursday - Sunday turnaround. Give him a rest on Thursday and be firing for Burnley

I can remember us playing well under Craig Levein. One game in particular springs to mind when we battered Stoke away but still ended up losing 3-2. These are the sort of games where you wearily realise it’s just not going to work out

Anyone else get annoyed by his premature fingers in the air goal celebration…..the ball hasn’t gone in Brendan

Ndidi and Tielemans very poor. Out of possession they are both so passive. Tielemans one brilliant pass but that shouldn’t paper over the rest of his game today and I really don’t know what is happening with Ndidi

Well I think one of Castagne or Ricardo will be sold, so will need a right back, assuming Justin and Thomas will be the left backs

From recent reports and speculation, is the summer rebuild starting to take shape Castagne or Ricardo - Juranovic Amartey - Tarkowski Perez - De Ketelaere Tielemans - ? Soyuncu - ?

Your right and it will be interesting to see. I was just thinking of ways how he can fit into our starting 11, assuming Rodgers and the club rebuild with the 4-2-3-1 as the preferred formation in mind, as £30m + is a lot to spend on someone who might initially be a Maddison understudy

Rather than a potential Maddison replacement, could he not be the Perez replacement ? Bit of a number 10, being left footed can come in off the right, find pockets of space between the lines, basically do what Perez should of been doing for the past 3 years !

Back 4, don’t care who as long as it doesn’t include Soyuncu. Solid middle 3, Tielemans, Ndidi, KDH. Maddison free role off the right, Barnes or Lookman giving width from the left, Daka upfront. We played that system and beat Newcastle 4-0, and reverted to it 2nd half vs Liverpool and won. Never been seen since. Football is a simple game 👍

Becoming more and more baffled by Rodgers in game decisions. Personally thought it was wrong to ditch Barnes and go 3-5-2, but ok fair enough, but to keep Lookman on and play him at wing back when have Albrighton and Ricardo on the bench, compounded it, and we had no structure or rhythm to our play at all. Factor in the bizarre in game decisions vs Spurs and Brighton and you can make a case for Rodgers well and truly losing the plot