The College Dropout

Aye but also... not match fit. I think Tino should start at RB. It should be Trippier coming in. Tino seems to pickup knocks anyway.

Any European football will be a decent season IMO. 8th would be tough to take. But everything considered it would be ok.

We will remain the 7th/8th biggest spenders on salaries and squad size in the league. We need to be better managed in the transfer market and training pitch than half the teams that spend more money than us to finish top 4. That is possible. But that would be an insane expectation IMO. If we aren't in Europe & keep our stars. We should finish top 6 with the lack of European football. If we give Europe a good go we could end up 7th/8th again through no underperformance.

Penalties do count but it doesn't change my point. Shearer scored 19 goals in the First Division. He'll have max 30 more goals in open play than Cole or whatever it is. Players scoring 20+ goals in a league from open play is pretty rare.

I agree with some of this. But we are still building. We don't have the ability in the squad to demand a side with a "winning mentality". "Winning mentality" is the difference between teams close in ability. And it's usually the ones with that bit more quality and a history of success that's the difference. Difference between PSG & Real Madrid.

I agree with this. But can you even do this effectively with the team we have? There's a lot of limited players there. I'm looking forward to getting a team with Livra/Trippier, Schar, Botman, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Isak, Gordon, a proper RW. All of those can actually really play. At full strength Joelinton and Gordon would probably be the most limited technically. That's a world away from Krafth, Burn, Longstaff, Anderson, Murphy and Almiron getting loads of minutes.

The thing I like most about Howe is he does get the best out of most players. Like Krafth. He's been decent man. Murphy was decent considering he's Jacob Murphy. Decent assist. Give him some proper talent.

Agreed. We somehow lack creativity in midfield but still create chances. I've grown ok with that. My biggest issue with the midfield is that we can't keep smooth possession in there. But that's down to the players ability. 30 games of Tonali-Bruno-Joelinton clicking, we surely can play in there better.

It's the being on the bench. For a keeper, I suspect you are either fit to play or you aren't. Maybe Pope plays such an aggressive game he does more running than most keepers? Just watching the game. You feel like Pope saves at least one of those goals.

He wasn’t very good then tbf. He’s needed time to settle.

Aye. Playing a lot of the season without 3 of our 4 best CMs has been a killer. We’ve been so weak in there. I’ve been against signing squad players but maybe we need too. Even if on loan. I want to see this squad with some fitness and a proper RW.

So…. It’s Barnes and Gordon competing for one spot. And Almiron and Murphy competing for the other. 2 LW options that both have more ability and higher ceilings than any RW option. That doesn’t make sense.

He’s started maybe 2 games at RW. There’s no proof he was considered a viable RW option. The evidence suggests Barnes is a like for like replacement for ASM who Howe used primarily as a LW. Barnes has been good when playing.

Agree on Barnes. It didn’t make sense considering we didn’t sign a RW. It didn’t make sense when Barnes and Gordon didn’t start together while both were fit. And it doesn’t make sense now it looks like Barnes is Gordon’s backup. We need to address problem positions. I

I agree with this. I would still phase him out the side due to age though.

Tbf to him. His mistakes this year have been mostly brain farts. The type he had at Spurs and earlier. That bozo side has come back in big style. I don’t think it’s a decline in terms of defensive lapses. More a return to his level.

They sold Casemiro and bought Tchoumani & Camavinga in the same window. They sold Varane and got Alaba in on a free. We’ll be playing Krafth. I do think it was a bit of a missed opportunity though. I don’t want him starting for us primarily. Love the lad but it’s Tino’s turn.

Played CM in their youth ranks.

Was really good. Tenacious defensively. Great on the ball. Only thing is he’s so good on the ball that his passing could be even more hurtful to the opposition. I do wonder if he can play in midfield to be honest. He’s a better footballer than most we have in there. He can play under pressure unlike Sean lad. Maybe doubts about his legs. But he looked strong and quick when he needed too tonight. We need this type of technically superior player imo.

With Joelintons contract extension I don’t see us changing styles much. All we can do is get better quality around it.

We weren’t bad. Had our chances. Lacked a bit of quality and luck in crucial moments.

It’s the way he dives. It looks like he comes is get a hand to the 2nd 3rd goals.

Why did he start Dubs?

Why didn’t Pope start?