Cleverley did nothing when he came on. JP has basically done nothing all year, even in the Champ, and Ngakia was crap vs Stoke and lost Firmino for Pool's 5th. Yeah sounds as if it would have been so much better. Also, our worst player yesterday was Cathcart, who we had no option but to play because of injuries.
The fifth goal came about mainly because of a loss of concentration by Watford players on the other side of the pitch when Emma announced that there would be only one minute's (thank God) stoppage time. Ngakia was caught out by them being caught out. The Pool players weren't, because they weren't bothered how much stoppage time there would be.
My take on events having just read through all posts! If Foster gave away home area match tickets it is his responsibility to make sure that they don’t go to supporters of the away team! To not do so is slack and shows a lack of professionalism and also I presume a lack of rules or clarity about doing such things! If supporters do such things we have been informed in the past that action against that person will take place! Why wasn’t our best player (Sarr) played in his best position where he is capable of doing most damage! Although we were pretty much clueless all game, things slightly improved when Ngaika and Pedro came on, Pedro has some battling qualities and hopefully if King is still out will start against Everton. I thought Liverpool put on one of the best performances of an away team I have seen in over 50 years of going to the Vic, admittedly we made them look good, but even had we put in a decent performance they could still have scored 5. Some strange decisions from the Ref, especially in not playing the official amount of injury time, only one minute added on in both half’s, I believe someone was injured in the 45th minute he got sorted and the whistle blew immediately, second half I thought the 5th goal was scored and celebrated after the 90th minute no time added on for this together with all of the subs made, if I was Liverpool I would have complained they were not given the opportunity to score even more! We can’t expect to pick up points against the top six, however we have badly slipped up before yesterday in not getting the points expected against the lesser teams! We are now set up as a yo-yo team between the divisions!, hopefully we will see a better performance against Liverpool in two years time!
They will start next week and be poor then people will ask why they were picked . Seems to be a theme this season - players look better when they come on than when they start .
Yep, our problem is we have too many central midfielders who are neither truly attacking or defensive, whatever system we play, it all looks a bit square peg and round hole. I hear there's this lad at Crystal Palace who's not getting any gametime, he'd be perfect for the #6 role!
I've mentioned before that it's been a theme amongst our fans with our defence and attack for 2 years that whoever is on the bench or injured must somehow be better than whoever is on the pitch - because we always play so crap - until the previously sidelined players get another chance and swiftly remind everyone why they were benched in the first place.
Bachmann is better than Foster. Ngakia is better than Kiko. Louza is better than Kucka. JP is better than all of our forwards except Sarr. These are just facts of life.
You are correct Cathcart was useless . However I refuse to believe that a defensive mid cannot play CB So , in future , regardless of injuries, Cathcart should not be a shoo-in. No option? No chance
I still maintain that Fletcher is our best striker - and until he finally gets on the pitch in the PL nothing is going to convince me otherwise!
Point 1. Really ? Maybe his distribution Point 2. Really ? To tough to call Point 3. How do you know ? Point 4. Our forwards are not the problem
Kucka at CB?! Kucka at CB?!! Hey look everyone - we've got someone who thinks we should be playing Kucka at CB vs Liverpool! Has he even played at CB once in his entire long career? I would ask you - 'but then who would have played in central midfield in place of Kucka?' - but the idea is just so farcical that it hardly seems relevant.
My tongue is firmly in cheek with that comment, following as it does the point I made to wfc4ever, while also being used to mildly mock the comment made by RS2 (which I can't tell whether it's genuine or not). It does seem a bit strange that he's not yet got a single minute, but there must be a reason based on what they've been doing in training as to why Munoz and now Ranieri don't want to use him.
Hey Lowerous , you trying to start a pile on.? Why can't a Defensive mid play CB ? Who played CB for Liverpool last season during their crisis ? Did they try and get Cath-Kong on loan ?
Perhaps it's the same reason a championship club let him go ? I thought he was an English qualified squad no. 25 happy to earn a few quid playing a cup game every now and again ?
Pretty sure I've read in a club interview that Kucka has played in a variety of positions including CB, perhaps a better choice as the 3rd CB in a three than Masina, but I'd rather not go down that route!
Horses for courses obviously, but this would be my default XI: Bachmann Ngakia Nkoulou Sierralta Rose Sissoko Louza Tufan Sarr King Dennis Obviously we're stuck with CathKong for the next 2/3 games, did consider going for WTE alongside Sierralta as they have a decent partnership, but Nkoulou hopefully is a level above
Firstly, Kucka isn't even really a DM, he's mostly been one of, if not the most, advanced central midfielders in his recent career, supposedly providing some goal threat (which he's not yet properly shown for us, sadly). Secondly, he's been crap in his natural position for us - how can you suddenly expect him to perform anything other than crap in an unnatural position against perhaps the most in-form team in Europe?! Third, again I doubt he's even played there once in his entire 12 year career of top level football; that doesn't seem like an optimal time to start. Fourth, perhaps the biggest issue with Cathcart is his lack of pace enabling forwards to easily run past him - Kucka might even be slower! I presume you're referencing Fabinho, who is naturally a much more deep-lying, defensive midfielder than Kucka - as well as likely being more adaptable anyway due to being younger and having far more skill and footballing intelligence. Even then Pool knew it wasn't an optimal solution, as they signed two (crap) CBs in January (Davies and Kabak) to try and stop playing him there.
At least when midfielders currently breeze into the space behind Kucka there is a faint possibility that our paper tissue defence might do something or the attacker will mess up the pass under no pressure. If we move him further back, they'll just be running straight in on goal.
lolwut?! You seem to be the only poster on the forum to have not given up on him yet. I'm pleased though that we have another new entrant in the "hasn't played for us yet (or for ages) so must automatically be somehow better than what we currently have" stakes.
You are absolutely correct. Apart from Villa he has been disappointing. However I am convinced that he can do a better job than Cathcart is currently doing and in any case what is the worst that can happen if Kucka played CB ?
We lose 9-0?! Sadly though, like my belief that Fletcher will score goals for us in the PL, we'll never get to see it happen.
Cup? Southampton lost 9-0 to Leicester in the PL in 2019, and also lost 9-0 to Man Utd in the PL this February.
Until they all get to play, disappoint, and then all those they replaced will be deemed to be the saviours.
Ha ha ! You got me ! I took the bait and you have reeled me in !! Cathcart is king !! It is a mystery why they haven't tried to sign him given their 0-9 defeats Problem solved Hassenhuttll !!