Our defence

[Smirker]

Third worst in the league.

Obviously we've been killed by injuries but where do we go from here? Is it that bad? Yes I know it's only four games in but we're averaging over two goals a game conceded.

Hopefully Diego isn't out for long. Finally gets back fit and looks good and this happens.

Lenglet/Torres for the majority of the season is a bit concerning.

[Risso]

That display from Torres was abject today. All the worries about him when he was first mentioned as a signing came true today. Slow, and physically weak. Not very promising, at all.

[chrisw1]

Pretty much as expected.  Hopefully it will get better but if you buy players with glaring weaknesses don’t be surprised when they play as their stats suggest.

It’s going to be a long season without Ty.

[Steve67]

Have we written off Torres based on half a dozen games?  He's a Spanish international still getting used to this league and the pace etc.  Lenglet has experience of the Premier Division and is above the likes of Bednarek. 

Torres was poor today but this doesn't make him a poor player.

Digne lost his marker for one of the goals and was done for pace with the second goal.  Cash scored an own goal.  Konsa looked a bit lost at times.  Bad day at the office but Unai will sort it.

[Risso]

Have we written off Torres based on half a dozen games?  He's a Spanish international still getting used to this league and the pace etc.  Lenglet has experience of the Premier Division and is above the likes of Bednarek. 

Torres was poor today but this doesn't make him a poor player.

It might make him unsuited for the Premier League though.

[AV84]

I think Torres is the ideal player for how Emery envisions us playing. But he's brought him in before we've actually manged to play like that with any kind of consistency. Add then the Mings injury and Torres having to play all the matches immediately, and it doesn't look like all that great a signing.

[Steve67]

Have we written off Torres based on half a dozen games?  He's a Spanish international still getting used to this league and the pace etc.  Lenglet has experience of the Premier Division and is above the likes of Bednarek. 

Torres was poor today but this doesn't make him a poor player.

It might make him unsuited for the Premier League though.

I don't think it is enough time to make such a suggestion though Risso.   

[PaulTheVillan]

I think we need to go back to basics when Ramsey is back. Cash Konsa Another Digne

I’m sure Emery will use the next week or so to look into the problems. We miss Mings. We’re better with him in the side, and under Emery he seemed to have lost that odd mistake he always seemed to have in him.

[PaulWinch again]

Nope agree. I reckon Torres has plenty of quality. He’s not without fault today clearly, he had a poor game, but the root cause of the failure today and that at Newcastle is that the midfield were well off it and failed to press the ball.  You sub in pretty much any defender and they’ll struggle in that situation in a team that plays a high line, let alone one who is playing is 4th game in the league.

[chrisw1]

Torres is a good player on the ball, but has weaknesses which coupled with losing Mings qualities leaves us exposed.

It’s why it felt like a strange signing as injury or not as a left sided player it was always likely he’d replace Mings

[RamboandBruno]

Have we written off Torres based on half a dozen games?  He's a Spanish international still getting used to this league and the pace etc.  Lenglet has experience of the Premier Division and is above the likes of Bednarek. 

Torres was poor today but this doesn't make him a poor player.

It might make him unsuited for the Premier League though.

4 games, far too soon for this kind of assessment

[danno]

Torres is a good player on the ball, but has weaknesses which coupled with losing Mings qualities leaves us exposed.

It’s why it felt like a strange signing as injury or not as a left sided player it was always likely he’d replace Mings

I thought it was more likely that Konsa would drop out of the team or be moved to right back depending on who else we signed.

[SamTheMouse]

I think that when your defence is constantly under pressure and getting turned, part of it is usually because the rest of the team isn't pressing correctly.

The same happened against Jawdie Arabia, we didn't control possession in the middle. And it's really tough to play a high line against pace if you're not dominating the midfield.

[PaulWinch again]

Have we written off Torres based on half a dozen games?  He's a Spanish international still getting used to this league and the pace etc.  Lenglet has experience of the Premier Division and is above the likes of Bednarek. 

Torres was poor today but this doesn't make him a poor player.

It might make him unsuited for the Premier League though.

4 games, far too soon for this kind of assessment

Agreed, it’s far too premature and like I say any defender playing a high line will struggle if the midfield doesn’t do its job.

[Paul.S]

You defend as a team and today we didn’t.
Not enough pressure on the ball and when it keeps coming back at you it’s hard.

I’ve no issues with Emery’s thought process as in order to become better at what he wants we have to persevere with it. That may mean days like this but it wasn’t that long ago we couldn’t pass out from the back and that’s improved no end.