Cheers Rev!!!

I think Okoli has been much better today

What’s going on? Booing, commentators drowned out, it sounds rowdy.

Just had penalty appeal turned down.

It wasn’t a penalty

Dreadful radio five commentary.
Sums up BBC ,not fit for purpose.

This ref likes his cards

Well 1 point from 3 games against Villa, Spurs and Fulham. What you would expect looking at the squad at this level I guess. It doesn’t bode well though looking at how defensively we are set up - we’ve gone from one extreme to the other.

Off side ffs

Not enough up front ,not enough creativity.
Usual ref performance.not acceptable.

Come on guys - need to have faith in our owners here. They’ll see us through this

Yes 98 , I totally agree.
Then I woke up!!

You can't get away with playing Wilf as an AM in this League. Starting with 3 DMs and Ayew as a winger does not bode well. Hardly a surprise we lost.

Beginning to think we got it wrong with Cooper.
Maybe Nigel again would have been a safer option.!!

Does anyone know if Dean Smith is still available? 😂

comment by 98 Problems (and promotion ain’t one) (U12353)
posted 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
Does anyone know if Dean Smith is still available? 😂
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That'll be tears if pain?

Some thoughts from the game:

Positives;

Okoli looked really good, much better than in pre-season. He adds some much needed pace and is reasonable on the ball. His last-ditch tackle on McGinn likely saved us a goal. He should be starting ahead of Faes.

Buonanotte and El Khannouss looked decent when they came on and will add some much needed flair - IF they are played. Maresca would have probably tried to fit both of them into the team but I suspect Cooper will spend his tenure picking one or the other, or neither.

Mavididi looked class when he came on. One of few who wanted to take on the full back. How Cooper has come to the conclusion he should be dropped is utterly baffling and I hope will soon be rectified.

Skipp looked fine. Not £20m worth but a solid addition. Still not sure if he should be playing alongside Winks or instead of him, as I don't think you get much benefit from playing both.

Negatives;

Other than Okoli, the back four are just poor at this level. Faes is a bomb scare who is only ever one failed pass away from disaster. The full backs offer absolutely nothing, either defensively or going forward. Dropping Ricardo for JJ and VK is footballing terrorism and there is no justification at all.

Ndidi. Deep sigh. He's just about passable as a 6 or high 8 alongside a better player, but he is not, and never will be a 10 or the most attacking player in a 3-mam midfield. If Cooper plays him in that role again, it should be grounds for instant dismissal.

Fatawu looked a shadow of the player he was last season. Whether that's the step up or because Cooper has just completed removed his flair I don't know but for most of the game, it seemed like his spark had gone.

The overall team selection and game plan is just so bemusing to me. Cooper is clearly happy for us to be passive and sit back, but what's the plan for when we have the ball? We had a good 20 minutes worth of possession before Villa scored and we did nothing whatsoever with it. When the attacking players came on, we looked good but why wait until we are 2-0 down to make changes? It's like he has taken all the bad bits of Maresca ball but got rid of the structure and penetration that made it work, whilst bringing over his own failed ideas from Forest that didn't work there and won't work here.

Overall, a gutsy performance but one that was ruined by negative, passive tactics. I am really struggling with Cooper - it may be too early logically to call for a new manager to be sacked, but I am struggling to see how he keeps this team up. We have some genuine quality but they are either being played in roles that removes the qualities, or not played at all. Either the plan changes or the manager will have to change, it's as simple as that.

He wanted to prioritise players with Premier League experience. He's got them. He wanted a No.10. He now has two of them. He wanted a striker. He's got one. Now get on with putting it all together and stop being so bloody passive and reactive.

Yeah I have to say I’m getting pretty concerned about Cooper already. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he’s clearly a very good man manager and coach - but tactically he’s getting this wrong. Unfortunately we’ve u-turned from one extreme style of play that would have got us relegated to the opposite extreme - with the same result

I understand his concerns. The defence is rubbish at this level and while Ricardo is clearly a better player than Justin - Cooper doesn’t trust him defensively and I get that to an extent. But ultimately in order to make a fist of survival you have to give yourself a chance of creating and scoring goals.

We didn’t look like we would do either until Cooper threw the kitchen sink at it when we were 2-0 down. Ultimately he’s going too defensive and then reacting too late. Ndidi being played in a more attacking role is the bizarre legacy of Maresca unfortunately - would have thought Cooper would have seen through what a stupid idea that was