The College Dropout

They’ve been done for a long time. Although Asensio has been a useful squad player in recent times. The Brazilian boys are it. I had my stocks in Vini when he was getting stick in his first full season. So glad to see him develop into a world class player.

This is a little misleading and it's not particularly impressive. (1) the last 6 or so prior to Liverpool, we've had relatively easy opponents all in the bottom half of the league and (2) we've only been winning for short periods of time in the last 7 - despite playing pretty well. So we've needed to press and create until the last minute. A team like Spurs has 1 of the best finishers the league has ever seen. And a manager that likes to keep it tight until half-time and shuts up shop once in the lead. They're not going to be Xg champions of the world. But barring injury to Kane, they are going to tick along much like they've been doing or get better. Chelsea are 3rd on the list. Similar to us, rarely in the lead in their games but "winning" a lot of their tight games in terms of Xg.

Never noticed Karius as a player. But I said for some time, Dubravka was deeply average. The difference between him and Pope is night and day. SO I'm scared for what the gap between Karius and Dubs is like.

They need an expansive manager. A foreign one like De Zerbi or even a Harry Redknapp type. There's talent in that team. Benitez will have them playing conservative, stodgy football/

I don't think we should sit back. But not conceding in the first 20 minutes of our first cup final in 20+ years is crucial. Concede once early, we could easily concede 2 because it's such a big game and heads could go. We go 2 down like we did against Liverpool and it's curtains. The likes of Fernandes, Rashford & Shaw will have played loads of minutes recently.

I don’t think we can win it in the opening 20 but we can definitely lose it in the opening 20.

Btw I watched some of the West Ham Spurs match. Man West Ham were bad. 2 points between them and Bournemouth

Yeh i agree with this. Wish we started against Liverpool in a similar setup.

Martinez is a dickhead and he’s obviously not an elite goalkeeper overall. When he was sold to Villa and replaced my Ramsdale I thought it was a shocking move. But over time Martinez has gone down in my estimation in terms of ability and Ramsdale up. They also have very different strengths and weaknesses but I have them levelish overall. But if Arsenal have a no dickheads policy it makes perfect. Ramsdale seems a top lad to have around.

I disagree about ASM. But I agree it's better we keep it tight early. I kinda hope Howe tries something new playnig Wilson, ASM, Almiron, Isak. But I reckon he goes tried and trusted, Joelinton/Joe left side.

Gordon was bad there in the previous match. He doesn't have the ability to get the ball between the lines and keep progressing up. He kept passing it back to midfield time and again. Isak's 20 minutes against Fulham in that position is the best we've seen this year. He loves taking the ball on the half-turn then linking up with a forward or a wide player. I've been watching Dwight Yorke highlights on Youtube. Isak reminds me of Yorke minus the aerial ability. Bags of ability, technique and skill. A baller before anything else. But also a great finisher. But not a number 9.

I'd like to see us in a 4-4-1-1 / 4-2-3-1. Wilson & Isak up top. Bruno & Joe / Longstaff in the middle.

I wish he put more public pressure on the board to make moves in January. Managers that don’t play those public games get left short in the transfer window. I think Klopp has been a victim of that. He ends up sounding crazy defending Liverpools transfer policy.

You needed hindsight to see that? I think even with Shelvey he would have needed to stay. Shelvey +1 and then he goes and gets regular game time. But FFP init.

3 from: Southampton Leeds Bournemouth Everton Wolves The first 3 are in biggest trouble. I don’t see any of those 3 getting more than a point per game. Wolves and Everton might brick it. Forest have the fans, manager and team pulling in the same direction. They’ll be fine. And some proper talent. At least 3 of those have less going for them.

I’d like to see Bruno Joelinton Almiron/Gordon Isak ASM Wilson At some point. Get our most talented players on the pitch.

They’ll not go down. Think they’ll finish 12-15 depending on the fitness of their CBs.

You’ve put words in my mouth then agreed with my actual points. I hope you understand that.

I don’t get it. I’m thought we all agreed this squad is over achieving? added stress of european football and some bad luck and this squad could easily be 13th next season We’ll need reinforcements in numbers imo to stay in the top 7/8 + compete properly in Europe and cups.

It’s not a criticism or due to limitations of Howe. He’s a much better manager than Pardew obviously. But the quality of player and manager in the league is also much higher now. It’s the limitations of the current squad without proper reinforcements for a European campaign. Our first choice back 4/5 haven’t missed a single game all season. All now we have injuries/suspensions to 3 starters and look threadbare. This will be a bigger issue with European football of any kind next season if we take it seriously. We aren’t beating teams due to quality. It’s intensity, teamwork, spirit and a solid defensive structure. A few injuries to that back line, fatigued legs, heads drop - these lot could struggle.

Btw unless we invest in some numbers in the summer. We may be on to a Pardew like 16th season next year.

I’d like to see these tactics with a proper squad. I think a fall off was always inevitable with our lack of options and quality. Too much of the team picks itself. I’d like to see what he would do with Burn if he had legitimate alternatives. At the start of this season I thought this squads ceiling is 7/8

We’ve scored, what? 2 goals in the last 5? Not a single good defence between them.

No they won’t. They still have the increased sponsorships, higher gate receipts, increased hospitality, more valuable players to sell, higher reputation and bigger budgets. It’s not a must. But breaking into the top 4 is extremely difficult. The difference between us and say Leicester when they were challenging - is that we should be able to keep our best players and still strengthen. But that would mean going up tight against FFP at some point. I get the logic of gambling from a stronger position of squad. As in the first time Leicester finished 5th or like when Arsenal finished 5th last season, going again to get 4th. This squad is genuinely not top 6 quality.

He’s a bit hamstrung by the lack of options. Im certain he would start Shelvey if he was here for example.