The College Dropout

Aye he’s been impressive. I’m

Nah. The first is his fault. The second is an excellent finish. Tino could maybe block the cross. Is it Schar that loses Auba with the run? From there it was done. it was great play by Marseille too

They’ve done us here. Excellent cross and finish.

They’ve done us here. Great cross and movement from Marseille

Feel like Thiaw could’ve blocked that but it’s an excellent finish

Ah Nick

I missed the goal. We look dangerous in the counter. Seriously. But we’ve also been sloppy in possession, barely had the ball and Marseille should’ve scored at least 1 by now

Great play by Willock. What happened there Gordon?

Greenwood is destined for the top. Oozed class as a teenager.

Willock has been good from what I’ve seen

He kind of does

Dan Burn is one. Pope too.

I do think at this age he could be tearing up league 1 or the champ week in week out. You’ll have more teenagers doing big things there. Which is why I wanted us to sign another CM and send him out on loan. He was never going to get a tonne of quality minutes for us. I say quality because maybe in an injury crisis sure but that’s not great for him either. All things considered he’s playing a decent amount. 1800 minutes all in won’t be bad considering the level and the stakes.

Barnes has done all he can tbh.

How many 19-year-olds have more minutes across Europe's top 5 leagues?

He's barely played the last 6-7 months tbf. So I think it's fair other players are getting the spotlight. Murphy has been consistent in that time.

How? One thing that's immediately obvious about Gordon is that he's not the best striker of a ball nor is he a great dribbler or passer or anything standout from a technical perspective. It's fairly uncommon for a player to get significantly better at the technical side. I guess you do see players grow in confidence and composure allowing themselves to hit their maximum technical level more often. Henry talks about slowing down before he shoots, which allows him to execute the technique he has rather than rush it. Gordon can get better at that but I don't think he'll ever be as consistently a clean striker of a ball as Barnes. The composure and technique thing often goes hand in hand. Watching Eze recently, he just relaxs into his technique to score his goals.

Eze such an obviously great signing. Would’ve been criminal had he gone to Spurs. I hope it inspires Gordon

20 league games no output? I’ve said it before - Gordon doesn’t link well with his team mates. He doesn’t use the fullback proactively the way Barnes does. Barnes is more willing to play the fullback in proactively, more willing to use his left foot too. Gordon has been given a long leash by us ans the manager. Barnes has been much more productive over the last 18 months and just better in general.

To add - it’s a genuine desire to win not a ‘passion merchant’. He’s aggressive and a bit here but doesn’t get suspended often or get sent off. Because he genuinely wants to win. Other lads will chase balls they’ll never win and put in silly challenges to show the crowd or whoever they are hard workers but will lose the ball and saunter to get it back. Bruno is 93rd minute chasing his opposite number in the box looking like he’s running through treacle. Then do it again the next game.

Most ‘try hards’ don’t actually put the graft in (see: Gordon, Anthony) but Bruno does. He’s committed. In a way that’s hard to quantify. Like Tonali is committed but there’s been a number of times he’s turned his back when facing a long shot. Rarely happens with Bruno - he faces it head on. He’s one that comes up with big goals and assists because he’s always trying to be available. To make the run etc. Honestly we take him for granted.

No usual all action style. Except he started off more centrally and deeper. But you know our midfield so he got up there to create the first goal

Agreed with whoever said he was under rated in the league cup final. He was superb that entire run. Not only did he contribute himself in terms of G/A but h actually links up well with his team mates. In the final he creates a good chance with a left foot cross. And for the second goal he plays a good ball to Tino who sends in the cross that Murphy wins. To a man everyone was excellent that game. We were dangerous for 70 minutes odd. Defended well. All of those lads are legends to me and I’ve got a soft spot for every single one of them. Like I’m sad for Hall, Botman and Almiron that they missed out. Tino, Burn and Murphy are immortal to me in a way they could never be.

Tbf him getting so few minutes is a bigger worry for me. But I think anyone sensible recognises there’s a lot of work to be done with him. Let’s see how we setup midweek.

Aye I was close to saying he was Beckham-esq tbh Bruno definitely Scholes like with his passing today. Actually Bruno G has been Gerrard like in recent times. Not just quality on the ball but that drive and determination. He was excellent for both goals - determined. With bags of ability. I love him so much.