alias75

This isn't a usual PL season, its not only us that have dropped points against teams we shouldn't have, everybody is doing it. In case people have missed it we are top of the league so if we are so bad what does that make everybody else? The home record should be better but up until last week we had the best home record in the PL. Its not only us that are doing better away from home, Chelsea, Everton and im sure a few others have also struggled more at home than away this season. People need to forget about previous PL seasons where the top 4 hardly ever dropped points at home thats not going to happen this season. The fact is we're top of the league and in the title race when usually at this stage of the season its already out of reach, we've lost 1 league game in about 20 odd. We've been without Torres for most of the season who obviously is our biggest goal threat. The PL is different this season to any other i can remember with teams dropping points all over the place, we don't need the same number of points that has won previous PL titles. Yes we need to improve and we need Torres back but lets not get hysterical while we're still top of the league.

This isn't Robbie Keane FC, you can't win with some people on here when he plays and doesn't play well he gets slated now hes our saviour. Maybe he thought having midfield runners was a better way to open Hull up than sticking another forward up there that can be marked easily. However stubborn you think Rafa is hes making decisions he thinks can win the game for us, hes not intentionally making substitutions to draw or lose games.

But the team that won 3-1 at Blackburn also did well so it would be equally harsh to drop some of those given that performance. I guess at this stage of the season freshness comes into it too, Babel and Keane played the full 90 in midweek so it was always likely that the players that got a rest like Kuyt and Benayoun would start this one. With Keane and Babel on the bench theres some good attacking options to freshen things up, Hull are unlikely to get 10 men behind the ball and they are the type of team that can score goals if your too open against them.

as i expected, although i wasn't sure if Insua would get another start. Think given Hull are usually a decent attacking team Mascherano might be needed especially since Giovanni usually sits in the hole, and they are a good counter attacking team.

Talksport now banging on about this, oblivious to the fact that Rafa denied this story in the press conference today. Anyone like to phone in and make Mr Collymore aware of this?

Rafa wanted to keep Crouch which suggests he does want a big target man in the squad, the only reason Crouch went was because he wanted to leave and wasn't going to sign a new contract so we had to cash in when we did or lose him for nothing.

Personally i think the transfer makes sense from Rafa's viewpoint we need another out and out forward Heskey's run his contract down. But i don't understand why Wigan would choose to lose one of their better players in January for such a small fee and risk losing £20 million plus if they get relegated. Unless maybe as part of the deal they get someone like Nemeth on loan?

I would have thought Wigan would rather keep him and try to secure their PL future and lose him on a Bosman rather than get just £3million for him and risk losing much more if they get relegated.

Not that ive been one of his critics previously, i always thought he must be one of those players that managers like because he does things tactically that they're asked to do, that aren't necessarily the things fans will notice. But in todays game and even in his little cameo on the weekend i definitely saw signs of a player adapting to the PL and developing those areas of his game he needs to improve to be a success in this country. Tonight with no Alonso and no Gerrard he saw a lot more of the ball and ran the midfield well. Ive always got the impression theres a lot more to his game offensively thats restricted when he plays with Gerrard but tonight for the first time i saw a player that has a future here and could develop into a very good midfielder, capable of playing the Alonso role or as a more offensive midfielder.

Cavalieri Arbeloa Carragher Agger Dossena Babel Lucas Mascherano Riera N'gog Keane According to radio city

I think one of the reasons Arsenal didnt get Xabi when he was available is they offered something like £12million. Rafa admitted in order to get the money for Barry selling Alonso was probably the best way to do it but he also said numerous times he wouldn't sell him on the cheap. Obviously this season his form has picked up to the point where hes been our best player this season, it was quite amusing that the recent stories linking him with Arsenal quote a £12 million fee again. If Rafa wasn't prepared to accept £12 million at the beginning of the season when Alonso had come off quite a poor season why would he sell him now for the same fee given hes been our best player this season?

Probably, im not saying getting Heskey would solve the problem entirely as we've seen numerous times this season when teams park the bus sometimes it can be very difficult, even Man Utd against Sunderland struggled badly to even create many clear chances. But i do think somebody with a physical threat would give us another option in that type of game and allow us to get more crosses in and play a little bit more direct at times.

The thing is the team is so well drilled now and we have so many hard workers that even if we push another player on we're still going to be very solid defensively because when we lose it we have the types of players that are going to track back and work hard defensively, plus of course we have the best covering defensive midfielder in Europe in Mascherano. It was very encouraging to see Alonso on the edge of the opposition box several times on Saturday and it was no coincidence that he scored 1 and had a couple of other chances.

I think there are 2 possible ways of solving the problems at home against teams that park the bus.. 1. Buy a CF with a physical threat. If teams are going to sit deep against us somebody like MO isnt the answer because he needs the space to play in. Thats why somebody like Heskey on the cheap is being looked at. Hes somebody that can hold it up and win free kicks and bring others into the game. Personally id like a big man with a bit more ability than Emile like Santa Cruz but with the money we have available that isn't going to happen. 2. Buy a number 10, creative player that can pick a pass and create something out of nothing. Usually this type of player costs a lot of money.

The truth is the last 12 months or so Xabi wasn't playing as well as he could, this has obviously given him the kick he needed and the fact that Rafa has played him most of the time when hes fit shows he holds no grudges and will pick players that are performing. Hes been our best player so far this season and is back to the form he showed when he first got here plus hes getting forward more and has scored a few goals too. Still think theres room for Barry in the squad especially as he won't cost anything like £18 million next season but Alonso has shown what a great player he is and what a great pro he is.

Rewatching the highlights he was often on the edge of the opposition area when we attacked and apart from his goal he had a couple of other decent chances because he was playing further forward. I know a lot of people have mentioned it before but i do think this 1 subtle tactical change could help, when we're dominating we don't need both Alonso and Mascherano holding, Alonso is the obvious candidate to get further forward because his shooting is very good and hes capable of playing that killer pass. Maybe its only a small difference but hopefully its Rafa finally given him more license to get forward.

Definitely one of the most under rated players in the PL, the fact hes won the golden glove every season since he signed seems to have been over looked by most pundits. I agree hes quickly becoming our best ever, if you watch him play he very rarely has to make those full length saves because his positioning and footwork is as good as anybody, he very often makes difficult saves look easy because of his reading of the game.

I think what we need most from our fullbacks are players that are solid defensively but offer us something going forward. In the reserves especially Insua is very good going forward, in the games hes played for the first team hes been a little bit more conservative which is understandable but he does have that attacking edge to his game. I think the important point is it shows some of our reserve players are capable of making that step up into the first team. While its important how they play in the reserves its also important to understand that a top quality young player should raise his level when playing with better players in the first team, and its also understandable that certain players will find it difficult to motivate themselves in the reserves every week. Nemeth is somebody i have no doubt will do well in the first team, you only have to watch his movement and his touch to see that, he also has the mentality of a player thats going to make it.

Anyone else find it pretty funny that you have all this criticism and the team isn't actually playing that well but we sit top of the league. And i only found out today we have the best home record of anyone in the PL. (or did before todays games) Its quite funny listening to the media too because they want to criticise Rafa so badly but the fact we're top of the league kind of blunts their sword before they start. I think we have to re-evaluate what to expect from this team, we're not going to play fantastic football but the team is all about efficiency and getting results. We almost have this inbuilt defensive strength now due to the players we've signed and the hard work we've done defensively, for a top 4 team to have that very good work ethic in defence makes it very difficult for teams to play against us because we are so well organised defensively theres no room for teams to attack us. Of course to win the league we're going to need big seasons from Torres and Stevie because we aren't going to attack like Man Utd or Arsenal but the game is all about winning and at the moment we've done that better than anyone else in the PL.

Well he is on the bench, think its more to do with Sami not being in the CL squad so an injury to Agger today and we're short at CB in midweek. Plus in these away games his aerial strength usually comes in handy.

Just think in hindsight hes not the player we needed, the Gerrard / Torres partnership was working very well last season, signing another link type striker means when he plays Gerrard is back to a more traditional central midfield. Thats fine if Keane is playing well, scoring and creating but when hes not its a huge loss for the teams productivity. We either need to sign a top class right winger that will help with goals, creativity and use Kuyt more as a striker and backup for that wide right position, or sign a proper number 10 that can play the Gerrard position and allow Gerrard to play central midfield, giving us more goal threats and more creativity by having Gerrard plus another playmaker in there for certain games. Keane could have been that player but he simply hasn't delivered, we need that position to provide goals and assists not just hard work and effort, as we've seen with all these 0-0's thats the main problem we need to solve. So either Keane has to start delivering with goals and creativity or we need to cut our losses on him while we can and get somebody else in. Realistically somebody like Arshavin is probably the best most realistic target we could get in the window for that position.

Good point well made

If we do sell Keane i think id be more inclined to sign a wide right player and use Kuyt as a forward when we want to play 2 up front or if Torres is injured. The Gerrard / Torres combination worked so well last season but because your effectively playing with just 1 striker in that formation the risk is that if one of those 2 don't perform where are the goals / creativity going to come from? Thats why i think somebody like Gareth Barry for certain games would have been a decent signing because he gives that balance to the midfield but also offers another goal threat, if we are going to stick with Gerrard as that 2nd striker we need more of a goal threat from somewhere else on the pitch be it from the wide areas or from one of our central midfielders. As for Bale, defensively hes not ready to play for a top team, but going forward hes certainly an improvement on what we have and he takes a decent set piece too. I guess if that option is there its a calculated risk based on how much he will improve but hes still extremely young and so will obviously improve defensively with experience.

I don't think we'll get the full amount we paid for him but in January there will be several big clubs in a relegation battle and that could push his price up. Whatever hes done here he is a proven PL striker and im sure there are 2 or 3 clubs that would take that risk knowing relegation would mean losing tens of millions. There was also a rumour not long ago about Keane going to Spurs and Lennon and Bale coming here, not sure id take that but with a proper wide right player brought in you could use Kuyt in his best position as Keanes replacement, and we all know the problems we have at left back although im not sure if Bale is the answer at the moment (although i do think hes going to become an excellent player)

Looks like theres a Robbie Keane story in there tomorrow, wouldn't surprise me if he is sold in January assuming Rafa has a more traditional forward lined up as a replacement. That way Gerrard can be considered a 2nd striker almost exclusively. Also think in January we may get close to what we paid for him especially with 3 or 4 pretty big teams with money to spend towards the bottom of the league and probably prepared to spend over the odds for a striker. Wouldn't be surprised to even see him back at Spurs.