The College Dropout

I was saying in the thread. In my lifetime our football heritage is 0 upsets or wins against really good teams at the business end-of-cup competitions. Our best wins are against 00's PSV and 90's Spurs. We'll break it this decade, I'm convinced. But I think we're like Man City in that we'll have to be genuinely better than the opposition to win that first one or some type of generational curse-breaking performance. Arsenal in the FA Cup can get it done, likewise, Chelsea and Liverpool just have that belief that they can win any cup competition. I couldn't see us winning a cup final the way Man U beat us last season atm. Particularly against a "bigger" side. We are a bit like England in that sense. Outside of England, when have we dealt with a "top" nation in the latter rounds? Not ever. Most of it is down to ability but there is something missing mentality-wise. Maybe I missed it but I couldn't see the FA Cup semi under Souness where we got smashed by Man U.

Palace are not getting relegated. Hodgson is getting more respect than Vieira did but he’s going to have to get sacked.

At the end of the season you want to face the teams right down there. They are right down there because they’re shit. Some mid table teams hit the beach and fall off. But most seem to relish the lack of pressure. Players playing for moves. Play for spots at the euros. I remember we went to Burnley in the last game of the season. They needed to win to stay up. Smashed them.

Chelsea can’t make it happen because off FFP

That Villa collapse might actually happen.

Madrid have 3 ACLs too.

No but it remains at 9 - no? So if he gets to within 1 or 2 games of the suspension limit moving up (GW 30 is it?), he's better off getting a second yellow. Getting a 1 match-ban - when he returns it's now 15 yellow cards for a suspension not 10. So he needs 6 yellows for a suspension.

Only the 2nd most left-footed player in the division between Giles of Luton and Dwight McNeil according to The Athletic. He gets extra points for being so left footed and playing on the right though. Trippier & Bruno top 20 for most right-footed players. But boy are those right foots special.

If he gets to 7 or 8 he might be better off taking a second yellow, no? That will give him a 1 game suspension rather than 2? And then he's only got to get through 1 or 2 games before it moves to 15?

Bruno is comfortably the best CM I've seen for us. I'll be amazed if he can avoid the 2 game suspension. I'll be pleased if he makes it through the next 5. At that point I hope we have some more options and it will mean he's unlikely to get the 3 game suspension for 15. At this rate he's thundering towards the 15 YC 3 game suspension.

Aye - this has been my view for about a year now.

So good teams? I might just roll with whatever I have if that's the case. Villa, Arsenal, Spurs go bring in over the next few weeks then. That's not too bad. You would happily hold a lot of those for a good number of weeks anyway. Then you bring back Liverpool & City. I've got 5 from Liverpool and City so will need to get that down to 3. Don't think that's hard. I like Darwin but he's an easy sell for me.

who blanks in 29? Liverpool again?

You think Billing is more technical than Joelinton?

Would Howe even use "depth" players? I thought Livra and earned his trust. But I don't expect him to start any games unless we change shape or someone gets injured. Hope to be proven wrong but it seems like he's just earned himself a regular sub on role.

Probably my best GW all season. Jumped 150k odd to land 150k OR. 113k last year 64k the year before If get anywhere between the 2 I'll be happy. In decent shape for this upcoming GW. 5x doublers although I expect some benched. Might get Toney. Think I can navigate the blank with free transfers too. If I'm still around here with my 3 chips remaining I'll be happy.

Aye. Earning about £5m in wages so a loan with wages paid in full would be decent.

They need one in the middle like Paqueta. He's like their Bruno, he progresses them up the field with guile and is the only one who puts a foot on the ball for them. I wasn't sure on Paqueta when we were linked but I think he's a top player. He's not Howe-style though.

They need another baller like Paqueta.

I think medium/long-term you it's better to exert more control over opponents than being free-scoring. We'll not maintain outperforming our Xg by 2 goals every game like we did on the weekend. We need to tighten up.

I was joking. I do think Howe needs to adapt more. That was about 2 years ago. Opponents have learnt a thing or two about us since then. And we had Joelinton and Willock in there.

I don't know if any of them are "really good players". 1 of them can't even stay it. None of them have excellent reputations in the game in comparison to a Nathan Ake. I think we need a top CB/LB. A Nathan Ake would actually be perfect for us especially if Howe wants to stick to the same profile as Burn. If we sell multiple squad players - bringing in cheap squad players is a good idea.

Yeh aye. I just wouldn't gamble the success of our season on any cup competition atm. The margins are too fine. We don't have that je ne sais quoi to get big wins over the line in cup competitions. I would love to win the FA Cup and I think we have a decent chance. We are good team. But in my heart, I expect heartbreak.

I think his positioning was fine (and it's more Dubs fault than his), he's just turbo-slow and Elanga is rapid. Forest kept targeting him. It didn't always come off because he's not a terrible player but they got a fair amount of joy against him. The midfield is terribly one-paced and exposes him. The key thing is opps have targeted him. Trips can be got at the same way (as Son showed) but you need a little more guile to make it work and teams don't pinpoint him.

Adapt? Don't be ridiculous.