That thoughtless Rafa

[HughieG]

oh the people that put up threads to cause a row
the same people that sung so highly of joselwho the first times he played

Who 'sang so highly'? I think we all agreed and still agree that he's a 5mil striker who puts in the effort, but at the end of the day simply isn't good enough. It's called being rational.

in fact you all answer and prove me right in what i have been saying is wrong with rafas tactics

Nope, that's just you constantly reiterating that everyone's proving you right, when really we all agree that you're contradicting yourself which is the truth.

we attacked
we played posiyive footy
we played to our strengths

with the players so many here were saying were chimpo players and were ****e and werent good enough for this league

despite me saying they were and it was the tactics and way they were asking to be played

the goal kepper had a great game
he took crosses well he comanded his area
elliott and darlow and anyother keeper would have made those saves

what they wouldnt have done is talked as much as he did and took the crosses

Agree with this, though in other threads you said that our strikers weren't going to keep us up because they were fizzy level and badly chosen by Rafa. So which one is it? Do you have the ability to make up your mind?

[pboromag]

these wont keep us ip
i doubt wether slimani will hit the floor running
whilst the keeper looks ok
we need goals

gayle isnt getting them
perez will pop up wth the odd goal

but as such people who say we are in the top 8 for goals conceded we are where we are for not scoring enough

the new keeperin remaining games migh keep say 1 maybe 2 more clean sheets than say ellioy or darlow
great he may get us or help towards 2 points

a striker a peoven one or a fit one may score 4-5 goals in the next few games

that coule relate to possibly 6-9 points

draws wont keep us up

we need to score more than the opposition

go back on te threads and look at how many sung joselwhos praises

loads on here

mainly those that watch te toon from their lounges on 50 inch widescreens

and no im not contardicting my self as to how i rated the players and have said many mnay many times rafa should be getting ore from thsese players and that they are not in general fizzy players
just very poor team selection and tactics

when rafa plays his best team and not his favourites and lets them attack we will do ok

[pboromag]

did you ever think that maybe he played more attacking because he now had a couple more players who made that possible without too much of a risk.

which players would that be then that he hasnt had all season

apart from the goalie he has had theose players available all season apart from the lad on loan

soo one outfield player

really

you think that one player would turn us around so quick

i rest my case

if that is the case why did we look so poor the previous 2 games then
when we played more defensive

[Andy1981_2]

whilst the keeper looks ok
we need goals...

but as such people who say we are in the top 8 for goals conceded we are where we are for not scoring enough

the new keeperin remaining games migh keep say 1 maybe 2 more clean sheets than say ellioy or darlow
great he may get us or help towards 2 points

a striker a peoven one or a fit one may score 4-5 goals in the next few games

that coule relate to possibly 6-9 points

draws wont keep us up

we need to score more than the opposition

You are, of course, correct in saying that if we score more goals than the opposition then we will win games. But it's also equally correct to say if we concede less than them then we will win games - that's just the flip side of the coin. If you keep a clean sheet then you are guaranteed at least a point, which is what I think you're missing here. A striker scoring 4-5 goals over a few games doesn't guarantee any points if you concede more goals than the opposition in those games. But if you concede 0 goals in those few games, you might only need 2 goals to get 6 points. So a winning side starts from the back. In the absence of being able to regularly convert the chances you create, it surely makes sense to do what you can to make sure you keep more clean sheets doesn't it? You say yourself that the best we can hope for from the strikers we had prior to January was a few goals from Perez, so that won't be enough to win games unless we ensure we're solid defensively. Presumably that's why we also brought in Slimani - to convert whatever chances we create.

If you look at the data (which I know you hate to do, but it's the only way we can have a conversation which doesn't require us to go over every individual match in detail), it shows we actually do create chances with Rafa's style - we've had the 11th most chances created in the PL this season, but we've only scored the 14th highest number of goals. We've put away around 10% of the chances we've had (vs 12% for Brighton, 14% Huddersfield), and about 10% of the chances we've missed were counted as 'big chances'. Despite that, we actually have the 9th best shot accuracy. So all this suggests that our strikers just aren't capable of beating the keeper. And from watching them play, I'd say it's because they generally lack power. It's rare you see Gayle or Perez really put their foot through the ball, which is frustrating. Joselu can strike it, but when he does it's rarely on target. The one striker that really offered us anything different was Mitrovic, and I know neither you nor Rafa rate him or think he's even coachable.

The comparison to Brighton and Huddersfield is interesting, because Brighton's top scorer is Murray, who got the same amount of goals as Gayle last season in the Championship (though Gayle did it over fewer games). The fact is that Gayle hasn't done the business this season when he's had the chances, and that's rocked his confidence and led to him being dropped. Huddersfield's top scorer is Mounie, who was their club record signing over the summer. Clearly they got your memo and understood the importance of hitting the back of the net, even though Wagner plays way more negative football than Rafa!

[ronandtet]

"go back on te threads and look at how many sung joselwhos praises

loads on here "

nope! got it wrong again couldn,t find anybody singing his praises

[pboromag]

"go back on te threads and look at how many sung joselwhos praises

loads on here "

nope! got it wrong again couldn,t find anybody singing his praises

i gaurantee you they did
loads saying how he worked his socks of ,held up the ball well etc etc etc

now
the wide screen brigade slating him

[ronandtet]

Well nufc,s answer to Donald trump show us all these posters lol

[ronandtet]

Josalwho is every thing the other two strikers arent
when people keep harping on about mitro just look at this player .

He allows us to play in rafas negative way as when the ball goes uop to him it sticks and he makes their back 4 work and he closes down and he can header a ball
my only concern with him is his goal scoring record

his work rate is top drawer

There you go pmag a quote from you 😁

[toonlegend]

I think a few people, including myself, mentioned that he did bring something to the team... but NO ONE ever praised him as a striker,

[toptoon]

there you go pmag a quote from you