The College Dropout

He played 83 minutes on Tuesday. Wilson looked tired the last 10-15. I think a little part was Howe showing him that he needs to work harder. But I do think he starts the next game.

One of the first names on the sheet. Happy for him. One thing I like about him is that he's a bit "inevitable". I don't think he's yet put himself together as a player. But he's got so many positive attributes as a player that I know in any given hour of football, he'll do something very positive. Which I don't get from most of our other wingers.

Agreed. The fact he left Wilson on for 90 minutes makes me think he won't start but he deserves too. Miggy definitely in.

I'm glad he started both Barnes & Gordon. I didn't like how wide both often were, but I think that was tactical to pen in the Brentford fullbacks, which contributed to Brentford not really having a kick. I think that's the way forward for us.

But then we should have the personnel for a slower style of play. Or setup tactically for a more patient game. But we don't.

I agree that he should be doing more in those types of games. I think him not getting even 10 minutes despite Wilson looking tired was Howe saying, "this is how you need to hustle to play in our team". But I also think our striker is too isolated. Wilson got more change than Isak did.. but he was still isolated and in essence.. just battling for 90 minutes and trying to find scraps. Isak is less of a battler and less of a scavenger, which he needs to improve. But our strikers aren't in a system where they can easily link up with others, pass and move. It's a little bit like Moyes and West Ham. Michail Antonio said himself that the system requires a battler, someone to scrap and feed off scraps. And he can do that better than the Italian lad. But he also said the Italian lad was a great footballer and in another system, would really shine. It's a little bit like that this season. That's my little paradox with Howe. While we are stunted by FFP we have to find other ways than pure quality to be better than the "top 6" and being the hardest running, biggest fighting team in the PL is one method that could work. But I also think to belong at the highest level, you need real quality. And especially going forward, we don't have that real quality in numbers. We don't have any number 10's. Everyone agreed Barnes is a better fit than Maddison but Maddison is the better player with more quality. And atm we are overly tilted to hard work and efficiency. We need our Antoine Griezmann - a workhorse but with real top quality. And obviously to develop Isak into an elite player that I think he can become - that is a little harder working and savvy.

Jurgen Klopp doesn't rotate that much. Allison, TAA, VVD, Robertson, Salah, Mane, Henderson - in their prime, they were clocking up over 4,000 minutes a season. That's 40+ 90-minute games a season. From what I've seen from Ten Hag - he runs his players into the ground. We have a few positions where the starting role is close between a few players, and I expect rotation there. ST, CM 2x, RW. But like fullback, Trippier gets at least 120 minutes across the next 2. I reckon he starts both and gets a minimum of an hour each. Or starts one and comes off the bench for another. It is a similar thing for Burn. But I do expect Livra and Hall to start to get decent minutes. And I hope they play really well and make it tough for Howe. But the reality is Howe will feel we need 7 points from the next 3 league games no matter how we do in the CL. And we need to do our best in the CL. A manager like Benitez genuinely liked to rotate. You can play well and win. Next game he's made 3 changes. Howe isn't like that. Dan Burn 90 minutes week in week out, winning streak, losing streak

I think he plays the strongest team possible again unless players have niggles and the like. With 5 subs you can plan to give certain players an hour each game. Isak, Almiron and Tonali are ‘starters’ so they will get at least one start coming up. But the rest? Hall and Livra will do well to get an hour over both games. Nothing I’ve seen from Howe suggests he’s into heavy rotation.

Longstaff almost plays for Bruno. Covers him. Looks for him to pass too. And Bruno just plays his own game. Tonali and Bruno will need to play for each other. Bruno has always been the main man for us so that might be a challenge for him.

He had a good game. The petulant fouling is something he’s always done and will likely keep doing. It’s the kind of thing people ignored or made excuses for when he was the golden boy. I think some are turning on him and using it as a stick to beat him with. Whole time he’s the same player doing the same thing. He was the best midfielder on the park by a distance. One thing I noticed is Longstaff lets Bruno lead him. And he fills in. Tonali plays his own game and doesn’t work well with Bruno yet.

https://x.com/officialbhafc/status/1703427133048066133?s=46&t=XBqcNDJ8Au1NwcsCT_X7Yg

For all the credit I had given Brentford prior to yesterday. From open play that seemed their approach. Loads of big lads. Loads of quick lads. Nick something on the counter.

Aye. But I thought neither were fouls. Soft as shit.

Well another £100m of academy boys.

I’m one of the few people on here that says ‘fair’ if someone else has a reasoned argument that counters my own.

There’s no changing my opinion. Gordon is looking for a penalty. He engineers the contact. Gk falls for it. Ref falls for it. if it happened against us I’d be fuming. I’d also be disappointed that the GK have the ref a decision.

The fact there’s a debate suggests it was soft at best.

Gordon has no intention of getting the ball. He’s trying to get a pen. Even Shearer admitted it was super soft. I’ll take it. But that’s one that’s gone in our favour.

He didn’t play against a winger today btw. Do people realise that? His job was to defend set pieces which he did well and provide cover for the CBs on the counter which he also did well. But he didn’t have much to do defensively in open play. And he didn’t offer much going forward. Distribution was solid. Outstanding? Then what was Bruno?

Aye. Our front 6 lacks finesse. Trippier is deeper than you would like and then there’s Burn. Get Isak in there instead of Anderson then you’ve got some finesse.

Rewatched the game. Didn’t put together a single quality move. Wingers did well to get into good crossing positions and had some good deliveries. Cross and inshallah. That’s how the goal and penalties came about. Not much in the way of incisive play. Brentford were awful and offered little beyond pace and strength on the counter. And set piece threat of course. When I watch matches I think to myself ‘how does the manager plan on scoring goals?’ We pinned their wingbacks back well. But beyond that… hit some crosses.. I almost wanted it to remain 0-0 so Howe had to switch it up.

Didn’t have much to do defensively but he was sharp. His distribution from deep is great.

Skipped past players. Consistently passed it forward through the lines. Effective defensively. The Brentford midfield wasn’t much cop. But Bruno controlled that midfield.

I don’t think it does create gaps. Hall can build up in the 3 but actually be able to use good distribution to find targets forward. Botman is composed and can hit a nice switch. But his passing is sideways in the main. Burns passing is limited and he’s easily ruffled. Hall can sit deep. Hit switches. Or play progressive passes. Burns best asset imo is his defensive presence from set pieces.

He understands the position so well. He knows when to sit in and let a Bruno go forward. He makes those runs to support the striker well. When he actually gets the ball…