mrfahaji

Give that boy MOTM

Thought 5string was significantly ahead of me and already into the 2 mins of stoppage time. When 5 came up on that board I was confused and crestfallen...!

On my pixelated stream I thought it was a penalty, but on the replay think it would have been harsh.

Fantastic penalty - he's certainly improved them since Turf Moor! Was just about to say that whenever the ball "could have gone anywhere", it always seems to drop to a Sunderland player... Expecting an onslaught now, just hope we don't sit back and encourage it and instead can break.

Maybe a spectacular volleyed own goal?

Hopefully for us...

I agree that whenever I've seen JWP do anything it has always been something that slows the game or kills any attacking impetus. However, what we do risk with that substitution is leaving big holes in the midfield. Sunderland are defending well but are not threatening, I'd be inclined to say let's keep working with our current hand than risk letting them grab a goal - then it really would be tough to break them down!

I'd probably give us a 6/10 so far, not playing too badly but a bit frustrating at times, especially the final ball into the box. I think Sunderland have been told to watch, close down and cover Mane, every time he gets it they're on to him in a flash. Not a bad game plan to be fair...

So we were, my bad, I think the pattern of play was so similar against Bournemouth that I've sort of merged the two... Means my theory falls down a bit doesn't it?! Although I could still argue that United going two goals up meant they relaxed and gave us a chance to get back into it.

Yep, once you hand the initiative to the other team it's very difficult to get it back. We may well have wanted to not be so defensive, but because Bournemouth (and United) were controlling the game we couldn't change it. It's why people say 2-0 can be a dangerous scoreline (even though on the face of it, it seems a ridiculous assertion...!) I don't think against United it was 'waking up again' - at 2-2 they are dominating and we are thinking "hold on for a point", then once they score we no longer had anything to lose, and equally United stopped pressing and attacking as they had been doing.

In a nutshell. (well, two nutshells) Plus a lot of the reviews in NFL tend to be for more objective things like "did the ball hit the ground?", "did the ball break the plane?", "was his foot out of bounds?" Imagine how difficult it would be to judge whether an incident is a penalty or dive, a yellow or red card, accidental or deliberate handball etc.

The only thing I'd say about this is that Koeman spoke to the team at Half Time against Bournemouth, as well as having plenty of chance to review the United and Leicester games. I daresay that the players also know the game lasts 90 minutes. It's more likely that: 1) There was a warning about 'playing for 90', but the players weren't up to it - possibly physically but mostly mentally, so they sat back and lost control of the game. 2) The was a change in tactics to ensure we kept it tight and won, so they sat back and lost control of the game. So if 1, then regardless of Koeman's lecturing, it won't make any difference. If 2, then it's Koeman's fault in the first place!

The problem with using technology is that decisions are still partly subjective. Admittedly, some are less than others, but it stills requires people to make a judgement call. What's the betting that somehow the big clubs would still end up getting more dubious calls awarded in their favour? I think the NFL basis of "significant reason to overrule" is decent, but I don't think it's good to have the game stopping for long periods - that's what makes the goal-line technology good, it is almost instantaneous and is based on fact.

Good read. I think Bournemouth's lack of goal threat is accentuated by the fact that they are a team set up to score goals. If you set up to be hard to beat, then maybe a few draws and 1-0s can be enough to see you through, and 'not having enough firepower' is not necessarily a big issue. Bournemouth have reached the Premier League by playing attacking, open football, you really have to score for that system to work!

Yep, me too. I mean, who needs a player who can create chances when you can have someone that runs around a lot?

I dislike Pochettino and I hate Levy. Their current good form is most disappointing.

Agree that losing the nerve and composure plays a large part, but we have become sloppy in quite a few games this year. Again, it could just be that in every case it's because we are panicking. So frustrating when the ball goes to someone up the field, in space, and they just play a lazy pass that immediately puts us back under pressure!

Fantastic first half. Overall performance second half was shocking but we did at least do well in terms of 'last line of defence' - even though we were almost constantly under the cosh, Bournemouth didn't create many clear cut chances. It always seemed likely that Bournemouth would improve second half but don't think anyone expected the game to turn on its head quite so much! Our inability just to control the ball and make simple passes when we got the ball back was frustrating and worrying - is it just a symptom of being out of the game so much, or are we (as I say pretty much every week...) not fit enough to sustain our first half levels?

For all our dominanace, that chance at the end for Bournemouth shows how easily it can change when you get a bit over confident. Great saving tackle for VVD, wasn't sure if it was his fault in the first place but he seemed to be having a go at a few others for it!

Even though it's amusing to see Chelsea falling apart, I'm a bit concerned that it will serve to give Liverpool or Tottenham a crack at top 4. Spurs getting there would be horrendous, as it would actually give Daniel Levy some clout to play his pathetic transfer games with.

You're entirely fair to pull me up on this - I don't normally rise to the bait from individual posters but after the Liverpool game I saw someone describe him as perpetually awful and have noticed posts (maybe the same person) being overtly negative when he either hasn't been bad or hasn't been the only one. He was one of our weaker performers at Anfield, but still carried a threat, and for someone to make out he hasn't played well at all recently really irked me!

Sounds like the "perpetually awful" Tadic played quite well when he came on. Funny that.

Next thing we know people will be saying Fonte has been better for us than Marco Almeida.

Strange ratings -in the BBC report they give VVD MotM, so at least it looks like their reporter did at least watch the game.

Even though he made two silly fouls to get a red card, I was thinking earlier in the game (even before he scored) that Mané's work rate and willingness to put his foot in is another string to his bow - he actually wins the ball back for us quite a lot. Didn't think Tadic had a great game, but when he went off we lost our shape. Given JWP had just come on, was disappointed at times he lacked a bit of energy to press. Thought our back four were excellent, all in the running for my MOTM. Full backs would miss out on account of their final ball when they got forward. Fonte misses out because he let Benteke get across him, but it was nevertheless a great header from Benteke. That leaves VVD, he was outstanding again. Certainly encouraging that we looked a pretty good team out there today.