The College Dropout

Brentford never planned for him to be their primary 9. Toney then Thiago. But Thiago got a ACL in pre-season or first couple of games. Brentford are ace at finding and developing attackers. Benrahma, Watkins, Toney, Mbuemo, Wissa, Damsgaard, Schade & Thiago w/acl has been a revalation this season.

Happy to give him an additional 1 or 2 years with a pay rise but nothing crazy to see if he can get back to consistent fitness This is also known as the Luke Shaw mind.

Can still give him a new contract but not a major bump in salary and maybe a small increase in length. Additional 1-2 years.

Not true. He played a lot of minutes last season as a rotation option. He probably wasn’t in their strongest team but he was a valuable member of the squad.

I mentioned him before. I said it a lot. This new CL format is gruelling. Unless the squad is deep and quality we’ll struggle to get into Europe. That Villa squad and the 66 points was impressive and we needed a squad the level they ended with to get 65-68 points to get us back into the CL. This squad will do well to get 63 points and a conference league spot unless we go and get reinforcements.

Willock looks a better athlete though. Or should i say a more powerful runner. From the little I’ve seen Ramsey doesn’t cover the grass as well. And I’ve not seen any baller in him yet. Early days I guess.

Same. Gordon was good too tbf but Barnes doesn’t deserve the benching.

We’ve known this yet his replacement is equally as bad at general football ability. That’s the killer.

I’ve also just not been impressed with his ability in his fleeting cameos. Looks too light weight for midfield. Not creative or devastating enough to play LW. Hoping for the best. Seems a nice lad. Hopefully earns some starts.

They haven’t had a run because they haven’t been good enough. With the PL experience they have which has increased their fee they should be contributing. Being behind Joe Willock in the pecking order is wild.

I don’t mind getting similar profiles but they have to be better in numerous ways. Tonali is a similar profile to Longstaff but he’s better at everything. Id be happy with Elanga if he had Gordon or Barnes overall touch and football ability plus his pace and delivery. But he’s actually the same level of footballer as Murphy, maybe worse. Ramsey isn’t aa strong a runner as Joelinton or prime Willock. Maybe a little more ball secure but doesn’t offer any more than they do based on fleeting appearances. For the money you would want high ceiling.

The fact he’s rarely injured also makes him under rated. We are used to him. Stevie G himself couldn’t even Stevie G once he lost the pace (tbf he also lost the stamina). Bruno has fantastic ability but he’s also willing himself to greatness. The constant running that looks absolutely painful, game in game out. No injuries. The chemistry in his brain keeps his legs and heart and body going. How does he cope with all the intensity? I love Big Joe. But he can’t cope. Maybe the lack of fast twitch fibres in his body is a net positive for endurance and injury prevention. A muscular and explosive lad like Joelinton or back in the day Michael Essien couldn’t sustain that over the years at this intensity.

I don’t think that is good enough. Our business was intended for immediate results. We haven’t signed any teenagers or 21 year olds. Woltemade aside everyone we’ve signed has over 100 PL appearances and that was a major factor in their signing and fees because they were meant to keep us high in the league this season. Signing 19 yo Lewis Hall was always going to be dubious short term but with long term high upside. We signed Wissa for immediate impact. Through no real fault of his own he’s offered zero. But his lack of contribution is a fairly big reason why we are bottom half in the league. He’s meant to have scored 4-8 goals by now. You can check my posts. I’ve been screaming for a CM that can compete or replace Joelinton. That was meant to be Ramsey. He’s behind Miley and Willock. So far it’s been poor. I liked him before he came but he looks so small for us. He’s not as powerful a runner as I was expecting and is very safe on the ball. At the moment I don’t know what he’s meant to be for us. He’s not that much cheaper than Tonali. IMO we went for a short terminate transfer but didn’t reap any of the benefits. I wanted a Xhaka like signing. Cheap fee maybe good wages. Hits the ground running. As such I don’t have high expectations of the season. We need to get back to a proper recruitment team and go from there. The Livramento x Tonali approach.

I’m not confident that we get to the top. So I’m really appreciating what Bruno G is doing for us. We’ve never had a midfielder so good. We may never see a CM so good again. Again he was Stevie G-esque. Took the game by the scruff. Ran with it. Created. And slapped one into the corner. I love this guy.

The ‘shinniness’ is enough to wrong foot the lads that have been running for 95 minutes which is why none make an attempt to clear the ball. but the lad at the back with the longest time to see it that can use his hands and isn’t marking a player…. It’s his fault.

Sunderland are good aren’t they?

Agree with that. Iona think they’ll sustain a title challenge as is either. But I knew from the start of the season they would be top 4/5. Crazy depth.

Villa 3rd is crazy. I thought they killed themselves last season with FFP?

Chelsea have spent bucketloads. But they are a Osimhen away from winning the league or getting close imo. Their squad depth is mad.

Summer transfers has really hurt us. Woltemade and Thiaw are the only bright sparks. Nobody else has come close to giving us what we need so far. And we’ve spent a lot of money for players intended to make an immediate impact.

It’s Ramsdale. it’s strange because the goalkeeper should save it

It’s a typical Murphy bad game.

We’ve always defended leads without the ball and sit back. With more fatigue and not enough quality we are conceding goals late. We needed to add more quality in midfield and attack to relieve a bit more pressure. It sounds like scapegoating but the lack of contribution from Ramsey, Elanga and Wissa has been massive.

Bouncing on your toes at a shot that’s travelling is not good. It’s the reason he can’t dive properly and doesn’t actually move his feet or body weight in any direction. No offence but have you played the sport or any sport? It’s bad technique. The goal looks weird because he’s made a mistake.