striker

I think Hoj is the least of our problems. I still like him as a player. I am much more concerned about the likes of Gunn, JWP, Verstergaard, and Che (among others).

I always found it weird that Gunn seemed to just be given the starting job. It was like one minute there he is and McCarthy is looking for a new club. I still don't get it.

In hindsight Long was one of our best players because he did absolutely nothing. Its better to be invisible than play like Gunn or JWP

why change when things are going so well

Long, why? I mean a lot of players can run and do other things too

JWP has some plusses, but he is a liability in defence.

Terrible by Gunn and JWP. Gave them a goal

1-1, but Vestergaard gives up his usual 2, so final is 3-1 Chelsea

Things I just don't understand: 1) Vestergaard - self explanatory 2) Valery - what happened here? He was so good that Cedric was let go, not he can't get into the line up even as a backup for the same Cedric 3) Gunn - why was he promoted over McCarthy so quickly. It was like one day he's in and thats the end of it. It was as if he was some kind of Champions League MVP who just came back from injury and was given back his rightful spot. 4) JWP - why does Ralph think he's the "jack of all trades"? He's good in a certain position or two, not 5. I don't get all the moving around. 5) The whole Bertrand mess - which still confuses me. I get the uncomfortable feeling Ralph is starting to make decisions based on personality/relationship, rather than on field execution

LOL - Show-pony Boufal, perfect description. Give him a little bump and the ball comes right out

So basically once Spurs were down to 10 the score was 1-1. Amazing we gave up a goal like that up a man. Unlucky not to score though, the goalie kept them in front (after giving us a goal of course).

playing against 10 men and we do that

I agree with the OP. I've been saying for a while that the sitting of Yoshida is the main confusion point with Ralph for me. Big V makes many mistakes every match. If this were my team, Yoshi would be on every starting sheet.

Watford now has a -11 goal differential after 5.5 matches. Thats impressive

Of all the things Ralph has done, this is the one that continually baffles me. Why does he continue to trot out Big V onto the pitch ahead of Yoshida. I just don't see it. Match in and match out he gets beat. Is Ralph just going by height? For me, if I was the manager, Yoshida would be one of the first names on my list each week

Mid table Championship defence

Big match today, these are the type of matches we need to win. The Cherries are around us in the table, either move above or fall back into relegation battles

In my mind we don't play with a traditional striker, so I'm not sure this line of thinking applies. Our striker is just another "attacking midfield type" running around with the rest. So Redmond, a striker, Djenepo, whoever else, all basically play the same. Its not like we have a target guy in the middle who we are relying on. As long as the goals come from "the team" I'm ok.

Good point, we'll take it. Can't believe BigV scored.

Hoj is a beast, he can play almost anywhere. We need to keep Liverpool away

According the match tracker, he's got the most tackles so far

I'm really surprised guys like Long, Hoedt, and Armstrong aren't in the line up.

I thought we were playing Brighton, not Chelsea. When did we switch?

Sadly, both responses to my post above are true. Sorry state of defensive affairs.

The scariest part is Ralph may try to fix this defense by bringing in Hoedt