ron obvious

Not really. It's just so you can continue to play top class opposition, push yourself to the limit & thus produce those magical moments that take your breath away. Although I suppose there are some who would prefer beating the blind school 83-0 every week.

Poor.

Just don' t see him as a Farke type player.

Where has he committed these solecisms? I'm not sure you 'construct' English grammar (no capital required) either, although you might use English grammar or construct a sentence . Perhaps you're a bit confused?

The mask is rapidly sliding down the face .....

Having CBs who can form a partnership would be a huge step. That's why the constant disruption by injury was such a problem this season; CBs have to have confidence in each other & know exactly where the other will be. That only comes with time & experience (plus they have to have the attributes obviously). I do think Farke should have instilled a bit of humility in the players in the sense that there is no shame in getting rid of the ball when there's no other option; knowing when that is is a skill in itself. In the Champs it wasn't such a problem. Our football was superior to most of the opposition & also we got punished for mistakes much less often. If we did, well we'd just go up their end & stick another one in.

Better anticipation, better co-ordination of defenders. Better covering by MF. If we've won the ball back in defence DO NOT lose it again - if no other option , then row Z it is. Jamal is one of the worst offenders for this (due to lack of experience of clever PL players I think - he could play his way out it in the Champs), but they can all be guilty of misjudging the situation.

Why are you so sure? Because they drew a line down the screen on tv?

Well. you know what they say .....

So you think such things were not considered, presumably because Daniel, Stuart & the management & coaching staff do not have your footballing acumen. OK. I can see what I'm dealing with now.

Yes, given our first choice CBs are adequate at PL level. Ben could be outstanding, but he isn't yet, & desperately needs a mature head alongside him. Zimbo isn't experienced at Pl level, but he's a great leader & an inspiring player. Hanley was getting better after having seemed to finally shake off his injury.. I think Timm is pretty well done. He & Ben together scarcely make a Champs. partnership. Losing Christoph & Grant together stuffed us physically & mentally, just as a ch!nk of light appeared. Sh!t happens. Unfortunately it's all happened at once. PS this disallowed word thing is fecking mental!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, you expect a team to perform no matter how many key personnel they lose. I think that's asking for the impossible.

You can get kicked in the teeth for only so long before you give up. Have you never seen teams throw in the towel? Where do you think the expression comes from? When you've been punched to the floor enough times you can't get up again. You expect our players to go into games, knowing we're going to concede, knowing we're going to be physically dominated all over the pitch, knowing whatever tiny chance we had of avoiding relegation has just disappeared, & not expect it affect their confidence. That's totally unrealistic. FFS, ManC were being excused defeat against us because they were missing ONE first choice CB!!! And do you really believe lockdown affected all teams equally? That there is now no home advantage - the only games where we stood a decent chance - doesn't matter? That being able to bring on subs., many more than usual, of huge values didn't give richer teams even more of an advantage? That being able to rotate a squad with those sort of players when you're playing every 3 days makes no difference???? Balderdash!!!!!!!! And what exactly were the pros???

Amadou was stop gap at best. He had a good game against ManC, but was otherwise hit & miss - the last thing you need for a PL CB. Heise is not PL standard. Famewo I know nothing about. Whatever else, there were no experienced players to fall back on. With hindsight it would have been lovely to have signed a top quality CB last summer. But to have 3 out of 4 CBs unavailable for most of the season is nowhere near normality, for any club.

Well I'm tired of the 'injuries don't matter' BS. All through the first half of the season we've been playing with one recognised CB, often Godfrey, who looks bereft without some experience alongside him. Unsurprising given this is his first season in the PL. We'd just at long last got our CBs back - even had a choice in one or two games - & a little bit of confidence was starting to return. Then it's back to square one with a totally threadbare defence - & a ridiculous timetable without multimillion pound players to bring off the bench. What do you think that did for squad confidence? You think the other players don't realise we've got a rubbish defence? Do you think they're stupid?? Everybody knew this season was going to be a struggle, even with our best defence available. My heart sank when I heard about Zimmermann's injury pre-season. (Actually Onel's injury worried me almost as much; one of the few p-layerwe have with pace & strength). Injuries, lockdown, ludicrous timetable, VAR .... one way or another any little chance we had was scuppered. That's not BS, that's been the reality of our season. Onward & upward ...