K
Kay20
Guest
I think we'll somehow fumble our way through it. There are major issues that need to be addressed though. By hook or by crook we need to find a way to score. Stoke's long throw routine was very difficult to stop and Arsenal of old scored a large proportion of their goals from set pieces. Was it Joe Royle who latched on to using Andy Hinchcliffe to feed Dunc? We've got enough big players (Fellaini, Straq, Vellios, Rodwell, Distin etc). We should be profitting from Baines' deliveries with much greater regularity.
Unless, by some miracle, funds become available, we've got one loan signing left to patch the squad up. Jags is only out for 6 weeks and I think we can cover that with a combination of Hibbert and Duffy if necessary. I'd probably look for a goal poacher. I'm not sure what his fitness is like, but it's hard to imagine that Robbie Keane could fail to find the net with Donovan and Drenthe flanking him. We could have a solid midfield three behind them including any combination of Fellaini, Rodwell, Osman, Cahill and Neville.
More longer term we need to strip away dead wood and bring more players into the squad. Why do we need Hahnneman? Neville seems to be clinging on? Bily seems to have already moved in his mind. And Saha seems like he just doesn't have it in him any more. That should free up wages. I'd drop Cahill into a deeper and less regular role too, like Ferguson did with Scholes. Can we sign Drenthe on a free? What about players like Kalou and Gordon? Who else is available? We need to establish Duffy, Barkley, Gueye, McAleney and Vellios in the squad as a minimum and get them playing regularly.
If Moyes walked into the job now I'm sure he'd relish that sort of challenge. I think it's worn him down though and he's having trouble getting out of a rut. We need decisive action at this time and this sort of decisions he's made this season, such as Ba and Yakubu make me think he's losing his edge.
I agree with you billycopper - I think we'll end up stumbling our way through it. We need some confidence and Damon's right in a way - today was still a win, and that will be good for the boys. If we had lost I don't know what would have happened.
You know - right now rather than being a jokester, Phil Neville should be earning his keep as Captain.
Agree on the goal poacher front. Keane was playing better than Saha in all honesty, and I would take him here though others wouldn't. He and Landon were building a very solid rapport in LA playing upfront together - I wouldn't mind seeing that either. But looks like he's going to Villa anyway - where we could see him against us as early as 1/14.
Moyes at this point NEEDS to operate out of his comfort zone. He's gotta do it. Let's see who he puts out on Wednesday. The starting line-up continues to be very ?????.
But I'm going to stay an optimist. There's still a ton of footy left, and one thing I do admire about this club - the players have pride in it. Something's gonna give.