Pata

Can't believe this discussion is STILL going. We probably have a set budget as a ballpark number but we would never let journalists and the whole world to know the number. Transfers been reported as just the upfront payment has never been a thing. Disappointed in you Kaka, day ruined.

Hi Luke!

I don’t think it has anything to do with being nice to Man United but it’s about being nice to Dubravka. There’s no reason to act like a cunt to a veteran who’s done nothing wrong here.

Feel like people are forgetting that Dubravka is a human being who wants to play. He’s done nothing wrong but we got new owners and a manager who doesn’t seem to rate him that weren’t here when he signed the extension. He’ll get to play Europa League games and cup games in one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. It’s not ideal for us but I don’t know how forcing an unhappy player to stay here would be optimal either. Any talk about him not being up for a fight for the number one keeper is bullshit, Howe has made it certain it’s Pope’s job and he’s not going to lose it without injuries. Irritates me that people are unhappy that some players are just happy to collect their paychecks without any playing time but at the same time so many think Dubravka should be happy to be sitting on our bench. He’s been a great servant but it’s now time for him to move on and do what’s best for his career’s last years.

Anderson.

Take the cups seriously but not with our best players!!!11

A whole week after his monstrous performance against Man City, good lord.

How would you even know if Alvarez was on the same spot as Willock? Pointless speculation and Willock was unlucky it didn't hit him.

I would be surprised if he isn't soon the first to be subbed in and then it's down to him. Even if we get a player or two next week it shouldn't be that hard to leapfrog the likes of Willock, Longstaff, Murphy and Fraser in the pecking order based on what he has shown so far.

Joselu scores against Real Madrid.

Didn't Botman miss one too on the near post that would have most likely been a goal?

xG>>>>>Dokko's and Mazzy's eyetest. Long live the stats.

How could today be labelled as poor? We absolutely dominated (64% possession, 21 shots, won the xG comfortably 0.73-2.00) a midtable team on the road while missing Bruno and Wilson. I think this was the most encouraging performance yet, we'll be tough against anyone at SJP but today proved we can control games on the road too after the poor performance against Brighton.

Show me a Steve Bruce match where we had 64% possession on the road and 21-10 shots.

Thought he was fine and looked confident, that was the first PL game in ages where he was the main ball distributor in the midfield.

Should have been brought on a lot earlier. Hope Howe trusts him more after that great cameo.

There should already be at least 8 minutes added.

Stop the fucking clock.

I did sir. We won with one goal with players that hadn't played a competitive 90 minutes in ages and have a thin squad.

We gave shit to Ashley for 15 years for not taking the cups seriously. Now people are giving shit to Howe for taking the cups seriously.

This is better.

That took four minutes, excited to see the four minutes added time.

Great minds think alike.

People should calm down, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that our squad lacks depth. Semedo is on a yellow so I would expect Wolves trying to help him a lot on the second half so I would bring in Targett for Burn. Longstaff has been fine IMO, I would replace Willock with Anderson too.

I'm pretty sure there's some deep analytics behind it. Kicking it long is basically a 50% chance of losing possession, potentially even higher depending on the players. No one notices it when you score from the possession you kept after playing it short but errors like Gabriel's are obviously really visible. Re-posting from the other thread and it's a post that's worth it tbh.