It's not just the quality and finishing of our attacking players ... it's also our build up, accuracy and speed of delivery. We're too slow and there's far too much passing to and fro. The opposition are all behind the ball by the time we arrive. We miss Zaha and Olise particularly on the wing and Eze in the middle. The youngsters may well introduce a bit of pace but we could do with taking some points from Burnley and Everton. I'm not sure I saw them make a significant impact when they all came on last night.

Edited by Henry of Peckham (28 Oct 2023 10.56am)

Denial is not just a river in Egypt

Modern day football is all about speed. Watch the top teams in all top leagues and you see speed of passing, thinking, running, shooting etc. etc. In most cases very exciting to watch.
We rarely seem to see players dummying a shot then turning inside, going round two more then shooting. Occasionally maybe but the game is so quick that they are discouraged to do anything like that. It's like top players are learning from the FIFA computer game.
As ive already said, we are just way too slow. Our best two players are out and we dont have any significant replacements as aired by Roy.
We are safe and we will be ok this season, but to keep up we need to recognise where the game is going and respond, by bringing in the right personnel to deliver. I am somewhat concerned we maybe are not looking with the right eyes in the right places. And Im not convinced we have got the funds to deliver the goods.
Here is hoping for some good fortune in many directions for Christmas. At the moment it is all feeling a bit bleak even though Im convinced we are safe.

We weren't likely to get much out of these two games but if we're sh1t against the bottom teams then questions will inevitably be asked. We need points from our next two - one win minimum.

Red and Blue Army!

Roy proved last season that if he has the right players available to him, he can play a more attacking style of football. Without Eze and Olise, we lack creativity. Unsurprisingly, and quite rightly in my opinion, Roy came up with a game plan last night that worked well until Wards unfortunate own goal.

You can critisise him for not having a ' Plan B ', but everyone, meaning Roy, most on HOL, and the media all recognise that the squad lacks quality and depth. Spending £40m on a goalkeeper and an untried teenager was not and is not the answer.

Edouard's performance last night brought back memories of a contract job I had at Barclays some years ago. I was paid a very handsome day rate for sitting around doing nothing.

Old, Ungifted and White

Ha, yeah. The point I'm belabouring is that when one stands back and has a look from that perspective nothing has really changed since Roy's earlier tenure. Expecting something different from the same style of football and squad limitation is rather too hopeful. I did welcome Roy's intention to break into the top 10, well meaning I guess, but we'd need every player fit and up to it. One can but hope.

Don’t disagree with this assessment. Taking Lerma and Hughes off killed our midfield as those coming on couldn’t fit in and weakened our team. Doucoure was then left on his own. Personally I would have brought on Reidewald to play alongside side Doucoure in the Hope the strength of the midfield from the first half would have been kept. This would have allowed Rak Saki and Franca to attack / receive the ball better. Main problem with starting with Lerma (who isn’t looking match fit at the moment) Doucoure and Hughes is that we don’t have a sub(s) to replace their positions. Hopefully that will change when Eze / Olise are back and then Hughes will be on the bench to replace when needed one of the two central midfielders? We just didn’t have as strong a team for the second half last night and it told when we had to make substitutions. Still thought we did okay last night against a very in form team and could have sneaked a draw with a bit more luck? Let’s see how we go next week before slamming the team and Hodgson?