The College Dropout

I think we need to forget Staveley and her 5 year plan in year 0. Different leadership. Sounds like we are heading towards some type of project reset.

Early subs are good in that clearly Howe is hating our performances.

I don’t mind Hall rotating with Kelly based on the opponent. But Livra at RB for me. Trippier in for tactical reasons or training or whatever but Livra shirt to lose. Trippier has gone back to being weak defensively and the back line is too slow with him added. What’s not great from Howe is that some players can have multiple bad games and still start while others don’t.

Trippier and Hall is too weak defensively imo. And those are defenders. We don’t have the quality on the ball in midfield and attack in possession. You don’t get the best out of Willock Joelinton Longstaff Barnes Gordon Tonali Murphy Almiron like that imo. The squad is built to run and transition. Fulham are better setup personnel wise for that.

To sound like a broken record. We don’t have the players for that. When we signed Tonali, we committed to rock and roll football. Confirmed it with Joelintons new contract.

I think good strong boys can keep that up. I look at Arsenal and they have that mentality now. They lose the ball they all burst back into shape. They win the physical battle then the quality will shine. On paper we aren’t that much better than Fulham or most of the league. But we’ve lost that mental edge. We lose the ball and the lads amble back. The press is laboured. That does lie on Howe. Lads don’t look motivated. Don’t look physically fit. And he has the same tactical/setup weaknesses we’ve had for a long time. That bit of tactical stubbornness or limitation I’ve charged it to the game and it’s almost forgivable. But the lack of work rate and physicality and ability in transition isn’t. That’s Howe’s USP for me. That’s the point of a team with Joelinton, Willock, Longstaff, Barnes, Gordon, Isak, Tonali, Murphy, Livramento. It’s meant to outrun other teams and we haven’t don’t that once this season.

Looks a nothing player to me. Ok defensively. Ok on the ball. Ok in the air. Ok going forward. Passive as. Not to say he’s bad. Just not sure what high qualities he’s meant to have beyond versatility.

This is also where we need proper managerial skill.

Tbf that’s not his natural position either. We don’t have one.

We spent the money and wages on another really good LW. At some point this year I’ll stop banging that drum re: Kudus & Palmer. That’s the profile and fee we should be targeting almost always. Young with room for development, coming from low wages, decent fee but not astronomical. You’ll get some wrong but the winners could treble in value. With the exception of the v. young boys like Minteh - few of our players have 3x resale potential.

Purely movement - I think he’s better* *feel like Jackson sometimes does the Cisse thing of totally forgetting the offside rule

Always believed in Nicky J me…

Eddie is a really good fit for us. We like high intensity and relatively direct play. we aren’t accustomed to slow build up.

There’s elements of truth to most widely reported rumours imo

It’s just Eddie usual antics. He’s infamous in the FPL community as a liar.

This is very true. You look at his profile and he reminds me a bit of Craig Bellamy. The pace and aggression. But Bellamy was a terror on the counter - especially away from home. Gordon isn’t.

If at the end of the season things are exactly the same. It’s more of a discussion imo. He’s still in and out the side and part of his first real run of games under Howe. If this time next season he’s still right here then we can talk about stalled development.

I was a young lad myself tbf. These are grown men.

The tone of the article is wrong ‘he’s still only 20’. That’s what you say about a 23/24 year old that’s still finding his way. Not someone who has literally just turned 20. He needs to develop physically and learn the position. Yeh. Of course he does. But the tone is all wrong? I’ll never forget people constantly criticising Milner. I was one of them. That’s not how you nurture talent.

I’d be happy with a Chelsea era Guehi type signing. I can’t think of a modern example though. I think Guehi was considered a bigger talent a Harwood-Bellis. I’m not sure that lad is ready for the PL and Guehi was ready at 21.

Kelly rotates with Hall at LB. And the long-term Dan Burn replacement. Which should be back-up LB & LCB.

Kroos out, Mbappe in has not started well for Real. Not played well at all this season from what I’ve seen.

Stick with him imo. Kelly is not good enough n the air to play CB imo. Burn gets his head onto things.

I know he’s got grey hairs but he’s only 32. He hasn’t shown any signs of decline and **avoiding jinxing something** which is a good sign.

I don’t think they can do that in this case. On appeals to higher courts - yes. But this is a PL ruling on PL rules.