PaulC

Possibly but Lambert might be a bit foolish if leaves he doesn't consider him when fit. I know he's a high earner and he probably wants to sell him but he offers a bit more than Tonev.

Might watch that then, just finished watching jfk again

When you have the spent the money he has expectations are going to be high. I think a defeat against United could see him go.

What future are you talking about though ? - to me in July, the future is the following season. Football is very much the here and now - these vague promises of Jam Tommorow rarley come to fruition. I would expect the bulk of those players to perform at round about the level they are now.....true some will shift up a gear (Delph) - whilst others will flounder (Lowton). Expecting steady season on season improvement across the squad generally doesn't happen - good as this theory sounds I'm thinking the next two or three years when many of our young players should peak, Barry might give us something this season but who would he replace? westwood who is only going to get better. And what's the point? we won;t get into a european place and we won't go down. I'd rather stick with Westwood. and anyway you can't turn back the clock. Barry is probably not quite as good as when he left us and he's slow.

A bit spit really! He was magnificent against Sunderland last season. No doubt he offers more going forward than Bacuna. I can't see Lambert picking them both.

Yes its a very low key game. Ozil has been poor.

Yup agreed. I'd have preferred it towards the end of last season but that's just me being greedy. He was getting into those positions from March onwards and he seemed to regress at the start of this season but it's good to see he is getting back to form. I really believe of all our midfielders, given the role he is able to play, that if he clicks, then he above all the other midfielders will be the most difficult for us to hang on to. I totally agree with that.

I remember when Benteke was 3 games in. Most people thought he was useless. I'm willing to give Kozak more time and stand by my earlier statement that he was unlucky to be hooked instead of Benteke. I don't think Kozak is useless but I wonder whether he can play on his own that's all. I think theres a player there who will get a lot of goals for us. He's definately improving.

except it wont happen this year. To be fair this year we have a better chance of doing something but dont know whether of our sides have got what it takes to beat Bayern, Real Madrid or Barcelona

To be fair, you could probably say the same about Murray winning it last year. A gold and a silver medal, a Wimbledon Final and the first male British Grand Slam winner since 1936. That would be easily enough to win it in any "normal" year Any normal year yes but winning wimbledon is possibly held in higher esteem in the UK than the US Open which is just as important but not so many people watch it here. Arguably Murray had a better year last year.

The two Dortmund v Arsenal games had my interest. The other groups i have very little interest in. but it was fun seeing City get ripped apart by Bayern.

Its not neccessarily defensive. When we play 4-3-3 everyone complains we are too narrow. 3-4-3 means we have some width. When have we won at home this season playing 4 at the back?

Yes its going to be Murray. Farah must be the unluckiest sportsman because he probably should have won it last year with the 5k and 10k double and doing the same in the world championships. Any other era of sport he'd have won it.

If that's the case, Anderson should also face the same punishment as Clarke which for lesser mortals (like club players in this country) would probably be some sort of ban rather than a relative pittance of a fine. Edit: Though if one accpets the fact that it is the captain's responsibility to ensure that play is conducted within the spirit of the game then perhaps Clarke's position as skipper ought necessarily to mean a harsher punishment. Personally, I think some of the 'standard' sledging (from all sets of players) has gone too far - playing hard does not mean you have to be gobby tossers. If that has now gone one step further in to effectively giving players passes to physically threaten each other (whether anything is likely to come of it is immaterial) then the cricket authorities and the individual countries' boards, coaches and captains ought to have a bloody good look at themselves. Time was when the umpires perhaps would have stepped in and sorted it out but they've largely been emasculated over the last couple of decades not least by the lack of support given to them by the ICC and beyond. Its always gone on. In the days of Chappel and Thompson i guess a lot of stuff was said but we never heard it.

Yes to be fair Bacuna has done well at right back apart from the first half yesterday.

Bacuna was a playing a bit further forward. I thought it was more of a 3-4-3 but yes Delph was playing more like a left back

Do you think kozak would have worked in that formation? Possibly. I don't see it. Not good enough in the air to win the amount of headers benteke did and not quick enough to play around him like gabby and weimman. I agree

Perhaps, but how long can you go on past laurels and not current form? It's true about Benteke winning the headers. But, then, he was the target for most of the forward balls. Kozak doesn't strike me as a forward that plays off the shoulder of a target man - but that is what he was asked to do. If he was the target man for the last 30 mins instead of Benteke, I doubt he would have performed any less. For a long time. Lambert isn't going to drop Benteke. Even without him playing well he still creates opportunities for other players. leTS face it we were toOTHless without him. I know we beat City but in the other games we had zero threat, Kozak looks better when Benteke plays than when he plays as a lone striker. FACT! I didn't think we looked toothless when we beat Norwich & Man City without Benteke. I agree that Benteke shouldn't be dropped though. He brings other players into play. In regards to Kozak I thought he played pretty well before being subbed, his one effort where he hit the bar was crazy. Yes i thought Kozak played ok but on his own he would have been lost. Norwich second half we created nothing and i think we created 3 chances against City which we scored from.

That's what we did when the three subs came on last night and we were far more positive going forward and Bacuna was able to give us width

Bringing in Barry on a loan deal is not planning for the future. Yes we are a bit short in midfield but I like Delph and Westwood and these players will continue improving.

3 in the league I think.

If he's fit enough he'll start Lambert has indicated as much.

I would usually be tempted to criticise calling someone 'hilariously bad' but he actually is. His shooting is genuinely funny (and hair-tearingly frustrating in equal measure) Most of his shots in the Baggies game were actually on target for a change, so I'm not going to be so restrained. Calling someone "hilariously bad" and a "clown" is completely unnecessary. It was even rounded off nicely with a "Lol". Let's just say that posts like this create a very negative impression of the poster who writes them. Well I genuinely hope he improves and proves the many doubters wrong. I was very angry with some of his wasteful play again last night. He is currently miles off the required standard. Yes thats the problem. How many times do we loose possession because he gives the ball away and how many times does he waste a great attacking position with a shot wasteful shot. He's a bit of a liability to pick really.

Guzan Baker Vlaar Clark Bacuna Westwood El Ahmadi Delph Agbonlahor, Benteke, Weimann We have to figure a way of getting the three up front with a strong midfield 3 and the only way is 3 at the back with Bacuna playing as a wing back.

Yes funny thing is Sam has got more experience of fighting relegation than any other manager. i think that must tell you something! Give him the United job he'd turn them into a relegation team. He has spent a lot of money at West Ham. Far more than Lambert has with us. We sometimes underestimate how good Lambert is.