Bailey

Just come on for Hull

To be fair Howard has a point, not necessarily with the players in the US squad because I don't know enough about them but I agree with his general comment. I could theoretically play for 3 countries yet the only one I could say I would really care about is England. If I knew I couldn't get in the England squad, there is no way I would play for another nation but other people would just so that they could say they had played at a WC or Euro's etc

I don't know if this was aimed at me or just a general point but I don't think it is unfair to say that Koeman is only doing things that a lot of people have been begging for. As someone else has pointed out, this isn't a massively different team to the one we had last year and yet we have only just snapped into some sort of philosophy. We have seen him play around, switch people in and out, get players to do things they aren't really suited to before almost going back to the type of football we did against Spurs. I completely get that he is a manager in a new job and getting to grips with his squad and it may even be that he doubted himself and the squad a little after our early success. Koeman should definitely be getting credit for playing this system as it does seem to suit the guys we have in the starting 11 and the squad. Im very happy to see that he is trusting the young lads and that in return they are rewarding his trust. Long may it continue!

Yep I think he looks lively.

It helps that he has stopped asking Barry to get box to box and that we have stopped lumping the ball up to Lukaku with no support. The players are the same, the set up is different and does stop the issues I mentioned above but it has taken plenty of time to get there, especially as we played in a similar fashion week 1 against Spurs. We got over the line against Palace but it could have been another story had Benteke scored that early chance. We ground it out really well which is a characteristic we have lacked in the last 12-18 months so that is a massive plus but we only just beat relegation fodder so let's see what happens when we have to play a similar team but in slightly better form.

Got an assist today.

Glad to see he kept with the same 11 and same shape today and left them to grind this out in the same formation and didn't tinker too much. Bringing Jags on was a bit weird though!

I only watched the 2nd half but Joel was really good. Superb save, couple of simple ones and then came out and claimed the ball alleviating the pressure.

I really like the look of Lookman... fiery bastard!

Why Jags?

What a ball from Davies again!

Get in! What a great goal, real test of patience!

And a great take too from the corner!

What a save Joel!

No he didnt! He played up front week one for 67 mins, up front moving wide week 2 for 60 mins, didnt play next game and didnt start again until the City game and then his only other start was against Watford. I think he has done well when he has been on the pitch this season. He has looked up for it, he has worked hard and he has been lively, or at the very least, more likely than others.

I watched Nocturnal Animals last night... I enjoyed it but I'm not sure what actually happened, if anything!?

You fucking northerners! I would call you all backwards but then that would insult half my family! Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner... does exactly what it says on the tin.

And shite!

Koeman has always said he leaves it to Walsh and co. He would definitely identify the type of player he wants and the Walsh would find a player. I suspect they then have a discussion and make a decision on whether they want him or not.

You have obviously never played in goal. I bet Utd were glad they didn't take that approach with De Gea.

Yep they are creating at the same level, albeit the formers dipped. Bolasie pass percentage dipped dramatically, which is my main criticism ( of giving the ball away).

I haven't said that though have I? The stats show that his performances dipped from a bright start, which supports what I have said. I don't deny that part of that will reflect the overall failings of the team at that time but the others mentioned haven't seen that same dip and I think have improved.

No they're not numb nuts. Assists require the striker to finish the chance whereas chances created shows exactly what it says. What if Mirallas had put 20 chances on a plate for Lukaku but he missed them all?

Me too, I have been really impressed with him.

His stats for the 2 previous years at Palace are dreadful, at least he has shown definite improvement in that area for us and may suggest that he will do more for us than he did for them unlike Matt suggests (ish).