DJ Barry Hammond

And KP might be struggling for cash themselves.

Power is not essential to score a penalty. But what is key in penalty taking is being able to strike the ball where you want it to go. So in the case of the missed penalties we’ve been seeing - by and large these will be strikes that didn’t fully go where the taker intended (too close to the keeper or missed the target altogether) and that’s what I mean by a ‘technique fail.’

This seems to ignore the notion of supply and demand. If there’s interest from more than one party in a player, the selling club has more scope in what they deem to be an acceptable offer… unless there’s a release clause, in which case you take the player hostage and force them to sign a new contract.

I’ve touched on it within this thread already, highlighting that your comparison will undoubtedly be linked to the men’s game, which has had been around longer, had £ billions more invested in it and has a huge participation base from which talent gets picked from - therefore the combined level of technique across takers in the women’s game, a crucial factor when taking a penalty after 120 minutes, won’t be as high as the men’s game and will naturally lead to a greater occurrence of a ‘technique fail’ when taking a penalty. Add into this the relative pressure of the situation and the fewer opportunities in the women’s game to experience that level and type of situation; it’s within reason to see overall outcomes that don’t compare to the men’s game. Of course give the woman’s game 50 more years at a professional level, much more investment and a larger participation pool to help grow the talent base and we might start to see a narrowing in outcomes between the two.

Leave him to it - he’s cornered himself into being unable to enjoy a moment of national pride. Hardly common sense that is it!

Have you ever taken a penalty after 120 minutes? It’s not easy - and neither is saving them (that tended to be my role). BUT - I think the other thing you need to be clear on is that you are comparing the women to the elite men’s game; whether your conscience of it or not. If we then consider the two, the men’s game has developed and been professional over many more years, has had billions more spent on it and generates its players from a much wider base pool. The women’s game is developing from a much smaller participation base and has only become professional inside the last 20 years or so - therefore, anyone expecting the same level of technical quality is showing a lack of serious objectivity. If you therefore accept that on a technical level, the women’s game will be behind the men’s game on the most part - it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are more ‘technique fails’ in a penalty shootout after an extended period of physical exertion - given that’s the point technique is tested the most.

She looks tiny! OH - what is this rules change nonsense

Hemp’s done well to blag a corner there!

A partial press is no press. Don’t do it if no-one’s going with you!

So, based on how he’s been used during pre-season, I’d suggest Marti’s planning on using him as the starter in that left wing position. And I don’t blame him either. I have never seen a player glide so effortlessly and consistently past players than I have with Monga. Now you could argue there’s a slight issue with ‘output’ in terms of chances he’s created for himself or others so far in pre-season; but I’d argue that’s as much about the play around him than what Monga’s doing. For one, I’d say our movement around him hasn’t begun to take advantage of what a talent this lad is. For example, it’s very clear that he’s so good that you don’t really need the fullback overlapping/underlapping ahead of him that often. I’d say there’s more point in our left fullback holding as cover and a recycle ball more often than not; to give Monga the space and defensive cover he needs to confidently beat his man / men with skill or killer pass (think what Simpson used to do behind Mahrez). Then add in some better quality runs from our striker / advanced midfielders and Monga’s statistical output will start to match the level of talent this kid is.

Noting Areola’s performance yesterday, we should probably be demanding at least a couple more million now 😂

Makes sense - Bauser’s not ready.

Something that should be said if it hasn’t been already - I was really impressed with Köln in that first half. Every player was on the same wave length, good crisp meaningful passes and movement and a system that had clear threats designed into it. I’m not normally a fan of 3 at the back, but the way they utilised it I could be a convert.

The worry I have is at no time have I gained an idea of how we’re planning on scoring. We play it about nicely enough, get it wide and then… pfft. I accept it’s difficult to do this with our unconvincing and far from ideal striker options, but I’d have hoped to see a few more patterns that equated to actual chances.

Is this McAteer up front, Ayew behind him now?

My main take away from that 45 minutes is Monga won’t be with us for long - so we best enjoy him while he’s here.

It was mindless club bashing, nothing more, nothing less - because that’s the trend on these pages - and deserved a challenge. And whilst we’re in the challenging mood, let’s look at your assertion shall we because it seems you need a lesson in basic comprehension?!? Note: One is able to add some rhetorical flair and overreach in a response to press home a point; just because I haven’t use the phrase the OP used doesn’t mean I haven’t directly questioned what he said.

I can definitely hear him!

Isn’t he banned from driving?

He got the megz, that’s the important thing 😂

The whole squad will train in different units and pairings throughout the season, so again, your doubled down thinking defies any reasonable logic.

1st September is a long way away… and at that point some teams become more willing to take ‘a punt’ because of how the season has started. Even if he starts the season with us, that’s no guarantee he’ll be still with us past the window closing - especially if he makes a strong start to the season.

Have you rationally considered this point of view? Do you really believe that by parts of the squad being in separate places for around 5/6 hours at most, that this will be highly detrimental to squad cohesion? I’m all for people having opinions, but when the view and conclusion combines to present absolute nonsense it has to be questioned.

If you look on Twitter you’ll either find enough clips to give you the general gist and possibly the whole episode.

Harsh, keepers really didn’t have much chance from where they were shooting from (and which is the point of the drill, so the players have prior muscle memory in those positions to combat the added pressure they’ll be under in a real match).