Should have been straight forward

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Agree Joel on the youngsters - didn’t think Huggins would see minutes before JG, Drameh, Summerville and Casey but he did really well in the circumstances and didn’t look out of place at all.

[spaldy]

Just a bad game without a lot of energy in the first half. The constant passing back to a 20 YO keep defies logic at times.

Huggins looked good considering the situation.

it's nice to have an aerial threat in Strujik. He looks good on corners. Really hope he gets moved back to CM and stays there. Hate to say it but he's better than Cooper right now so if either Koch or Llorente ever get back I think he's the one who sits. Time has caught up with him just like Pablo.

[Tichi1]

Dont really like jumping on the Cooper bandwagon, but yesterday he was the most guilty of passing back to Meslier when under no pressure himself, given his tenure at the club. age andf experience it was poor judgement from him, and sjhould have seen what he was inviting. As WTF said on another thread, this could have happened to us loads of times this season, and I am amazed that EVERY team doesnt simply put four men on our back four every time Meslier gets the ball - they would almost be gauranteed a bloody goal!

Need to have a signal that he is about to go long with a kick and everyone heads upfield, catch the opposition like that a few times and they would be wary about the high press on us.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Dont really like jumping on the Cooper bandwagon, but yesterday he was the most guilty of passing back to Meslier when under no pressure himself, given his tenure at the club. age andf experience it was poor judgement from him, and sjhould have seen what he was inviting. As WTF said on another thread, this could have happened to us loads of times this season, and I am amazed that EVERY team doesnt simply put four men on our back four every time Meslier gets the ball - they would almost be gauranteed a bloody goal!

Need to have a signal that he is about to go long with a kick and everyone heads upfield, catch the opposition like that a few times and they would be wary about the high press on us.

Cooper was the worst of the bunch yesterday but far from alone and when we have struggled recently we have sometimes been in the final third and then passed it all the way back to the GK - Harrison has done that a few times - in a position to cross turns back plays to Alioski or Cooper on the halfway line who then pass back to GK.

Need more people who can comfortably keep the ball and build the play.

[WTF11]

Cooper was the worst of the bunch yesterday but far from alone and when we have struggled recently we have sometimes been in the final third and then passed it all the way back to the GK - Harrison has done that a few times - in a position to cross turns back plays to Alioski or Cooper on the halfway line who then pass back to GK.

Need more people who can comfortably keep the ball and build the play.

100% agree (Bring back Hernandez)

[joellufcprice]

100% agree (Bring back Hernandez)

I was desperate for him to come on at half time. Just someone who always shows for the ball no matter where it is and is always looking to progress play (but will also play back if it is the only option). It is one of our struggles at moment we have a lot of players who play the system well but we miss that guy who will take the game by scruff of neck in middle of park and dictate when Kalvin isn't there.

Raphinha tries but he is a winger and honestly at times against Arsenal it reminded me of when McCormack was carrying our entire team and trying to do it all because none of the rest could.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Saw the i23 highlights - Drameh looks like a rolls Royce of a player - big, fast and can pass and run with the ball.

[joellufcprice]

Saw the i23 highlights - Drameh looks like a rolls Royce of a player - big, fast and can pass and run with the ball.

I've been surprised he hasn't been around first team more, he always looks solid and like he has a bit of class about him. I wonder if Bielsa just wants likes of Gelhardt and Drameh to really learn the style before chucking them in. Was even more shocked neither of them got cup minutes.

Hope some of these boys get a few minutes towards end of season, want to see what they've got.

[Silentman]

I think sometimes we forget that a team that has Struik, Shakleton, Roberts and Huggins would have been considered sub optimal in the Championship let alone the Prem. It's a trait of Bielsa that he won't carry a large squad, accept it or not, he isn't going to change, so we will always be susceptible to having to re-shuffle around injuries. That's not all bad as it genuinely allows the U23s to develop. Personally I think that yesterday we'd have been better keeping the back four from the last few weeks and just trying to slot someone like Dallas into the Phillips role and just trying to make it work, Struik isn't effective there but has been growing into the CB role. What this does demonstrate though is that Phillips plays such a specialist role Bielsa either needs a Plan B if he isn't available or that we need to recruit a reliable specialist in the role in the summer.