The College Dropout

I agree but he has form for that. He left Livramento on the bench for 90 minutes when Wolves were killing our fullbacks for 20 minutes straight. Livramento barely got a kick in the league unless we were 2 or 3 up until the injuries piled up. I've seen Dan Burn have stinker after stinker with a fit Matt Targett on the bench and Howe refusing to sub Burn. Isak dead on his feet for 40 minutes against PSG - no substitution. It's not like he's using 4 or 5 subs a game and not picking Hall. He's rarely making subs and when he is - it's Matt Ritchie. It's not out of character for Howe so I'm not overly concerned.

If we have Targett and Burn back. Livramento is good enough to start at RB 30% of the time. Keep Trippier fresh. If we play 270 minutes in a week, Trippier should play a maximum of 200. Whetherr that's being subbed after an hour or not starting.

Agreed. This approach doesn't work away from home. It's not worked all season. We don't have the personnel for it, and we aren't set up tactically for it. Our best bet is what we did at PSG. We pressed them high and hard as long as we could. And then we tried to hold on. On another day we lose that game 3-1 but I still maintain that's the best path to victory. If we do that at Everton we could be 1 or 2 up and they have less quality to break us down.

Aye but that means you could be doing more away from home mentally to prepare. If you are not trained to do a marathon 3x a week. If you prepare the same way, run each race at 100% the first will be the fastest and the third will be the slowest. If all other things are equal. From a fatigue perspective, we should be worse at Spurs than we were at Everton. The best teams/athletes/professionals minimise the impact of external factors like the crowd. If we are able to play intensely for 70 minutes at home but can't do it away at all - it's not just fatigue that is causing it.

Was never going to happen and I think it was the right decision.

This is where Willock and Tonali come into play. But we do need someone who can really ball in Almiron's position. When we build attacks, we are just trying to find angles for Bruno and Trippier to make incisive passes. We need more players with that ability to find a pass and the quality to finish chances.

Regardless of mistakes. I don't think we deserved to win. If the game ended before the first goal, we would've been happier with the point than Everton on the balance of play.

Agreed. I think our approach/mentality was wrong and we've done that in all our away games in the PL Sheff U aside. And I think Dyche won the tactical battle. But those are things Howe can correct. So I'm optimistic. Howe can't improve the fatigue thing. There's nobody to rotate with. If that's the primary reason we are stuffed as you say. We could be wrong. And it is fatigue. But if it is fatigue, December is going to be horrible.

We can't rotate. Howe is going to start the same lads again if they are fit against Spurs. Hall isn't going to start. Ritchie isn't going to start. Krafth isn't going to start. He's going to do what he's been doing, picking the best team he can. We might get 1 or 2 back on the bench for Spurs but that's it. Aye.

Agreed. What we are both trying to say is that - yes fatigue was a factor yesterday - but it wasn't the only factor and not the deciding factor. If we are wrong and it is mainly a fatigue thing (both mental and physical) then we are in for a very painful month and we have to acknowledge that from now. I think that's what you're getting at right? Because I can agree on both points. I think @Smal view is fair. If it is fatigue primarily, we'll most likely lose every away game until we get more players back.

So it follows that we'll be below par against Spurs and Milan, then? Because it's cumulative, we are taking further tired legs and minds into the next 2 against tough opposition with even less rest.

So far... in a 433.. we've not seen Gordon and Barnes together have we? It's been one or the other.

Based on that.. if it's primarily physical and mental fatigue.. we are stuffed going forward, right? L to Spurs, L to Milan to come then?

I still maintain that it's not that strange for Howe. If we go 2 or 3 up, I'm sure he'll come on.

He's right: https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/newcastle-united-sign-lewis-hall/

It's not the primary aim of the season for those in charge. Howe's position is safe but he's got to appease his bosses. Prioritising the FA and League Cup will not make his bosses happy. You prioritise Cups when you've cocked the league up royally. We haven't done that.

Prioritising the cups when we're 7th and in touching distance of the top 4-6 is... crazy.

Aye. I'd rather he played full-throttle for 45 minutes... walk around a bit for 15 minutes and get subbed than do this pacing himself stuff. Even if that sub is Matt Ritchie.

Who else? When Targett plays, sometimes he takes them. Tonali was an option but he's out.

Think he looked a bit jaded. Wasn't composed when his chances came. And i think Dyche dealt with the left wing very well. He's a bit of a SJP bully. Sheff U aside he's not scored or assisted away from home iirc. The narrative might be that the occasion got to him but that performance wasn't much different to his other away performances. This one he even had a few decent openings.

De Gea is similarly rooted to his line. He isn't great with his feet. Is his shot stopping so good that it mitigates the above? I'm still willing to give Dubs December and go from there. He wasn't as good as Pope... but he's not as good as Pope. I don't think we'll sign anyone as good as Pope.

I don't think we were at the races. We didn't play well at all really. Everton are just an average team. I think the game looked like a mistake might lose it and that came to pass. I'd like us to try and play hard from the off, rather than try and manage our legs. Let's try and get in the lead and hold on like we did against PSG. We never played with any zip or urgency. Too many touches at the back and that ultimately cost us when the mistakes came in.

We've not put in a good away performance all season bar Sheff U. The press has largely been off in away games. Either we don't try it, or it doesn't work at all. Regardless of results, we need better performances and an improvement to our approach away from home. Losing Pope is a massive one.

It was reported everywhere as an obligation to buy.

When we get our leftbacks back. Trippier shouldn’t play 3 games a week. He needs to start sharing minutes with Livra at some point.