Mr MO

He looked a different player, maybe that’s it put on the left and he can cut in.

Baccus is of course a welcome contribution but it’s a mystery why we got him. Griffiths is hand picked and not played. When Malik is fit again another Wazza favourite, it’s going to be interesting - are we releasing Griffiths, keep Baccus?

Agree, but we aren’t making the runs for killer passes. They are mostly on par with each other but slightly different going forward. Brattan has more forward drive than Baccus, who was criticised at WSW for too many side and back passes (last night he was better in that regard). Brattan’s passing capability is one of best in league but is indeed slower. It really also depends how you look at it; Brattan wants to pass forward but hesitates because there was no upfront movement (which was a big issue in earlier games and also last season). He gets called slack and slow. When runs are being made, like Mcgree against Victory he will kill it. Baccus rarely makes a forward move but never losses possesion and gets a lot of credit for it. I think putting Mcgree next to Baccus is an excellent solution.

People really rated him in his new position tonight, I remain on the fence regarding Florin's personal ability but having a player running as a Nr 10 role with a decent touch made other players play better tonight.

Woop woop another top right corner with the right boot - savior, hero I don't know anymore - I rather see him put the normal chances away and be 2 or 3 up. I love the guy but I hope we have all seen the game tonight. Where he clearly keeps the ball with him for that long that he gets surrounded by defenders and turns over possession - No No he isn't being doubled teamed or triple teamed, it take him ages to take proper control of the ball and loses over sight of players around him besides he is too busy turning to his right foot for another predicted shot. I keep saying this he needs adapt and to start setting up more play, too many selfish touches at the moment. setup play for others and Bruno can take the taps in himself still be on the score sheet. Another top right corner goal, he scores one of those every 4 games - would love to see more of Bruno again.

Why? If players do FA meaning ''Fuck All'' that means you take them off right? Atkinson poorly contributed to the game, I don't like Joyce but there is more quality on the bench, take the kid off so good call I thought.

By using that as excuse the club would basically admit that they are struggling with the salary cap more then other top 4 teams plus our scouting network isn’t up to scratch. Whilst writing the above I realise this is actually the truth.

Why do you say that? Besides updating the training ground I can't really say they have put decent money in the first team. I would like them to invest in first team players, win some trophies and ask the question again. I'm pretty sure the fans in Manchester are happy with winning or competing for prices

He was also the reason we got knocked out.

Read your 3 paragraphs again, there is fundamentally something wrong, not with you but with our club/ first team management in judgement of how a balanced squad should look like; 1. Sticking to an out of form striker but more so building a system around him which doesn't suit him is just madness! 2. If there are a handfull of Novillo quality players in these lower leagues, why don't we pick them up? Somehow we all had high hopes that Florin would be a hidden gem like Novillo, remember we are sacrificing a visa spot here. 3. If think our on field football and unbalanced bench speaks words that loading a team full of midfielders doesn't work. I'm so furious still, the time for excuses is slowly running out for Wazza and his team, do you remember all the posts last season about ''yeah but he inherited a squad'' and ''wait until he picks his own players''. It is early days in a short season but he seems stubborn about switching tactics, as he can't even do it during a game plus doesn't have the bench to do it.

Glad we mostly agree. I take it you mean that Wazza wouldn’t replace Bruno anyway? My point was more towards having extra firepower on the bench when chasing the game. I can’t agree with Florin Vs Novillo argument, these two players aren’t in the same league regarding talent, how many games did Florin play for France? Novillo was in the lower leagues due to attitude, judging Florin so far he played in the lower leagues due to ability. You really think there wasn’t anybody else available around the globe to replace Halloran? Where is our scouting network? I think it was a deliberate call from Wazza to get another decent midfielder in as he loves them. I remember reading some where on this topic that Warren has said that he was happy with the forward line and it was not required to replace MoH. Where is Baccus going after December? Are we releasing somebody else instead?

Yup hence we struggled to score in preseason and in the cup, we mostly dragged out small wins and draws. O Halloran wasn’t going to feature much in the starting line up anyway judging by this. Joyce is underestimating the league or overestimating his own players. We have issue across the board. For example our captain, Jamieson show passion and works hard, but really has average technique and the last time he had a good cross in the box was 2015. We are relying on our full backs to give attacking impulses too much.

- The absence of a another striker -Bruno was the main striker so the status quo hasn't changed there I say ''another striker'' we struggle to score remember, evidence of Bruno's poor form was evident last season and in preseason. (don't mention some top corner cup goals as he missed heaps next to penalties). - Getting a visa player out of the lower French leagues, the guy would struggle in an under 20s squad the way he plays. -Harry Novillo?? What does Harry have to do with it, look at the both their history as a footballer, I can't seen any similarities - Harry is a much better player. - Signing a decent goalkeeper and not play him, there would be cheaper keepers out there to sit on the bench. With the current salary cap you just pick your number 1 and use the money elsewhere. - combined salary or Birighitti/Galekovic compared to Sorenson/Bouzanis?? This has been fundamentally wrong from the start and proof is there with what has happened to Tommy. - Recruiting Baccus and putting hand picked Griffiths on the bench -Bacchus been our best utility and arguably most reliable so far. Correct, but you don't know that from the start, looking at the team on paper we didn't need him as we spend our money the highly rated Griffiths. Now Griffiths sits on the bench and we have no proper forwards/wingers. - Not replacing Halloran - Debatable choice being so early in the season We have no other forwards, again! Let's hope on some youth players, providing a spark! - The blind faith in an NPL level Delbridge (he wasn’t that bad last night to be fair) - Delbridge starting is questionable The tone of the season was set in the first half against victory when we couldn’t string 3 passes together. I can only complain at the moment as with the current squad I can’t see a way out.

Correct, even Wales isn’t a real winger

I concur with you on this one. The forum is split with some saying we have such a good squad. I’ve been very critical on our recruitment this year. I don’t see any logic in; - The absence of a another striker - Getting a visa player out of the lower French leagues, the guy would struggle in an under 20s squad the way he plays. - Signing a decent goalkeeper and not play him, there would be cheaper keepers out there to sit on the bench. With the current salary cap you just pick your number 1 and use the money elsewhere. - Recruiting Baccus and putting hand picked Griffiths on the bench - Not replacing Halloran. - The blind faith in an NPL level Delbridge (he wasn’t that bad last night to be fair) The tone of the season was set in the first half against victory when we couldn’t string 3 passes together. I can only complain at the moment as with the current squad I can’t see a way out.

We can’t even change to another system as we only have 1 striker and 29 midfielders.

I agree 100%, so spot on. I’ve mentioned this before. People keep going on about our side way ball movement but this is 90% of the problem. Bruno stands still waiting a with defender in his back, French, Wales and Vido all make little or mostly wrong inside runs.

Excuses....he doesn’t make the runs, stands around and looses the ball even with one defender behind him. Plus he keeps the ball with him way too long. We should stop comparing him to a squad player, he is our marquee on bigger money then everybody else so we expect more. I’m a Tuna fan but he starts to annoy me.

They sad thing is, that with this squad I can’t see how we are going to play any differently. Maybe some youth players might bring some sparks. Have we made a mistake by bringing in a marquee fullback? It certainly stops Atkinson’s development plus we seem to need this extra qualify elsewhere. Have we just signed De Leat because he was available just like Baccus without actually looking at what our really squad needs?

I’m sorry I’m slowly jumping off the Brunowagon. I honestly think his ball skill and first touches aren’t marquee worthy anymore. Yeah sure he gets less possesion but he has 50% turnover ratio when he does get the ball. Yeah sure it’s a team issue but we can’t keep protecting him forever.

I watched him closely tonight, stands around a lot and not coming into the ball enough, this is one of the main reasons we go side ways a lot. There is no movement up front.

Was there a reason to sing then?

We can only play 4-2-3-1 remember! There is only one striker in our squad and rest are midfielders, Wales and the working holiday Frenchman are technically midfielders. I loved the substitutions when chasing the game - 2 midfielders off and 2 midfielders on! But hey we got no other options as that is how our squad is assembled by our PE teacher. Boy we must be regretting now not having replaced Halloran.

I don’t understand why we keeping looking for excuses why Bruno is manhandled and should be awarded more fouls etc....the fact is he goes to ground way to easy and it cost our team. It just doesn’t work anymore. He needs to adapt like you said. Look at other strikers around us, their aim is break away from their markers and not wait for contact. Also like it or not but he doesn’t have or seems to have lost the technique to play in those tight spaces - this is purely based on the percentage based turnovers on his account.

It’s all in his own control, cut out the diving stay on your feet to start with. When’s the last time you’ve seen Bruno taken one touch or set up a one two? It seems always the same, not running away from your marker but hold him up and wait for him to run in your back. When played in, takes way too many touches. Bruno is also partly responsible for our poor forward slow play, players who play Bruno in, stop running as they very rarely get the one two back. Saying that it might also be that he just doesn’t trust his wingers.