Squad strength?

[davek]

Well, 4 points from the last 9 with three of the easiest fixtures we'll get; we couldn't handle the losses of Jagielka, Distin, and the suspensions of Howard and Barry for one game.

We'll merely replace two squad players with another two in the window it looks like. Ok, it's been a difficult period over Christmas, but we're looking at 6th here realistically aren't we?

 

[toffeemax]

we battered stoke and sunderland and drew and lost, then play average against soton and win. been unlucky

 

[dholliday]

7th-placed trophy by the looks of it. Only Spurs or Newcastle look like their results might not match ours.

 

[TrixyStevens]

If we continue playing like we have we will slip. Lukaku does not have the energy to lead from the front and his 1st touch is suspect. Unfortunately we don't have the money to bring in a player/s to make an impact in the starting 11. We are looking at 7th or 8th if things don't change.

 

[irishtony1878]

To be honest, if we take the blue tinted glasses off, it's between us and Liverpool for the europa league slot.

 

[malfosse]

I think we certainly did enough to win today and against Sunderland. Games like our recent ones happen sometimes, forget about them and move on to the next game.

 

[BlueToff]

Not bad. Not good but not bad considering the circumstances. Sunderland could only beat us in the way they did - with us going down to 10 and them sitting back. The only worry is how we struggle to break teams down who park the bus, which a lot of teams do now because we could easily rip them apart. Disappointed with today but it's got to be viewed as a point gained considering we were down.QPR will be tough but then we'll have a week to recover and hopefully kick on against Norwich.

As for the squad strength, I believe the players we get will be an improvement and won't just be sat on the bench as Naismith and Jelly are most of the time.
Lukaku needs some real competition, and Osman is best coming on for 20 minutes if we're struggling to get through a team - like he did today.

As for the defence, was really impressed with both Alcaraz and Stones today. Don't think we have anything to worry about there unless we get another injury, in which case i'm sure cover will be addressed.

 

[Furey1878]

It should be a rule that we can't make threads till at least 24 hours after a match has finished.

FFS, yeeah we were far from our best there but even then we dominated.

And the Sunderland perfromance was great, just one moment of madness cost us.

 

[davek]

we battered stoke and sunderland... just unlucky

We are streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetched though. 4 from 9 against that opposition tells a story...although there's a detail that contradicts the main point I'm making.

Realistically, Martinez has to be backed heavily this month in the transfer market to stay in touch.

 

[billycopper]

City and Southampton drew at Stoke and Chelsea were beaten there. Our last clean sheet was at Old Trafford, so we haven't performed any worse defensively by having our second-choice centre back pairing involved today.

And we beat Southampton without Howard and Barry.

The last time that Jagielka, Distin, Howard and Barry all played together was the defeat by Sunderland!

 

[davek]

It should be a rule that we can't make threads till at least 24 hours after a match has finished.

FFS, yeeah we were far from our best there but even then we dominated.

And the Sunderland performance was great, just one moment of madness cost us.

It's not a thread about that game just finished; it's about the clutch of games we just faced and how it's defined us a little bit.

 

[potato]

We are streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetched though. 4 from 9 against that opposition tells a story...although there's a detail that contradicts the main point I'm making.

Realistically, Martinez has to be backed heavily this month in the transfer market to stay in touch.

id say he needs another delefeu and a suarez like type player

spend 10 mil on each and we will be fine.

 

[davek]

City and Southampton drew at Stoke and Chelsea were beaten there. Our last clean sheet was at Old Trafford, so we haven't performed any worse defensively by having our second-choice centre back pairing involved today.

And we beat Southampton without Howard and Barry.

The last time that Jagielka, Distin, Howard and Barry all played together was the defeat by Sunderland!

You're happy with the way we've handled the strain of the Christmas period then?

 

[dannyboy]

Forward options aren't good enough. Pienaar isn't good enough to be starting week in week out for a team perusing a top 4 place, Mirallas is too hit and miss as well.

Problem is the alternatives are grim. Money spent in January please.

 

[Furey1878]

It's not a thread about that game just finished; it's about the clutch of games we just faced and how it's defined us a little bit.

But totally not influenced by the feeling of disappointment after a draw.

Top 4 was always going to be tough, I think it's more telling that when our squad is stretched we're pretty unfortunate to only get 4 points from 9.