West ham fans in the Bristol bar

Pompey and Leeds runners as well.

I was at Burnley v Leeds in he Championship a few years back and was really disappointed with the Leeds following. They were 1-0 down within about a minute thanks to an Arfield goal, then never got in the game, but they were really quiet. Maybe just a bad day for their support.
 
I was at Burnley v Leeds in he Championship a few years back and was really disappointed with the Leeds following. They were 1-0 down within about a minute thanks to an Arfield goal, then never got in the game, but they were really quiet. Maybe just a bad day for their support.
Won’t be a good one for them that to be fair, same as when they go Blackburn. Way over the top policing from start to finish, would wear any support down.

Probably better judging them on Josh Warrington in Berlin a few year back in all honesty!
 
:) :)

I know friendlies count for nothing in the grand scheme of things but feck me they should be more than a little worried with how their summer is unfolding.
That defence is awful and Barkas lolz
Normally I'd be the first to play down perceptions after a friendly but a few things struck me watching those highlights.
  1. Their defensive line is absolutely suicidal. Even world-class defenders would struggle that high up the pitch all the time.
  2. West Ham defended deep and went incredibly direct on the counter; 1-2 outlets with 4-5 passes and scored six times. That is a tactic that every team in the league uses when they are playing us or them.
  3. They are going to try and blitzkreig teams out of games early and hope they give up, which will work relatively well in the SPFL but in Europe they are going to get destroyed. Teams that weather the storm for the first 25 minutes and keep themselves in the game are going to get goals later in the game if they refuse to give up on it.
  4. Barkas/Bain in goal for them and being "defended" by a bunch of youngsters and Turncoat is the stuff of dreams. They'll have this new guy, Julien, Bitton and I'm sure they'll bring in defenders but they're just chaos at the back.
  5. Their team seems to have shrunk both physically and psychologically all over the pitch.
 
Normally I'd be the first to play down perceptions after a friendly but a few things struck me watching those highlights.
  1. Their defensive line is absolutely suicidal. Even world-class defenders would struggle that high up the pitch all the time.
  2. West Ham defended deep and went incredibly direct on the counter; 1-2 outlets with 4-5 passes and scored six times. That is a tactic that every team in the league uses when they are playing us or them.
  3. They are going to try and blitzkreig teams out of games early and hope they give up, which will work relatively well in the SPFL but in Europe they are going to get destroyed. Teams that weather the storm for the first 25 minutes and keep themselves in the game are going to get goals later in the game if they refuse to give up on it.
  4. Barkas/Bain in goal for them and being "defended" by a bunch of youngsters and Turncoat is the stuff of dreams. They'll have this new guy, Julien, Bitton and I'm sure they'll bring in defenders but they're just chaos at the back.
  5. Their team seems to have shrunk both physically and psychologically all over the pitch.

If Edouard leaves they really are fecked if they can’t replace him. I’d say they are ok middle to front at times and until it gets to Christie who baloons it over the bar and half way down London Road. They are catastrophic in defence and depend a lot on an in form half-ersed edouard holding the ball up to prevent the ball going straight back at that ramshackle formation at the back.

They may need to replace edouard but any money they do have needs spent on defence even just to get it normalised therefore they have to play a nonce up front who the rest of the team surely despise and half their fans want to tear to ribbons and the other fans want to tear those fans to ribbons.

All that’s missing in the jigsaw is to pick up the phone and get Lennon back in to sort it all out. If football teams were paintings this mob would be a Picasso with an eye under a mouth and an ear sticking out the top of the head.
 
The defending there was criminal.
The positioning, the will to get back to help out was missing.
Barkas looks like a duck out of water.
Wether some of that's down to the bad start he got and aligned with the fact that he would have known that the players in front of him would give no protection.
Hes the only one I actually feel sorry for....still hope he plays most games.
If they continue like this they could end up in 3rd spot.... cant happen though.... can it ?
 
If Edouard leaves they really are fecked if they can’t replace him. I’d say they are ok middle to front at times and until it gets to Christie who baloons it over the bar and half way down London Road. They are catastrophic in defence and depend a lot on an in form half-ersed edouard holding the ball up to prevent the ball going straight back at that ramshackle formation at the back.

They may need to replace edouard but any money they do have needs spent on defence even just to get it normalised therefore they have to play a nonce up front who the rest of the team surely despise and half their fans want to tear to ribbons and the other fans want to tear those fans to ribbons.

All that’s missing in the jigsaw is to pick up the phone and get Lennon back in to sort it all out. If football teams were paintings this mob would be a Picasso with an eye under a mouth and an ear sticking out the top of the head.
If Edouard leaves they have the peado, fat Ajeti and the new Japanese revelation upfront and thats it. Christie has actually probably been their best player the last couple of games but he has 6 months left on his deal so I cant see him being there after the window.
 
The defending there was criminal.
The positioning, the will to get back to help out was missing.
Barkas looks like a duck out of water.
Wether some of that's down to the bad start he got and aligned with the fact that he would have known that the players in front of him would give no protection.
Hes the only one I actually feel sorry for....still hope he plays most games.
If they continue like this they could end up in 3rd spot.... cant happen though.... can it ?
Like water off a fish’s back
 
It's like the media just turned up and interviewed the coach of an under-10s team. If he'd said "it's the taking part that counts" I wouldn't have been surprised.
He also kept referring to ‘tonight’. The game was played in a heat wave in the middle of the day.

‘Disappointed to lose 3 points tonight but our next game in Denmark is at home’
 
they can sort their defence and keeper I think they will be a lot closer to us this season.
come back in 10 months and check how accurate your predictions are......whose to say we won't be better than we were last season which would maintain the gap..?
 
Come back in

Come back in

come back in 10 months and check how accurate your predictions are.....whose to say we won't be better than we were last season which would maintain the gap..?
I didnt make a prediction. I stated if and its a big if they sort their defence and keeper they will be closer. The chances of us going another season unbeaten are very slim.
 
After watching a couple of games under him i honestly think Ange, all the wee hipster goons and Aussie fanboys he has are in for a total shock when his side plays this system in the SPFL and in European competition.

Even just focusing on us, our frontline will be salivating at the thought of going up against that backline of theirs.
 
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