Woodman

Scoring goals is a huge problem at the moment, so we need to find a way to address that. The obvious way is to play 2 strikers and provide them with better opportunities to score. The diamond worked ok at Sheff U in the 2nd half, so, if Cantwell is injured, I'd go with a midfield of Tettey Buendia MacLean Duda behind Pukki and Drmic.

I think Webber and Farke thought Amadou was going to be the player in that role, but CB injuries saw to that happening. So we're left with Tettey or Trybull +1 as the defensive 2 in front of the back four. One thing we need to fix is the number of goals we're scoring, so maybe the diamond midfield is the way to go with Pukki and Drmic up front. I'd also like us to get Buendia playing much closer to the strikers rather than collecting the ball in the centre circle or in his own half.

Djenepo sent off for Southampton so out of next week’s game. watford losing 1-0

I'd imagine they're waiting to know who we're playing first and when! Just kidding... I expect they'll go on sale as soon as we know when it'll be played i.e. tomorrow/Saturday and be on sale until Tue/Wed next week for ST holders. Don't forget a big chunk of tickets in the South stand will be going to Derby/Man U - they'll have up to 4,000 I imagine.

I agree with most of the OP's thoughts. With Buendia, we have to find a way to support him in how he plays and accept that he may sometimes lose the ball or try something over elaborate. Godfrey gave him a right rollicking at one point! He's got better at knowing when and where to do this, but watching him jink his way into the box in the first half reminds us why he has to play. Equally, Vrancic, Rupp and Cantwell were just as guilty of giving up possession easily last night. We as fans have to accept that this is a huge part of the way Farke wants us to play - even if we sometimes take an age to have a shot. Of the outfield players, Hanley was my MoM last night. He's been excellent in the last few weeks.

All 4 ties will be live on TV, so these times / dates will change for sure. If Man U win, the game will definitely be on Sunday 22nd or Monday 23rd as they have a Europa League game on the Thursday before. Sunday 22nd is Mother's Day... just saying...

Totally agree - Kenny and Tettey were excellent in stopping Maddison from playing. We were also very good at not conceding free kicks in and around the penalty area, though the number of corners conceded was less impressive. However (I'll say this quietly), we do seem to be better at defending set pieces recently - Hanley's presence is a major factor in that.

It's certainly a very risky strategy. I could understand it (and said so) for Liverpool, where we knew we wouldn't have much of the ball or Emi might get caught in possession more often. But the games are running out and we need wins in the games against teams around us and a couple of unexpected results against Leicester, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, who we face before the end of the season. Everton and Sheff Utd are chasing a European place too.

I saw that DF also bemoaned only having 3 fit centre backs for 2 out of 27 games this season. I know it's bad luck, but I really don't understand why we didn't at least get one in on loan in January. I guess in the 3rd week of Jan, Godfrey, Zimmermann and Hanley were all available and Klose was 'only' 2 months away, but then Godfrey got himself sent off and we were back to square one for 3 games and now Amadou's gone and Zimmermann's got injured and we're back to Tettey as a back up CB!

Y&G - do we add Jaiyesimi to this list - seems to be doing ok out on loan at Swindon?

If I knew how to find it, I'd love to re-read that thread - one of the best ever on here in my opinion...

Oxborough will be back & we have Archie Mair as well - I think both are well thought of as back ups.

I thought Rupp had a pretty good game v Liverpool & at Burnley. He, and 8 or 9 others had a stinker at Wolves. For me, Duda needs a player closer to him when he receives the ball with his back to goal. I think he and Emi would work well together. It's worth pointing out though that neither has scored or even taken many shots at goal. I don't blame Farke for playing Rupp in the last couple of games where we were going to be on the back foot for most of the game, it made sense to have someone who should be more solid defensively than Emi. Leicester might be another game where the opposition are going to be on top, but but we're running out of games to be playing on the break and trying to nick a win

Yes, in hindsight I probably would have been one of them; I felt we needed a strong defensive midfielder as I didn't think either Tettey or Trybull were going to be strong enough in that position. As Webber says - it hasn't worked out for him due to those two being picked ahead of him. I'm not wholly convinced that they are, given our position in the league.

I generally agree. Say we sell Aarons for £20m; we have Byram as a ready replacement, when fit, so (I hope) we go out and spend £2-3m on a back up who supports if the main man gets injured. Same for Lewis - we have MacCallum next season. I guess what we won't do is go and spend money on '£10m rated' players like Amadou and are priced out of moves for players like Jarrod Bowen - an 'established Championship player'.

Swindon - This was in the Mail (I know...) from August...

What was the game where a challenge by Cantwell was reviewed for a possible red and he didn't get sent off? That was for leaving his studs up as he slid into a player It was never a red card as he didn't push his foot towards the player and it was rightly given as just a foul. Maguire clearly makes a move with his foot towards the player's 'groin area', but he got away with it as he's 'not that sort of player'. What a load of rubbish. And KG, re subs after 80 mins, that's never going to happen, but refs should be far stricter on the amount of time they add. Isn't it a mandatory 30 seconds per sub? But as you say, it often takes nearly 2 minutes.

Rupp's arm (pointing to where he wanted McLean to put the ball - what a pass, by the way!) is outstretched way beyond the last defender. It looks like his feet are onside - like Pukki's were v Spurs - but there's no doubt he'd have been given offside for where his arm is, which is a ridiculous interpretation of the offside rule.

I agree with whoever made the point about us tightening up recently. 2 clean sheets out of the last 3 games. We somehow need to find a way of playing Duda, Rupp, Cantwell, Buendia and Tettey. But that leaves out Vrancic, McLean and Onel.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?id=71e0171d-8469-4463-8aaa-cd8009e78774&date=2020-02-15&details "Very strong winds in association with Storm Dennis are expected on Saturday and Sunday across many parts of England and Wales. The strongest winds are likely to be on Saturday afternoon and evening, with a lull overnight, before increasing again during Sunday. Gusts of 50 mph are expected widely inland. Around the coasts, especially in the west and south, gusts of 60-70 mph are likely. The strong winds will be accompanied by heavy rain at times, leading to particularly poor driving conditions."

Wonder what Klopp's feelings are on a postponement? Looking at the fixture lists, it's difficult to see a date for them until April and obviously will depend on their involvement in the FA Cup (and ours!) and the Champions League.

This is an interesting debate - there's no doubt a screamer is always popular - this one, Safri's and I can remember a belter from Steen Negergaard. Robert Rosario scored a goal of the season one year didn't he? Fashanu's was a lovely piece of skill. Then there's other individual goals like Huckerby's dribble from his own half (v Birmingham?) and team goals like the one v Millwall last year when we passed it around for fun in the 93rd minute rather than humping it forward looking for a bit of luck. For sheer enjoyment of a goal, Klose's equaliser against you know who takes some beating.

I get what you're saying, but Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs (and Leicester) are all through to the 5th round. I do agree though that the FA Cup doesn't 'feel' like it used to. Semi-finals at Wembley, no replays from 5th round onwards, managers and teams not being there for the replay. Final often kicking off at 5pm or something daft like that.

Re players leaving the pitch when they're 'injured'. Wasn't the origin of this to stop players feigning injury and that the player shoul leave the pitch to get treatment? Of course physios soon cottoned on to this & would then say to the ref "I can't move him as he's injured, so I have to treat him here". So, when they finally do leave the pitch, they're desperate to get back on. Again, I thought the rule was that the ref shouldn't allow them to return to the pitch until the next passage of play finished. Time wasting, feigning injury and deceiving the ref in all its guises really really annoys me.

I think we're the level below that - signing players for £3-5m and then selling them on for £25-£30m.