The College Dropout

Said it before. He needs to be stronger physically, better stamina and play at full tilt. He always plays at 80% intensity these days and it’s no good. Sometimes he comes deep and links well but today back to offering absolutely nothing. Not linking it up. Can’t win a contested ball.

Dubs mate.

Trippier suspended? Blessing in disguise. Longstaff back on the pitch and back to the shit diving.

Dubs mistake to top things off.

Yeh it was never going to happen. It’s not Eddie’s style. If he was going to rotate it was going to be Everton and that was also never going to happen under Eddie.

We do look knackered here.

We can’t keep the ball meaningfully. Or for any length of time. We are always having to defend.

This might be the game Tripps is subbed. But I reckon it might need to get UGLY before Howe pulls the trigger. A 3rd before HT will do it.

Son has Tripps on toast. Take him off or swap wings with Livramento.

On the ball we are consistently woeful away from home.

Eddie trusts Ritchie’s experience to see out games. He’ll track runners and waste time. Hall has looked inexperienced in most of his appearances.

Exactly. It it is fair to question if signing a 3rd choice left back was a wise allocation of a squad space

Not it didn’t. If you paid attention to Howe’s style, it would be obvious he would go with the strongest team.

Go to the Hall thread.

I questioned the Hall transfer at the time because he was unlikely to become first choice this season and we needed a first choice LB. But the same logic applies then as it applies now. It was a transfer for the future. There was always a chance he wouldn’t be ready this season but we expect him to eventually be a top player. Considering the demands of this season, it is right to question whether that was the right strategy. How things have turned out eg him not being ready… was always a big possibility and the club knew that.

That last season he did well to win 6 or so on the bounce. That run kept us in the division when he left in the early winter. That was a shit team. SMC who most thought was a better manager, managed to get that squad relegated with Mitrovic, Wijnaldum added to it.,

Detestable human being. Wasn’t even a particularly good player. Honestly stole a living as a player and seemingly a manager too. Was never worth the baggage. And now he’s linked with us forever.

Man U are joint 5th. How could they not be in the CL running? If they continue to beat the bottom 10 sides home and away they will be in the running. Thats 60 points to gain. If we don’t start beating bottom half teams away from home soon, we’ll not be in the running.

Less VAR not more VAR.

If we win, PSG need to win away at Dortmund. I like our chances. I can’t see us sacrificing Milan. If PSG are 3 up with 30 minutes to go, I can see us packing it in and subbing star players.

You get into Europe with a trophy. But deliberately prioritising Cup competitions in December when we are 7th is crazy. And won’t happen. The best chance of qualifying for the best European competitions is still the league. We are still competitive in the league. And that will be our priority. Deprioritising the league in December is silly I’m sorry. My hunch is Howe will keep playing the strongest team he can and hope players come back to ease the burden. If he does deprioritise a game, i expect it will be the league cup QF.

The difference is Burn has Howe’s trust. Hall doesn’t. When Howe trusts a player - he backs him. Tonali cost £60m but Howe dropped him out in the league in favour of someone he trusted. He didn’t start a league game after the allegations came out and he was likely to get a ban when he arguably should have to give the other lads a rest. Hall is 19, so Howe is in no rush to get him minutes.

He was poor in those other games. Which is why he’s not trusted. Which is why he’s not getting any minutes. Matt Targett was in the same boat.

Follows what I read at the time. It's just a FFP thing - we will sign him and are obligated too. FWIW I don't expect rotation against Spurs either. If he does - it will be a departure from Howe's style. Unless it's 2 "purples" (Isak/Wilson, Longstaff/Tonali) he's never rotated in a competitive PL game iirc.