It takes a lot of effort and skill to make Wigan...

[Slight_Return]

Look as good as we made them look tonight.

They were closing down like we did to man ure, and this time, we didnt like it.

They were looking to run into space and have a ball played in front of them so they could move at speed onto it and stretch the play.

Too many of our players like the safe option which often is only a hospital pass meaning that whoever is receiving the ball is under pressure instantly.

Desire tonight - zero.
Effort tonight - zero (except in yakubus case, because he gets a negative score)
Guile - zero
Guts - zero
Determination - zero
Craft/skill/technique - zero

Howard did his bit, let down time and again by a defence that dont appear to know each other, but certainly know every opposition yet with the amount of passes to them (hoof!!!)

Arteta is not happy left midfield, he drifts inside and forgets about his man and suddenly lescott is doubled up on again and again. Just like the boro game.
It comes to something when cahill is playing left mid and is crossing balls in that he should be getting on the end of.

My way although wrong would be to get the ten that played tonight (subs excluded) and make them run 40 miles tomorrow. Then threaten them that if they didnt at least show up against spurs it will be 80 miles, and if anyone fails, two week fine.

Tonight Howard and maybe Jagielka earned their weeks wage. the rest were an insult, an abomination, a farce, a waste of space, a waste of time.

Time to get a grip or [Poor language removed] off.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I don't think 4-4-2 is our formation at all. We're not good enough in midfield to use it. Even in the first 15 minutes whilst generally on top we'd run out of options in midfield, play it back, and the defence would hit it long. Time after time. Teams know when we play a 4 in midfield that if they apply pressure on us they'll get the ball back very easily.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

Desire tonight - zero.
Effort tonight - zero (except in yakubus case, because he gets a negative score)
Guile - zero
Guts - zero
Determination - zero
Craft/skill/technique - zero

Need to know why though. Something is causing those players to be like that.

Giving them a good kick up the ass might help short term but it seems that there is more cause here than we know.

Maybe the summer and Moyes contract got to the players deep down more than we think.

There's soemthing not right with our club on the pitch right now.

 

[Neiler]

Thats the most dissapointing thing mate for me, you have to earn the right to win games, win the little battles all over the field, the dissapointing thing is that we actually have the quality ibn our squad to rattle the European Cahmpions and then to go belly up against wigan is inexcusable.

Like i say all wages for this week should be given to charity.

 

[TX Bill]

Look as good as we made them look tonight.

They were closing down like we did to man ure, and this time, we didnt like it.

They were looking to run into space and have a ball played in front of them so they could move at speed onto it and stretch the play.

Too many of our players like the safe option which often is only a hospital pass meaning that whoever is receiving the ball is under pressure instantly.

Desire tonight - zero.
Effort tonight - zero (except in yakubus case, because he gets a negative score)
Guile - zero
Guts - zero
Determination - zero
Craft/skill/technique - zero

Howard did his bit, let down time and again by a defence that dont appear to know each other, but certainly know every opposition yet with the amount of passes to them (hoof!!!)

Arteta is not happy left midfield, he drifts inside and forgets about his man and suddenly lescott is doubled up on again and again. Just like the boro game.
It comes to something when cahill is playing left mid and is crossing balls in that he should be getting on the end of.

My way although wrong would be to get the ten that played tonight (subs excluded) and make them run 40 miles tomorrow. Then threaten them that if they didnt at least show up against spurs it will be 80 miles, and if anyone fails, two week fine.

Tonight Howard and maybe Jagielka earned their weeks wage. the rest were an insult, an abomination, a farce, a waste of space, a waste of time.

Time to get a grip or [Poor language removed] off.

Wouldn't argue with any of this.

 

[kenada_blue]

Arteta is not happy left midfield, he drifts inside and forgets about his man and suddenly lescott is doubled up on again and again. Just like the boro game. It comes to something when cahill is playing left mid and is crossing balls in that he should be getting on the end of.

I said this in me preview for the Wigan game. Lescott isnt technically gifted enough to work with Arteta on the left and just about gets away with it with Pienaar. Towards the end of the game tonight Arteta was a left back getting tackles in! WTF was that about? Lescott was in attack mode all game.

For all Neville's inability, he and Arteta work great together. Look at the Boro game last week. Pienaar came on, balance was restored and we looked like we could've nicked it.

And also Pienaar and Baines on the left looked great! Lack of hoof down that side, they even said they liked playing together.

 

[Alan Whittle]

View from the Palace End.
I realised with about 10 minutes to go what it was that had been nagging me since the end of the first 15 minutes. The way Wigan played reminded me of us when we were last in the Prem. (04-05, under Dowie.) Very little in the way of skill, all chase down, harry your opponents, put a foot in, all up for set pieces, and, if you're really lucky,belt it up to AJ, who will either score or get a pen.
They have no AJ,but, like WHU,do have a bit of pace. (I was at Upton Park and when Etherington came on he was slaughtering the defence with his pace.)
Trouble is, as Dowie learned, the good sides will still murder you, simply because their players are so much better (in terms of technique) and you can't out slug the poorer ones every time. So, we went down.
Everton tonight did not play well enough to out skill them (even though they appeared to go with the attitude that they could and would) and didn't fight hard enough to out slug them.
I know its none of my business,but tonight, got nothing,deserved nothing.It is a scenario with which,sadly,I'm well acquainted. Good news is our Man.City tickets turned up today!

 

[Rook]

Just giving up 1 to Wigan isn't bad. They have some quality attacking players on the squad. Not scoring with Bramble in defense is inexcusable though.

 

[ToxtethBlue]

I said this in me preview for the Wigan game. Lescott isnt technically gifted enough to work with Arteta on the left and just about gets away with it with Pienaar. Towards the end of the game tonight Arteta was a left back getting tackles in! WTF was that about? Lescott was in attack mode all game.

For all Neville's inability, he and Arteta work great together. Look at the Boro game last week. Pienaar came on, balance was restored and we looked like we could've nicked it.

And also Pienaar and Baines on the left looked great! Lack of hoof down that side, they even said they liked playing together.

He'd be much better in the middle. Stick Osman on the right and Pienaar on the left.

 

[Brownie]

He'd be much better in the middle. Stick Osman on the right and Pienaar on the left.

I think Victor has a future out wide as well. He's shown a couple of times this season that he can play there and hasn't looked out of place. He's not really the most clinical striker anyway, in fact I'd say his main strength is beating players one on one. He could be converted, I reckon. I'd play him out there rather than Osman.

Or, if we can't find width from our midfield, just play 3 up top like I've been saying. Full backs become a bit more defensive and you rely on Yak, Saha and Vic/Vaughan to come up with something between them. I wonder if Moyes experiments with this kind of thing, he must do, surely.