Bailey

Against Arsenal Lukaku was the most attacking with Naismith slightly deeper and then Mirallas deeper than that. Played exactly the same way as we did last season. Chelsea Lukaku was the focal point with the other behind in our more traditional formation (although I havent seen the average position map for this one).

Yeh I agree with the article and I think it will come as his stature within the team increases (ie when Barry is out)

I have never known someone get on a players back like you have with Lukaku Haf. Its actually incredible. Purely picking every little hole in their game/performance (including making stuff up) and excluding anything positive they make. Totally agree that the fee is far too much but its a low risk investment because he will score goals, he will create goals and if we want to move him on in 2 years time we will be able to do so and pocket at least most of our money back. We have bigger issues to worry about than Lukaku IMO.

The new dawn for England that was being billed couldnt have really been much further from the truth. I dont think anyone played particularly badly mind you, but other than Sterling and to an extent Baines and Henderson, no one else really made a positive impact. I thought Delph looked solid when he came on mind you. Sturridge looked sharp but made poor decision after poor decision and Rooney wasnt really involved. His movement on the whole was shocking. I like the fact he stayed up top for once but that doesnt mean he has to stand still. The rest were all just distinctly average including Stones who looked like a CB playing RB which isnt exactly a surprise!

Yeh I imagine it was pretty high at Wigan because they took some absolute batterings whilst he was changing their philosophy. I think one season they shipped 9 or 10 in their first 2 games but that was 1 club with the worst team and worst defenders in the league who he was trying to play attacking free flowing football with. I think he probably did too much too soon and given the decline Wigan were on when he took over and the further restriction of funds it probably wasn't entirely surprising. So yeh his defensive record at Wigan was probably shocking but his record at his 2 other clubs so far suggests it's not every club he has been with.

West Brom 0 - 3 Everton Lukaku

You are just using his Wigan stats though and that was when he was the manager of the worst team in the league with the worst defenders in the league. At Swansea his records is as follows: 2006-7 = Goals Conceded 1.15 per game - Clean sheet 37% (he took over mid season) 2007-8 = 0.91 - 37% 2009-10 = 1.09 - 30% 2013-14 = 1.03 - 39% (better than the previous 3 seasons under Moyes) Unfortunately its not as straight forward as Martinez teams concede goals, sure he prefers to create chances, but its not like ALL of his teams have shipped goals like you say. Its not like Martinez could have planned us conceding the first 2 on Saturday at the time we did or in the fashion we did. Similarly he cant really account for the shockers we conceded against Arsenal with so many men back to snuff out the attack or the fortunate breaks that fell to the Leicester players. I would definitely argue that cetain measures could have been taken before that (ie the Osman sub vs Arsenal or making slight changes against Leicester) but the manager can only control so much. Its so fucking annoying because we are actually doing a lot right in these games but we havent seen them out. Its not like we have been onto a hiding all game or barely threatened or set up for a nil nil like we have in previous years. We have dominated large parts of games, dismantled an Arsenal team for 60 mins and created as many great chances as anyone will against Chelsea this year (and probably any year Mourinho is in charge). We just need to stop fucking up!

Yeh he really was excellent and it looks like your suggestion of him playing on left could be very profitable Steve_E.

Thought he was better and he did have an influence in the final third which he is there for. Its certainly more like what I would expect from him so hopefully he can do that more regularly.

Dont you have better things to do? Mirallas for me, thought he was class throughout and just showed that extra little bit of quality ahead of Naismith who was also excellent.

I dont get the emotion comments at all? Emotion affects your decision making. I dont want to see Martinez smiling when we concede but I want him to celebrate when we score (which he does) and look pissed when we concede (which he does). Once that small emotion has gone I want the manager clear headed and ready to analyse the game.

Yes we shipped 6 at the weekend but we were either going to live or die by the gun once that had happened 3 mins in. Of course the CB's & midfielders were going to get exposed because we were flying forwards and backwards all the time which played into Chelsea's strengths. From that point onwards, our defensive structure was always going to go to pot because we were trying to get back in the game and on the whole, we did a bloody good job (of getting back into the game)! The faults lie in the first goals though and they are shockers. We step off, the midfield is left exposed (its as if Barry & McCarthy were expecting the other to be covering) and then Jags plays the stupidist offside trap alive. He can see Baines in front of him, he doesnt even time his own step out right and then Howard lets it go between his legs. Second goal has a similar miscommunication as both Barry and McCarthy are drawn to the ball, Distin covers the initial run of Ramirez and in fairness looks to show Barry to come across who does start to cover but not quick enough. I actually think the back line do well to push out and Baines times it correctly and it was a poor decision to allow the goal. Howard could have done better again maybe as the ball was very close to him. Third goal, McCarthy is done for pace, nothing clever about it and apart from use the angle better there isnt much he can do about it. Coleman is unlucky. I like the fact Howard stepped up to Costa but the headbutt on Azpilicueta (?) was stupid especially as its right in front of the ref. Fourth goal, Barry & McCarthy are both sucked in again and caught a little ball watching and then Distin doesnt close down Matic well enough. Fifth goal is the one Lukaku's poor touch let him down. We should have still had it covered but McCarthy switched off and from that angle Howard shouldnt have been beaten IMO. Sixth goal is a shocker and the less said the better. Throughout the game Jags was making howlers and IMO Distin was very lucky to get away with a couple of his own attempts to play offside. If you want to press high up the pitch you have to use the offside trap well but some of the attempts on Saturday were shockers. What I will say is that the 2nd goal shouldnt have been allowed and the 3rd goal was a bit of a case of wrong man, wrong time (in terms of it being McCarthy vs Hazard and Colemans touch) but the other 4 were easily preventable with a bit more cohesion and better decision making.

This. We are basically the same as last year with slight variations from game to game. Unfortunately we are just making a shit load more errors.

I wouldnt hold Stones' preseason against him. One of the times he was caught in possession was due to a shocking pass leaving him very little options. He is normally much sharper than that and whilst he will make the odd mistakes, Jags is making more than that at the moment and his place in the team isnt justified. It's difficult for Martinez due to Jags being the captain but he needs to make a change and at the very least let Jags get his shit together.

I agree with you both. He probably watched the hype surrounding his first preseason touched and tried to be a smart arse. If anything doing that at that stage of the game (when it was very unlikely we would have gone on to get a point) was probably the best time for it to blow up in his face. It grounds him, we dont lose any points because of it and he will come back a stronger and better player.

Thought he was poor again against Chelsea. He needs to step up that's for sure, no matter what you think of him.

I think he has done pretty well on the whole too. He was up and down against Chelsea but that was a Jeckyl and Hyde game for most players. Do I think he is worth £28mil? Not a chance but do I think he is a very good striker who will prove to be a big player for the club in years to come, definitely.

My comments in the last thread seem to be quite on the money! I would still go for McCarthy or Baines. Probably a little soon for the former in my opinion but Baines really stepped up as captain (against Arsenal? last year) and I remember him launching into Arteta after he pulled one of his many snide tricks. He would be my pick all day long.

Still don't know what to think about this game. The fact that we scored 3 goals and should have scored more against what will probably be the best defensive team in the league is a big positive. The fact that we conceded 10 in 3 games is a huge worry and more so that stupid individual errors are the issue.

That was some game. Poor result and some shocking errors but great effort all round.

Jags is having a Liverpool style mare again today. Apart from him the rest of the team have been excellent. Howard is lucky to be on the pitch mind you.

Get in! Great move.

We have reacted very well.

Now that should be offside. We will do well to win this.

Wtf is Jags doing.