Bailey

Enough said? That has no relevance to what I wrote...

Naismith hasnt really though has he, at least not against Premiership opposition. He scored the goal against Villa which helped create with good build up play but in that game he also had Mirallas play up top with him. Other than that, I cant think of a chance where he got in behind and on goal from our own play.

We really miss Pienaar when he isnt playing because he just helps us keep hold of the ball. He is always available as an out ball down the left, he is very good at finding space and seeing a move develop, unfortunately he doesnt quite have that execution to take him to the next level. He does so much good work getting the team into the final third and then tends to fluff the shot/cross/pass, which I do find frustrating. Having said that, other than the Liverpool game where he clearly wasnt fit, I dont think he has played badly for a while.

I have seen Lukaku in plenty of good positions to score but the balls not been played to him, especially when its come from the right and one of Coleman/Mirallas. Naismith makes cleverer runs, not denying that (especially the Villa goal) but to suggest Lukaku doesnt is a joke.

Lukaku is an excellent finisher, his problem at the moment is that he is creating or having chances created for him.

Barry for me. Naismith did well when he came on but lets not get carried away. He was put through 1 v 1 by the Swansea player and then got caught by a terrible attempt at a tackle without really having to do anything with the ball. Excellent finish for the first and his knack for popping up at the right place at the right time is a really useful skill to have but its not like he had to create anything on his own etc.

Spot on! Naismith is good in the air for someone his size but ask him to outjump center halves game in, game out and he will struggle as much as anyone.

I think he is our Scottish Chicharito. His overall ability is limited and his passing and touch leave something to be desired and if he was relied upon to play 90 mins he would end up being frustrating. However, his finishing is excellent, he doesnt stop moving and he has that ability to pop up at the right place and at the right time.

Was hoping for Liverpool myself to get them back but Arsenal will do. Shocking draw though for both sides.

Didnt exactly do much but also not as bad as people are making out. Considering he is known as being quick, Im surprised that he was slow.

Thought we created plenty of chances and limited them to very few. Certainly wasnt a polished performance and we really need to up the tempo and intensity but all things considered it was a comfortable enough victory. Roll on Arsenal!

He was rushed back due to the injuries we had at the time. In the circumstances I didnt think Barkley was that bad and the worst decision was to start Pienaar IMO. Martinez admits he got it wrong, but at least he does admit it and hopefully when Barkley does come back he will be fighting fit.

I think Moyes will get you moving back up the table because if he could get our squad to around the 6th-8th region, he can take Utd into the top 4 but I doubt he will bring you the titles the fans crave. All you need to know about Moyes was shown in the Arsenal game the other day. No matter how much you need the 3 points, Moyes will always look to make sure he leaves with a point, especially at the bigger clubs. It was one dimensional, and other than stop Arsenal scoring and hope we nick a goal you wont get much better than that away from home. At OT though you should be doing better but we were always at our worst when we had the expectation to win which is why we did quite well at home against some of the better clubs in the league. We played some excellent stuff on occasions but the truth is, it was limited to 4 or 5 games a season. We would play ok for another 10-12 and then poorly for the rest. I was very surprised that Utd appointed him, for the reasons Romey pointed out above, and I wouldnt get your hopes up about him doing much more than competing for the top 4.

To me it seems that very little is going to change and other than the teams playing on the 1st team pitch to get them used to the environmeny (which wont help the quality of the pitches in winter either) the league is fundamentally the same.

Great post!

But players go through patches of scoring and not scoring (Suarez currenlty 1 in 6 & Giroud 1 in 5 for example). Who says Lukaku isnt going to now go on and score 10 more goals this season? He has scored 9 in 19 thats still roughly the same record as his overall record for the 2 years (in fact I think its slightly better!) so even then your argument doesnt stack up. I have not put him on par with either of those players, in fact I specifically stated that I wasnt. I put him up against other strikers in the Premiership who are competing for those top 4 places. Your clearly not reading what I am saying and you clearly have no other intention other making assumptions based on no foundation whatsoever.

Because he has been in the Premiership 2 seasons and I have showed you the comparitive records of other top strikers in the league. A striker that averages a goal every other game is worth his weight in gold because only the best are able to consistently score at that rate. You're basing it on nothing, because there is simply no basis for the claims you are making. Did you even look back at any of his goals/assists over the last two seasons... Obviously not because you can see his involvement in the moves. The point regarding league standings compared to this year and last year is extremely relevant if you are looking to compare season to season. The two bits in bold are spot on!

To back up my last point... After 25 games with 45 points we would have been in joint 4th and only 1 point behind 3rd (in the 2012/13 season).

I think we have showed that we can compete, which IMO is the main thing, especially in his first season in charge. Undoubtedly the league has improved this season, albeit not by massive amounts, and I believe that with a full strength side or at least injuries to some of our less important players rather than the main players, then we would still be bang there an in the firing line. Our biggest problem is that we dont have the squad to compete with the established money men and not necessarily because we havent got a good enough first 11. The top 4 is a dream that we have at least got to aim for and it has been nice to actually have that dream alive this season. I think the last two seasons we should have been bang there as well, especially given the comparative weakness of Chelsea and City especially.

Amen Agree with both of you. I also love the fact that people expect a manager and his players to being able to compete in the CL without any collective European football under competitive conditions. Granted a lot of the players have been based outside the UK but the Europa League is also a good place to start and if we managed to get through to the latter stages, we could potentially come up against some of the best European sides. In the last two seasons (unless stated otherwise) Lukaku 55 games - 26 goals = 0.47 Giroud 57 games - 21 goals = 0.37 Rooney 64 games - 27 goals = 0.42 RVP 52 games - 36 goals = 0.69 Drogba (last 2 seasons at Chelsea) 81 games - 26 goals = 0.32 Torres 88 games - 30 goals = 0.34 Adebayor 69 games - 30 goals = 0.43 Defoe 65 games - 25 goals = 0.38 Aside from the 3 stand out Premier League strikers in RVP and Sturridge/Suarez, Lukaku's record is as good as any other striker's in the premiership. Lukaku runs his arse off game in game out. Really hard nut busting sprints, especially early in a game, often getting kicked to shit and also more recently without the real service he thrives on (I dont agree with the previous Barkley comments, I think its all of the injuries combined as the stand ins havent had an awful lot of service either). The notion that Lukaku doesnt create his own opportunities is an absolute fallacy, just watch his goals back from the last two seasons and you will see why. His link up play is also pretty good (again watch his goals and look at how many he is involved in the build up) and whilst I think his touch is average for a Premier League striker it is certainly no worse.

Jesus Christ there is some shit in this thread.

Apparently theres was cast iron tonight according to SS. They had their fair share of bad luck with Toure's howler tonight too.

Moyes got the point he was after at the Emirates.

Thinking about it, McGeady is more equipped to create chances against packed defences especially if he gets isolated against the FB and Mirallas is probably at his best at creating chances against teams that attempt to attack. Martinez will only start one because he likes to balance that off against a more possession orientated and defensive player on the other wing. I havent been won over by McGeady as yet but these are the type of games that I expect him to show his value to the squad so it will be interesting to see what happens. Sod that, games off!

Interesting... not the most inspiring line-up I have ever seen.