The College Dropout

Don’t look a well coached side.

Aye I thought we used our 3 slots.

Felt like a game for Big Will. He’s at the Lewis Hall school of development.

Are we meant to be a pressing side?

Trippier putting up the white flag. Thank god.

Trippier’s been beaten 3 or 4 times in this game.

He’s not that great at ball retention. He’s an athlete.

Oh that’s a pen. Love that for us.

Tonali doesn’t know what to do when he gets into the box. almost scored though.

Feels like you have to keep Barnes on for that bit of magic

Trippier’s been poor.

We don’t look a well coached team again.

Behind Eric Dier last season. It’s another stinker. ETH is not him. Can’t risk Man U firing him and replacing him with someone competent. Let him do well enough to stay in the job for the season. Buy him more shit too.

If he stays the whole season we finish above them. Keep him there.

We need ETH in a job. He’s awful.

My boy keeping ETH in a job. Love that.

Harry Maguire is better than De Ligt.

I hope so too. I was expecting a bit more than we’ve seen.

Walker should be done with England. Low-key he’s been below par for 6 months. Of course it was him playing AG on.

For a reported £100k-150k I would hope for someone a level up on Dan Burn. If he’s on squad player wages that’s fair enough. But I would still want to see more from him. I’m hoping he improves.

Our first choice LB is 20 yo and will need to be rotated. our first choice LCB has an ACL injury. As does our backup RCB. Our current backup LCB and LB is 32. For this season Kelly shares minutes with Hall at LB and is our backup LCB. Long term he’s the Dan Burn replacement as backup LCB and LB. We’ll aim to replace Schar with a more aerially dominant RCB which would make Kelly a better option at LCB too. He’s a perfectly capable prem player. He just doesn’t start for us with everyone fit. Nor would he start for any other top 8 team. We do need to raise the floor of the squads quality and he does that.

It’s in the data as a CB (same for Schar and Guehi) and in the eye test.

Thing is though - the physical bar for our midfielders is so high. Are we going to allow ourselves 2 CMs that aren’t super mobile? I think to myself - Barkley would’ve been a nice pickup. But we’ve not really looked at those types of transfers. And would he have a position for us?

I don’t want either at LB tbf. Happy for Kelly to share some minutes with Hall. And ideally neither play at CB too. But Burns ability to win headers is invaluable when we have a relatively small backline that’s weak in the air. You don’t need pace to press attackers. Neither Schar or Botman are quick themselves. Aggression, bravery, anticipation. Burns been poor at that at times this season but so has Schar. I can see Kelly’s use at CB if we need a goal due to his betttee distribution. But then again Burn is a bigger threat from set pieces. It’s early days for Kelly. He might prove himself a much better player than I’m giving him credit for. Maybe I read the game too basic but I like to see players with standout attributes. And the rumoured wages are scary.

Think in some niche instances he could work at CB. Like alongside Lascelles or an aerially dominant CB. Or a back 3. At LB he’s just competition for Hall but not a proper long term option imo. I prefer Burn at CB. I haven’t had to see Burn at LB for awhile. But I might prefer prime Burn at LB too from what I’ve seen so far.