mrfahaji

Has to be Pahars, that Everton game will live long in the memory. People celebrating, tooting car horns on the home way etc like we'd just won the cup!

I think it actually would have made it 2-2. I originally thought the same, but wasn't sure so checked the match thread. However, surely if the ball is looped in from afar and crosses through the six yard box, it's fair to wonder if the keeper could have claimed it.

Sandro injured his knee while doing a sliding celebration in a QPR training session...

Agreed. If Austin plays then Tadic would be better playing wide and Boufal being central, as Tadic would serve better putting crosses in. Tadic might be more wasted centrally with Austin due to Austin's lack of pace and ability to get in behind, but doesn't mean the team cannot function with him.

Plenty of reasons to be encouraged about the team at the moment, but unfortunately this fixture fills me with dread. They are a pretty solid team to break down, so while our attack has been great recently, it will be a big test. And at the other end they have a goalscorer on fire, who will undoubtedly get a few chances, and Alli is notorious for making late runs into the box, which our midfield tends to struggle with. Hopefully Claude can come up with a master gameplan though! A repeat of last season, putting pay to their title hopes would be lovely.

People seem quick to write off Austin! Gabbiadini has been excellent, he can finish, is sharp/aware and has a good touch. Austin is still a capable goalscorer though and can certainly be an asset, even if he isn't first choice. Earlier in the season he was our only goal threat and now he "always should have been a sub"...? Gabbiadini first choice, with Long and Austin as two options from the bench or to fill in for suspension/injury etc is a decent armoury. If we sold Austin we'd have to go out and get another striker, can't see the point in that.

Good post, particularly the bit about lack of 'screening' midfielders.

Blimey, you learn something every day! Have always believed your foot couldn't go past the line. Seems strange to me though...

Not going to dispute Shroppie's point, nor the reasons you have raised here. However, the counter argument is that we have just conceded three goals against Watford and have been leaking goals left right and centre recently. If we use the excuse that we've been up against good quality strikers then we may have to accept we're going to concede a few goals every game... I'm more inclined to say that van Dijk is so good it masked some of our defensive frailties as a team, and now it is being exposed with Stephens' inexperience. He doesn't make howlers, isn't consistently out of position etc, but give the other team enough chances and eventually he will get caught out. It then compounds the situation that our keeper is rarely on hand to bail him out.

True! In fact he was so accomplished it almost didn't register how important it was (if that makes sense, it wasn't like a last ditch slide). We did get pretty sloppy in the last 25 mins (that was the only part of the match I saw), but sometimes that will inevitably happen when we try and play our way out of trouble.

He seems to have taken Dann's place, surprising?

We have scored a quarter of our season's goals in our last two games

I was thinking exactly the same!

Started from Redmond losing it, Okaka had way too much time when he picked it up initially - where was the midfield? - and Stephens falls over when the cross comes in.

I guess the point is Stekelenburg was signed as back up, so many were forgiving of him not being the best keeper in the world. When Forster returned the defence seemed more confident and Forster did a good job of organising them - I remember the Arsenal game being able to hear him bellowing instructions. That seems to have been lost along with his ability to make saves, his ability to command the area despite his size, and his ability to come off his line quickly (if he ever had this in the first place).

Well quite, we know that Stephens is inexperienced and it's possible he might just not be good enough (hopefully he will be), can't really blame players for that. Equally, Romeu has been superb all year, seems a fantastic character, and even had a good game in the final, but I see the forum as a way to discuss the team or individual weaknesses and what they could be better at.

Fair enough, I didn't see MNF, only the highlights on Channel 5. Hard to recall it perfectly from memory, though I agree he was caught out. Agree that Yoshida was slow to get out for the second as well, though it really stemmed from Romeu's positioning... going off on a tangent, for all his excellence, he does struggle positioning-wise when he's facing his own goal. Players get in behind him and he is slow to pick them up.

"Walkabout" is a bit unfair, even if he was caught out. If I recall correctly, the run of Martial dragged Stephens out of position which gave Lingard a lot of space. I'd say Romeu was more at fault than anyone else (though others, like Davis, were also culpable of switching off). The third goal was more an inability to track/pick up Ibrahimovic. Stephens was in the right area, just lacked awareness of the runs around him. Still his fault, but not quite as clear cut as I thought it would be before I watched the highlights. His distribution needs some work. He seems comfortable enough on the ball, but often fails to execute lofted passes, it's left us vulnerable to a break and has happened a few times in recent games. We have been spoilt with Virgil in that regard though!

Dear me. Bizarre on so many levels. Footballers don't think "I hate this weather, but I better be happy because I'm paid a lot". And who knows, maybe they are all delighted, it's just hard to show it while you've got wind and rain blowing in your face.

Nah, the red shorts look smart with the white tops but I think black goes well with the red & white stripes, gives it an edge.

I think it's more just bad luck than anything else. On the FA Cup weekend, we are due to play a team still in it, who are also still in Europe so hard to rearrange the match, and then the team we were due to play in our own cup final are also still in Europe (though not for much longer...) I'm not even sure Puel is "moaning" about it, just stating that it's difficult, which it is. If I were to find criticism it would be that the manager coming out and saying such a thing will probably filter through to the players who in this day and age only need a slight excuse not to perform. As much as we should always be aiming for Europe, the lack of fixture congestion next year is at least a silver lining. Saturday 3pm kick offs, bliss!

I would say the glimpses I have seen of Hojbjerg, if I think back to the start of the season, would be his impressive passing, not giving the ball away (which he has been atrocious at recently...), and his 'robust' approach. The latter of which could extend to 'driving runs' but Davis has much better close control, regularly turns out of small spaces and has much more creativity in his passing. Davis is also good at carrying the ball forwards when we counter attack. Although Hojbjerg's wayward long rangers have been poor, he's also fluffed a few decent chances too. I'd agree that Davis deserves as much if not more criticism for it as he is meant to be more attacking and therefore lack of goal threat is a relevant weakness, but from the evidence so far I'd say Hojbjerg has been at least as bad (though he at least generates some power, could end up being better if harnessed). I'd agree that Hojbjerg could be better suited to playing as a second DM, but more for his defensive advantages over Davis rather than his attacking threat. If we were to stick with a midfield 3, then we should upgrade Davis and then have him compete/rotate with JWP and PEH for the other midfield spot.

Funny that you consistently claim not to be anti-Davis, just that people overrate him, and then you post this. I have seen glimpses of Hojbjerg that suggest he has a lot more to offer and can be an excellent player, but not sure there has been much (or any) evidence to support what you assert.

It's quite unbelievable that less than a week after playing our first major final for 14 years, and only 6th (?) in our entire history, an occasion that provided many with some of the most memorable moments in a lifetime of supporting our club, that some people are moaning about our FA Cup exit...

A bit harsh, Austin only hospitalised that cyclist.