deep blue

You missed Hamza's part in the last goal we scored, then?

From the comments on here and what I've seen on the pitch, my feeling is that he hasn't enough discipline or awareness to be a defensive midfielder, and that the role he's most suited to is a number 8, possibly the role he's never been tasked to play here (to be given that luxury riole you need supporting midfielders who do the donkey work, rather like Tielemans needed). Perhaps he would shine if he were able to be given the limited remit of looking to progress the ball forward at every opportunity, either by passing quickly and moving up in support, or by bursting through himself. I dunno. If a way can't be found to get more productive use of him, would we be better off in the long run dispensing with him and progressing Page instead?

Thomas gets a lot of stick for not getting forward. I agree he doesn't these days. But when we had Barnes on the wing the interplay between them was very effective and Thomas offered good attacking support. I'm at a loss to understand why he stays much deeper these days.

Disagree. Those are good stats for a winger.

Considering the pressure that Cov put us under from the start I thought our defence was strong, well organised and resolute.

It's hard to see what's the right approach, but I'm inclined to agree with this. If we can couple that approach with having a few from the academy with the ability to step up and give it a go in the Prem then it might make the difference, The timing in that respect might be right next season, if we could manage to go up this season and, at the same time, progress a few of our most promising youngsters.

Yes, except my memory is that it was at Cov. Then again, my memory ...

We can only guess at the figures but it seems an opportunity missed to not sell Daka and replace him with Ivanovic. If, say, we had to cough up 10mill for him but got 5mill for Daka then bringing in Ivanovic for effectively 5mill seems like a worthwhile gamble. If Ivanovic really could have made a significant difference, and given he has room for improvement, then that seems a good forward-looking move with promotion and next season in the Prem as our ambition. A lot of ifs, admittedly.

To be fair, he joined what he thought was a solid Prem club at the worst possible time, thinking about our manager, our football-related admin, the state of mind of the squad and the negative momentum.

Arguably worth it to get rid and pay what's required for Ivanovic. Fee for Daka would only go some way towards that, but the difference we'd have to fork out might well be no more than we were prepared to pay for Ivanovic In the first place. In coming to that conclusion I'm making a few assumptions from what's been suggested in this thread - that we're in for Ivanovic, that he wants to come here, that Millwall have rejected our offer as being not enough.

Vardy playing 2nd fiddle to Vazquez?

I also liked that when he started to go for the deflection he instantly realised that Abdul was intending to follow the ball through inside and he held back so as not to interfere with Abdul's run. We've had a few instances recently of forwards getting in each other's way and chances going begging as a result.

I think you're right that this is how we could cope if Faes left. I also don't believe we need a LB if VK goes as we could look to Aluko to gradually bring through and/ or call on in an emergency.

I didn't watch the game, but everyone says that the oppo midfield completely overran ours (hardly surprising given the likes of Soumare etc in there for us) and were very tough/dirty. It's a nightmare situation for one as young as Page to make his debut, for him to be able to cope and to influence the game. I think the fact that he didn't fall apart is all you could ask for, and he apparently achieved that. I see no reason why, if he's given more game time, he can't get more used to the players around him and to start to show his qualities. Certainly his enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air in our currently woeful midfield.

Agree absolutely with that. My money is on him improving at Leeds as we have had 4 consecutive crap managers (counting the last 2 years of Rodgers' reign) and have a squad that has deteriorated massively over that period. ... how many of our current squad, or recently departed players, have avoided stagnation during that period? I think that the FB priority to get rid of was VK rather than JJ, but maybe VK's wanted by nobody. Hope Aluko steps up when needed and he plugs the gap.

I'm just so amazed you could put all that together in a lunchtime. Hugely impressive post.

Aluko to be used in emergencies?

Too sensible!

Worth a try, but I suspect Ricardo could only cope with 45 mins in midfield in a competitive game against a lively opposition. I could see him coming on 2nd half and his quality being instrumental in turning the game in our favour.

As for midfield weaknesses, noe of our first choices are capable of being box to box, winning tackles, tracking back, pushing forward with intent. Possible solutions, but far from perfect, from within our current squad might be Faes (to add aggression, speed, forward surges) but would need solid CFs (Okoli + Nelson?), Hamza to add aggression, speed and commitment), and/or Page. As for FBs, I think both Thomas and JJ performed much better in the past but have, for whatever reason, lost form dramatically. It might be partly a confidence thing or playing with badly reduced support in the quality of players around them. Thomas looks hesitant going forward but he used to have very fruitful attacking interchanges with Barnes; and JJ has performed well on both sides in the past (and I can't forget his first time left-footed through pass for Vardy's goal at Stoke 2 years ago, so he has the capability). Both are honest and committed players. If Cifuentes can''t manage to regenerate them and get a tune out of them then we have viable alternatives in Riccy, of course, when fit and Aluko and even Hamza. I think there are possibilities in those positions to bring our team up to scratch. The impossible position for me is in goal-scoring potential ... we have no strikers. The only option I see from within our current squad is Evans, and maybe others from the development squad. We MUST bring in a new striker during the transfer window. So, in conclusion, I think there's still the possibility for Cifuentes to get a tune out of our current squad as long as we can sign a new striker.

We have a plan???

I agree with this. With Ndidi done Faes might be our best option for an aggressive ball-winning midfielder, and he also has the ability to rampage up the field (we are very lacking in a midfielder prepared to push forward quickly). In order to accommodate this experiment we would need a strong CF pairing behind him - Nelson must be one of the two, possibly Okoli as the other. It also requires Faes to be willing to try it; he may be loth to do it , classifying himself purely as a CB, and mindful of his international ambitions.

Did we hold on for the win last night, then?

Perfect post. Spot on.