Havertz really is utter shyte. How did we blow 60m on that useless streak of pi55 ?

[7sisters]

Arteta out ?

[redgunamo]

:( It's only the Rumbelow's; not our competition.

Just hope the performance doesn't derail us.



Arteta out ?

[7sisters]

:( It's only the Rumbelow's; not our competition.

Just hope the performance doesn't derail us.

At least Nketiah has discovered his level. £30m to Leeds or Ipswich in the summer ?

[IUFG]

At least Nketiah has rediscovered his level. £30m to Leeds or Ipswich in the summer ?

Nketiah
Havertz
Jorginho
Vieira
Trossard
Zinchenko

Utter dog **** tonight.

Ramsdale a bit unlucky imo

[PSRB]

Nketiah
Havertz
Jorginho
Vieira
Trossard
Zinchenko

Utter dog **** tonight.

Ramsdale a bit unlucky imo

Saliba is the absolute glue in that defence, they all look clueless without him.
Agree on Rammers, he saves that 3rd without the deflection and the 1st doesn't given with VAR

[WES]

Arteta out ?

Meh, milk cup, who cares?

Was always going to be difficult away from home and Moyes really had them dug in and set to defend. They were well up for it and got lucky twice. I'd be willing to bet that Trossard, Eddie, Nelson, Havertz and Vieira had never played together before - it certainly looked like it.

The really bad news is that ESR is injured AGAIN - 3 weeks appazza :-(

[7sisters]

Meh, milk cup, who cares?

Was always going to be difficult away from home and Moyes really had them dug in and set to defend. They were well up for it and got lucky twice. I'd be willing to bet that Trossard, Eddie, Nelson, Havertz and Vieira had never played together before - it certainly looked like it.

The really bad news is that ESR is injured AGAIN - 3 weeks appazza :-(

Sad news. He’s turning into another Tierney, and we all know how that ends.

[pjlincs]

Sad news. He’s turning into another Tierney, and we all know how that ends.

Talking of left backs, inverted or otherwise, Zinchenko is a complete liability.

Havertz reminds me a bit of Bendtner, tries hard, does a lot of the right things but severely lacking in end product. The main difference is that we knew that about Havertz before spunking £67.5m. James Maddison cost Spurs £40m.

Ramsdale incredibly unlucky last night.

Can't believe Mikey risked Saka and Martinelli when the game was already lost.

[redgunamo]

Right, the captain too. I can only imagine it was about appearance money?



Talking of left backs, inverted or otherwise, Zinchenko is a complete liability.

Havertz reminds me a bit of Bendtner, tries hard, does a lot of the right things but severely lacking in end product. The main difference is that we knew that about Havertz before spunking £67.5m. James Maddison cost Spurs £40m.

Ramsdale incredibly unlucky last night.

Can't believe Mikey risked Saka and Martinelli when the game was already lost.

[PSRB]

Right, the captain too. I can only imagine it was about appearance money?

As soon as the 3rd went in I wanted Rice off.

[redgunamo]

How do the players really feel about this sort of thing? Surely THEY know when the game is up?



As soon as the 3rd went in I wanted Rice off.

[redgunamo]

:-\ On a hiding to nothing last night.



At least Nketiah has discovered his level. £30m to Leeds or Ipswich in the summer ?

[PSRB]

:-\ On a hiding to nothing last night.

West Ham did seem to think it was a cup final. Bet they drop points at the weekend.

I am also surprised that no one is mentioning quite how absolutely ****ing gash the ref was. Rotational fouling all match, Alvarez made at least 4 fouls without ref even having a word and blatant foul for their 1st.

[Peter]

How do the players really feel about this sort of thing? Surely THEY know when the game is up?

I wasn't remotely interested in the result but was pretty bloody unhappy about him bringing on Saka and the Martins when it was bloody obvious the game was lost.

[Peter]

Talking of left backs, inverted or otherwise, Zinchenko is a complete liability.

Havertz reminds me a bit of Bendtner, tries hard, does a lot of the right things but severely lacking in end product. The main difference is that we knew that about Havertz before spunking £67.5m. James Maddison cost Spurs £40m.

Ramsdale incredibly unlucky last night.

Can't believe Mikey risked Saka and Martinelli when the game was already lost.

I do hope Zinchenko doesn't play at Newcastle.

Havertz is still in a phase where he doesn't really do anything. Takes up rather innocuous positions, receives the ball and shovels it straight back. I think it will be a while before we see the best of him, and even that might not be that great. Not at all convinced he is right for the role.

[7sisters]

I do hope Zinchenko doesn't play at Newcastle.

Havertz is still in a phase where he doesn't really do anything. Takes up rather innocuous positions, receives the ball and shovels it straight back. I think it will be a while before we see the best of him, and even that might not be that great. Not at all convinced he is right for the role.

And why are we wet nursing a player valued at 67m ? Appreciate he doesn’t set the transfer fee but 67mil ?? He should be close to the finished article at his age and that fee. Shocking signing so far..

[Peter]

And why are we wet nursing a player valued at 67m ? Appreciate he doesn’t set the transfer fee but 67mil ?? He should be close to the finished article at his age and that fee. Shocking signing so far..

We are asking him to do something different in a team that is set up a certain way and very precisely coached. It isn't easy.

That said, you would like to think he will start producing something fairly soon. As far as wet nursing is concerned, if he has grown into the role in 3 months time then none of this will matter.

I wouldn't have bought him, but then I don't really know what I am talking about. Arteta has made me look very stupid several times in recent years so I am going to trust him on this one.....

[PSRB]

We are asking him to do something different in a team that is set up a certain way and very precisely coached. It isn't easy.

That said, you would like to think he will start producing something fairly soon. As far as wet nursing is concerned, if he has grown into the role in 3 months time then none of this will matter.

I wouldn't have bought him, but then I don't really know what I am talking about. Arteta has made me look very stupid several times in recent years so I am going to trust him on this one.....

Not saying much but I thought he was one of our best players in the 1st half.....2nd half, anonymous.

[7sisters]

Not saying much but I thought he was one of our best players in the 1st half.....2nd half, anonymous.

The one thing Arteta and the fans need at this stage is a trophy in order to keep building momentum. To go without silverware for another season with this assembled array of talent at their prime will invite more criticism and cries of bottlers.
City were out of this competition, which left a reasonable open road to Wembley. Pep has won the beer cup on numerous occasions and I’m confident that both Klopp & Howe will look to grab the opportunity.
I don’t know if we win anything else this season. We look to be slightly better placed than the last one, and while none of us are massively disappointed, last night punctuated our reliance on the first choice 11 and a decent opportunity lost.

[WES]

last night punctuated our reliance on the first choice 11 and a decent opportunity lost.

Um, 7s, you are aware that in our previous match our second choice no. 9 scored a hat trick and a superb hat trick at that?

We clearly have more depth this year than last. Last night was not a tweak of our first 11, it was a wholesale change (arguably only White and Gabriel are in the first 11) and we paid the price for it.

[Peter]

The one thing Arteta and the fans need at this stage is a trophy in order to keep building momentum. To go without silverware for another season with this assembled array of talent at their prime will invite more criticism and cries of bottlers.
City were out of this competition, which left a reasonable open road to Wembley. Pep has won the beer cup on numerous occasions and I’m confident that both Klopp & Howe will look to grab the opportunity.
I don’t know if we win anything else this season. We look to be slightly better placed than the last one, and while none of us are massively disappointed, last night punctuated our reliance on the first choice 11 and a decent opportunity lost.

I can't speak for other fans but wining a domestic cup would mean literally **** all to me. I want to see us progressing, staying in touch with the top 2 or 3 and coping with the champions league. That is progress.

[Peter]

Um, 7s, you are aware that in our previous match our second choice no. 9 scored a hat trick and a superb hat trick at that?

We clearly have more depth this year than last. Last night was not a tweak of our first 11, it was a wholesale change (arguably only White and Gabriel are in the first 11) and we paid the price for it.

Very true.

[WES]

I can't speak for other fans but wining a domestic cup would mean literally **** all to me. I want to see us progressing, staying in touch with the top 2 or 3 and coping with the champions league. That is progress.

Hmmm, agree partially - a league challenge and going as far in the CL as possible are the most important things to me, it's what I missed most in the latter Wenger years. Being out of the league in Dec is depressing, getting hammered 10-1 by Munich in the first knockout round of the CL equally so.

However I love the FA Cup, as much as I am indifferent to the League Cup. Mind you, I'd take a CL semi-final over an FA Cup win if I had to choose.

[redgunamo]

Agreed. Though one cannot help but feel things have changed since we signed Big Dec; not sure we're in a position to merely settle for anything any longer.

Or how many MORE hundred-million pound players do we need :-\



Hmmm, agree partially - a league challenge and going as far in the CL as possible are the most important things to me, it's what I missed most in the latter Wenger years. Being out of the league in Dec is depressing, getting hammered 10-1 by Munich in the first knockout round of the CL equally so.

However I love the FA Cup, as much as I am indifferent to the League Cup. Mind you, I'd take a CL semi-final over an FA Cup win if I had to choose.

[redgunamo]

Mikel is on his very first managerial assignment; I'm not sure WE will be the club to see the very best of him
:-|



The one thing Arteta and the fans need at this stage is a trophy in order to keep building momentum. To go without silverware for another season with this assembled array of talent at their prime will invite more criticism and cries of bottlers.
City were out of this competition, which left a reasonable open road to Wembley. Pep has won the beer cup on numerous occasions and I’m confident that both Klopp & Howe will look to grab the opportunity.
I don’t know if we win anything else this season. We look to be slightly better placed than the last one, and while none of us are massively disappointed, last night punctuated our reliance on the first choice 11 and a decent opportunity lost.

[Peter]

Hmmm, agree partially - a league challenge and going as far in the CL as possible are the most important things to me, it's what I missed most in the latter Wenger years. Being out of the league in Dec is depressing, getting hammered 10-1 by Munich in the first knockout round of the CL equally so.

However I love the FA Cup, as much as I am indifferent to the League Cup. Mind you, I'd take a CL semi-final over an FA Cup win if I had to choose.

If I'm being honest, I don't care much for the Champions League either :-) that is mainly because the format is dull and for bloody years we were not really good enough to compete in it. It is the one competition we simply must win at some point.