✍ Nikola Vlasic

[hammerman11]

needs to start against southampton, good to see him stepping up finally. starts ahead of benrahma for me

[Pob!]

He was fantastic last night..

[El brooko79]

needs to start against southampton, good to see him stepping up finally. starts ahead of benrahma for me

I'd start him and Benrahma (and Fornals behind Bowen)
Boxing day is potentially Bennys last game before he goes away.

Liked the looked of him last night.
Read a lot recently with people saying "what does he do".
Looks like his close control is good and can take people on in tight spaces.
Receives the ball with back to goal and turns. Kept possession well when crowded and put in a couple of decent balls with both feet.

Obviously it wasn't a showing of a £30m player yet but getting better.

[IronZ-79]

Some promising signs last night. Often in tight spaces and found a way out.

Thought he was unlucky not to score. Done everything right sending a few defenders and aimed to shoot through Davison's legs. Just caught one taking the pace off it.

[kitthehammer]

He was definitely better last night. I'm just not confident of any of our forward players scoring. But at least they linked up better last night.

[honkytonk]

Created 2 chances for Soucek and (inadvertently) set up Bowen. Looks comfortable on the ball. Suited him playing where he was, rather than stuck wide left like in a couple of the Europa games. Needs to start against Southampton. I think a goal will do him the world of good as well

[billtho]

Did look better last night but i still do not know what his true position is or what it was in moscow that made moyes think yes i want him.Did we need another player in the position that he is playing in, i dont know but having said that he needs a chance to show us what he can do so ffs moyes give him a chance

[honkytonk]

From the little I have seen, id say he needs to be playing centrally. I still think there is a pretty useful player that will turn out a very good buy.

[steveyrockstar]

I thought he showed flashes of real quality last night (finally) and started looking like a real attacking threat early on. However, I did think he disappeared as the game wore on.

Apparently, on Twitter, there were a lot of fans bemoaning his substitution, but I thought that was the right call as he wasn't having much impact on the game at that point.

Benny looked sharp when he came on but he looks like he's trying too hard again, a bit greedy and wild shooting.

[honkytonk]

I thought he showed flashes of real quality last night (finally) and started looking like a real attacking threat early on. However, I did think he disappeared as the game wore on.

Apparently, on Twitter, there were a lot of fans bemoaning his substitution, but I thought that was the right call as he wasn't having much impact on the game at that point.

Benny looked sharp when he came on but he looks like he's trying too hard again, a bit greedy and wild shooting.

He looked sharp....without actually really doing anything!!!

[StevePottsGoalsReel]

Perfectly weighted through ball to Bowen.

The Adriatic Iniesta.

[steveyrockstar]

He looked sharp....without actually really doing anything!!!

Benny or Vlas?

[Benaloon]

Thought he had a bit of Hazard about him last night - silky touch, low centre of gravity. Hopefully with more minutes and growing confidence he starts to really shine.

[The Gibbins]

I think he just needs time,there is something there,he certainly has those flashes of quality. It will be hard for him to get going when he has 10-20 minutes here and there and starts games in disjointed Cup lineups. Maybe towards the backend of this season or early next season we will start to see the best of him.

[Korea Hammer]

Noticed that Moyes commented on his fitness (still not up to speed) in the post-match press conferenve yesterday.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

Noticed that Moyes commented on his fitness (still not up to speed) in the post-match press conferenve yesterday.

hard to get match fit when you don't play matches.......

[Joffrey]

He was fantastic last night..

I disagree. He showed some good moments in the first half and was anonymous in the second before he was substituted.

Jury still out for me but he should get plenty of opportunities over the next 6 weeks (if the football continues...)

[D C]

I think it should be clear that he should be playing centrally or not at all unless we have injuries/suspensions/pestilence and he’s forced to

[Ironing Board]

He just ran out of steam, while also being targeted by Conte, second half. Says something that a manager like that would change his tactics to nullify him.

[Burnley Hammer]

I disagree. He showed some good moments in the first half and was anonymous in the second before he was substituted.

Jury still out for me but he should get plenty of opportunities over the next 6 weeks (if the football continues...)

The whole attack were becoming anonymous in the second half. We weren't getting the ball to them well enough. I think Vlasic made lots of runs into the box, but we didn't have other players on the pitch to make use of that. Fornals and Benrahma saw more of the ball when they came on as they understand our game more - if you're an attacking player then sadly you have to drop deeper if you want to see more of the ball as we only have Rice that's capable of carrying the ball upfield effectively. I think it's an obvious weakness we have at the moment.