funkyrobot

I’m saying that Justin would be better at playing the role on the left that Thomas played last night.

I genuinely think he was affected by what looked like a very slow surface last night. The ball got stuck under his feet. He put a couple of passes in that didn’t have enough pace to get to where they needed to go and he wasn’t the only one. It put him and the rest of the team of their game and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t a Terriers tactic to over water the pitch. Whatever, he had a poor game but that happens. He looked quality for us last time in The Championship and Oxford fans rated his loan last season so he will come good.

I think this is exactly it with Soumare, he can switch multiple times in one game from looking like he’s finally clicked, winning the ball aggressively and playing with pace and physicality to a lazy, passive, irresponsible liability. That’s exactly what happened last night. I guess that wild inconsistency is why he’s still with us and why we are where we are. It’s increasingly clear that the loss of Ndidi, despite his increasing flaws is a big loss. It means we are reliant on Soumare who in theory has all the attributes but has little of the mentality of a top level midfielder and Skipp who just doesn’t have the ability even at this level. We have one quality midfielder in Winks with little sign that there is going to be any additions.

I actually think Justin might be a better option than him on the left tbh. Obviously with Ricardo out that would potentially force us to play Hamza on the right, who had a shocker tonight. With the left back expected to offer attacking support in this set up, and Justin showing some ability in the past being able to cut in from the left inside the winger, it might be worth the risk.

It’s not so much that he was the problem, it’s that his role is meant to offer an attacking solution and I just don’t see the creativity in his game that will ever see us benefit from his presence in what would’ve been the KDH position when attacking. He’s not a dribbler and his body position/kicking style seems to be innately set up to hook balls inside and backwards.

Just can’t see Thomas working in this attacking fullback role that Cifuentes demands. He’s not got the pace, the skill or the creativity I think it needs. Same with VK tbh.

Cifuentes needs more quality at fullback, central midfield and in the centre forward role. The latter two areas are well discussed. From the fullback perspective, Thomas is not equipped to offer the creativity Cifuentes’ (Cucurella style) left back role requires, nor is VK. Ricardo is our best right back but it’s never fit, JJ might be better on the left but struggles on the right despite being very right footed. Hamza it has to be said was very poor today other than a fabulous goal.

A great goal cannot mask a scruffy, shoddy performance by Hamza. He was the main reason we conceded both goals.

Encroachment, goal should’ve been disallowed. Player was inside the D before the lad had taken the pen.

Best player for us in that 1st half tbh 🤷🏻‍♂️

Been some very slap dash passes in this game. Hamza and Nelson have been particularly guilty but it’s been throughout the team. I do think though that the ball is running very slowly on this pitch. Seems to have been very heavily watered and this isn’t helping the quality of the passes. Maybe it’s a purposeful tactic by Huddersfield but tbh it isn’t helping them much either. Hamza and Nelson have also been particularly vulnerable to the press and need to sharpen up!!

I’m encouraged that Cifuentes sees Alves as more a central player rather than an out and out winger. RVN incorrectly said he was a winger and he was the one that loaned him out.

He wasn’t public enemy with me. He was and is our best creative midfielder. I was one of those who didn’t give a 💩 where he was driving from. It hadn’t been a problem for Enzo and it wasn’t even an issue for Cooper. It’s was RVN and his terrible people management skills that caused the problem. Asking Winks to stay for a day a week was a petty, unnecessary and badly timed flex against a senior pro. It would’ve have no discernible impact as the squad wasn’t good enough to stay up and the manager was even worse.

Winks wasn’t useless last season. He was criminally mismanaged by Cooper (who often benched him alongside Mavididi) and even more so by RVN. Under Enzo he would’ve been fine.

Ricky P is absolutely not an adequate replacement for Winks. Very different skillset not to mention an inability to stay fit. There’s no other player in our squad that can replicate Winks. Maybe Page in the future but that’s some way off.

There’s probably little reality in the Fatawu rumour. Before the season started there were numerous statements saying we had interviewed Dyche for the managers job and he was on the shortlist to get the job. Dyche was interviewed last week and confirmed it was all absolute rubbish and he hadn’t spoken to the club at all.

Surely keeping Winks gives us a better chance of promotion and the significant cash injection that it brings ? Selling him now reduces the likelihood of promotion and won’t stop a points reduction coming. So the only positive is what would be a small fee and taking his wages off the bill 9 months earlier than would be the case when his contract runs out. Don’t forget that we’d need to buy and pay a replacement in the meantime too so that would offset some of the benefits of taking his wages off the books. Just doesn’t make sense to me unless we have 1 or preferably 2 absolute midfield maestros coming in to replace him. A midfield of Skipp and Soumare is definitely ruling out any chance of promotion.

He was good before that too

Ayew played well before Daka came on, combining effectively with Winks from the 1st minute of the second half. Yes he might operate in a different way to a traditional centre forward we are used to at Leicester. He’s going to come deeper and hold the ball up rather than running away from the last line of defence. As for your strawman, ad hominem, whataboutery comnent - Maybe it is some of that but what’s wrong with that? Why can’t I point out contradictions or a bias? I’m merely pointing out that you have been very quick to criticise one but were a staunch defender of another striker. You use stats to back up your argument for Daka, I’d be interested in the stats you use to back up your criticism of Ayew. In his last two games he’s scored a goal, has numerous shots on target and created opportunities for others (and that’s before Daka entered the pitch.)

It’s nothing to do with funding anyone. If he has a release clause and it’s correctly activated by a buying club there’s absolutely nothing we can do! As I’ve said earlier, having a release clause has to be a factor in why ELK would’ve signed for us last season and why he agreed specifics in his contract. We know this as otherwise there wouldn’t have been a release clause - It wasn’t just put in for banter. This is exactly what happened to Kante and it was the only way we were getting him too when he signed for us.

Technically we have one. The alternative option in Daka is already there. I’d expect Cifuentes to continue rotate between the two or play them both together assuming PSR is preventing any transfers this window.

This the same Finnegan that thinks Daka is an absolute baller? Let me start by saying I am by no means an Ayew fanboy but I appreciate that at this level he has the potential to be very effective. Ayew was excellent as the central point of attack yesterday. Yes he played it in a very different way to Vardy and Daka and yes he’s not going to be prolific as a goalscorer but he performed a central role well, linked up well with Winks and the wingers and had a number of shots on goal. BTW I watched the match at the KP. I’m a season ticket holder that also goes to a lot of away matches and has full access to every game on tv too, I just have a different (equally valid) opinion to you!

I thought Ayew was one of our better players in the first half when we weren’t great and got even better when Winks added creative support that had previously been entirely down to closely marked Mavididi and Fatawu. This was well before Daka came on.

Ayew was excellent in the number 9 role yesterday??

A release clause was possibly the only way ELK would’ve come to us last season, particularly as it happened after Maresca jumped ship. If someone triggers a release clause correctly there’s not much we can do other than hope he chooses to stay. In the short term it might give Page and Alves more opportunities. I have to say I’m surprised Newcastle would be interested, don’t really see his position as a priority for them, particularly with their lack of strikers.