The College Dropout

The decision to not sign a midfielder and sell Shelvey was not a footballing one. Business, long term strategy etc. it may work out in future. In 22/23 it has and will cost us points. EH was not happy about it either. Because it weakens the squad he has to manage. Yes board have done well so far. As have the team. Ok they are nice Tories. Does that make you feel better?

And that was extremely fortunate. Again everyone knew, we were unlikely to be so fortunate for the whole season which is why we needed that additional body.

Need a rest. Need to try and attack more through the left. Having Bruno back and fresh will be huge. Due to our thin squad - injuries will play a big role.

IMHO we are reverting to mean. The issues in our side are systemic. We lack ability on the ball. We lack quality in attack. All of our attack comes from the right hand side. We have little quality in depth. These are things anyone following our side could’ve predicted. Im not trying to look at it negatively. I’m not trying to look at it positively. It’s my analysis of our squad and team

Made probably the only quality pass of the game. Looks isolated a lot. But was also piss poor on the ball. Hope he’s ok.

Yes I agree our squad has no right to be pushing for top 4. We’ve done fantastic to be in this position And I don’t think we will finish there. Our Xg is midtable over the last 6 games or so. We’ve not scored more than 1 goal in the league in 2023. We’ve drawn something like 5 of the last 7 or 8.

Seemed fresh and full of running. One of few who look capable of pressing in our usual manner. Doesn’t seem to have a lot of quality.

A defensive fullback should be ok going 1v1 with a winger.

Offensive and defensive. Need someone else to take an attacking set piece sometimes man.

If we were serious about sustaining a top 4 push we would’ve done more in the January window. It’s perfectly logical that they see top 4 as a bonus this season and going for it was not their intention and they would be content with us slipping to 7-8 like we may have targeted at the start of the season. But I think January was a missed opportunity and likely a mistake. That is also a logical conclusion.

Plays like an attacker used to someone else doing the dirty attacking work. Or someone used to playing with a partner. I would like to see him play with Wilson.

aye. At times he needs to play the Rafa and Conte games. Not everyday company man. I say this because I don’t think he was happy with our business. If it was up to him we would replace or keep Wood and Shelvey.

We should only play with 2 of them without Bruno.

Overall I’ve felt our good form over the last 12 months has been down to momentum and positive atmosphere at the club. And we’ve added quality at key moments to keep that up - Trippier, Bruno, Botman, Isak. But we still lacked quality in midfield and attack. And sooner or later when the intensity waned and the momentum slowed, we would breed another bolt of quality to sustain us another 6 months. A Bruno level midfielder or attacker. We didn’t get that. And the weaknesses in our squad are being exposed.

Chasing a game. Could do with a left back that supports the winger in attack.

Ah but the club knows better than us.

Didn’t know he’s crocked again. Id go Isak playing of Woo… oh wait!

Goal conceded from a corner near post flick on, far post tap in for the second consecutive game. we should go 4231. Get Wilson on and one of those midfielders out.

A fit Shelvey starts this game and improved the side imo.

None of our midfielders can put their foot on the ball.

They'll no doubt ensure they'll count their 13/14 CL's towards this. They'll have no legal route but they will ensure it somehow.

Good watch that.

Really bringing home this tragedy.

Worst case scenario should be a points deduction that drops them out he CL and a transfer ban.

I won't be too far from Wembley on the day. I'm considering trying to get a ticket off a dodgy bloke a few hours before the game. It's a stupid plan but could it work?