striker

Hoedt almost cost us there

High Pressing at the start. Bournemouth has yet to get it out of their half.

So I guess its now Gabbi's turn in the penalty box. Also MP likes playing JWP when he plays Austin

Big Sam putting his weight behind the Everton attack (ha ha).

LOL. Thats the spirit (and sounds about right too). Then on to the playoffs!

Also like the playoff stage schedule. the group G winner and runner up plays Group H, which has Senegal, Poland, Japan, and Colombia.

Anyone else following this? England did ok, they got Belgium but not much else (Tunisia and Panama). Russia has the easiest (surprise surprise). Also Spain and Portugal in the same group. No real Group of Death this go round.

I want 2 up top FF Cedric VVD Yoshida Bertrand Lemina Tadic Davis Boufal Austin Gabbi

2 matches does not a season make, nor does it cancel out the first 3 months. Lets see how the next few matches go.

I'm still surprised he put in Austin over Gabbi yesterday. Gabbi didn't play on Sunday so was fresher, does he have a knock?

I'd prefer a 5-5-3 personally.

Great by Boufal.

And there we go

I just spot my drink up too. Ha ha

Saving Gabbi and Austin for this weekend in the 3-5-2. We get to watch Long run around the pitch aimlessly.

Nope, I wear earplugs

We have no chance, so play Long up front and let him run around. Play both Gabbi and Austin in a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 the weekend in a winnable game.

Ha, you know there may be a lot of truth to this. He seemed sort of ****y after the game, probably because now he has the deal with all the fans wanting Austin and Hojberg in the side. Plus it showed his team selection's sucked.

Long is a striker that can't score, at least in the PL. They should really find another spot for him. Like every player Austin does some things well and other things not so well, so does Gabbi. Austin plays very well in the air, plays pretty good hold-up play, and makes good runs from 30 yards and in. His runs put pressure on the D even when he doesn't get the ball, and he is a natural goal scorer with a great shot. The farther from the goal he is the worse he gets. I'm sure if MP doesn't want him there are 5 teams that would in the PL, plus QPR would love him back in the Championship. MP should be building around players that create goals and opportunities rather than forcing everyone to use his system, which from what I can tell includes a lot of passing around midfield and running quickly around. Very little attacking. I still want to see 2 upfront with Austin and Gabbi. When Austin got his 18 goals he played 2 upfront with QPR. I think it would work for Gabbi too.

Agree. Isn't that the point, to eventually score. Some people are caught up with only pace, but what good is it if in the end it doesn't create goals? I'd take a pacey enough, but a little more controlled, attack it if creates better scoring opportunities and gets guys on the pitch who will finish them.

Agreed. If all that matters is to have the most pace, then why don't we just get Usain Bolt and a bunch of track guys.

I got the feeling that today MoPe played the side he didn't really want to play, but was becoming desperate. Now they won and did well and he seems bummed. I think he's very stubborn. Maybe soon he'll be forced to play Gabbi and Austin upfront together, then he'll really be ****y.

Same with Puel last season. We weren't scoring and Austin got a shot during International play. He scored some goals and he stayed in the line-up until he got hurt. Still he had to wait for other line-ups not to work before he got a chance.

Too many fans focus solely on pace. You need a team that can hit on all phases, one is putting the f***in ball in the net. The "thread" here that Austin is too slow is fallacy. He has scored in 50% of the PL matches he's played, and he was our leading scorer last season before getting hurt. If you're too slow you can't do that. Playing a "pacey" striker who never scores because he is "pacey" is nuts. Austin gives the team something it desperately needs. The players know it and seem to perk up the attack, and I hope MoPe sees that. Austin and Gabbi are the only two PL scorers we have. I would still like to see a 4-4-2, or something else with two upfront, where they can both play.

Good thing we have that 3rd goal, we've fallen back into MoPe ball now.