Cronky

I think Everton will go down now. Really bad decision.

I think he's the most valuable player in the world right now. With lone striker systems as standard practice, ones who don't have a significant weakness are like gold dust. Add to that his incredible skill on the ball, you really have someone unique. How he managed to dig that shot out to make the second goal, I don't know.

Don't write Hojland off. He's still only 21, and I've seen some signs of improvement recently. It's not an easy situation at Man U right now, but he's showing some resilience. There are rumours that they want to bring Gyorkores in, which would be a repeat of the same kind of mistake that they've been making for years - bringing in players who actually aren't much better than the ones they've already got. Otherwise I agree with your post. There's no shortage of ability among their players individually.

Eddie Howe has spoken of the particular isolation of the Professional Football Manager. Despite the importance of the position and the responsibility that goes with it, there's no-one above you in the organisation to turn to for advice or supervision. But if there were such a person at Tottenham, I think they would be saying this - 1. When answering questions from the media, don't stare down at the floor and mumble. I don't know what impression you're trying to give, but it looks a bit rude. 2. You seem to be treating any journo who asks you a tough question as though they're an arsehole who doesn't know about football, and that their question is a bit stupid and beneath your attention. You're paid a lot of money and part of that is promoting a good image of yourself and the club. 3. If you feel that a referee's decision is wrong and that you can't keep silent, say that in your opinion they have made a mistake. Don't say that they are corrupt or biased. Framing that accusation in a vague way does not help either. It makes you look a bit sneaky and I think you pride yourself on being a straightforward person. 4. I won't presume to talk about your footballing decisions, but be aware that flaws in your public presentation can have an affect on the morale of your players, coaching staff and supporters.

I just can't believe the barrage of negative messages that this guy has been sending out ever since his arrival. It can't be helping his team. Perhaps it's him who is 'too anxious, too afraid'?

I'm not looking forward to this one. Eddie hasn't been able to rotate, we look tired and have players missing. The strength in depth of our squad is nowhere near the level of the likes of Arsenal. It could be all over in the first leg. Eddie has defied conventional thinking so many times in the last three years, but this may be beyond him.

He is, and this is the guy who last season was climbing on the high horse of traditional sportsmanship and asking, 'Whatever happened to the referee's decision being final?' Don't talk the talk, mate, if you can't walk the walk.

Yeah, even if we'd scored, the goal wouldn't have been given. We'd had our cards marked. It looks like we've wisely given up on that strategy anyway.

Excellent performance. It's just a shame we're not further ahead. it's the best I've seen Livramento play.

I wasn't expecting to see Botman starting. It doesn't show much faith in Kelly. However, I'm sure Eddie will have weighed it all carefully. Kiss of death time - Spurs have a good attack but a weak defence so I'm expecting a high-scoring game, with us coming out on top.

Agreed, it was a good watch. The most striking comment he made came at the end - Ineos don't know what they're doing. The whole set-up at the club strikes me as dysfunctional. The majority owners wanted investment from Ineos, but didn't want to lose control of the club because it's a money-spinner for them. Ratcliffe came to a compromise whereby he'd take a minority stake but supposedly have control over the football side. I think that puts Ratcliffe in a vulnerable position, because he'll have responsibility without ultimate power, but he decided to go along with it because of the attraction, as a fan, of being able to play Football Manager in real life. We had a similar problem with Freddie Shepherd as a fan in the Chairman's seat - the temptation to make decisions based on emotions rather than sound, professional sense. A lot now hinges on whether Ashworth the professional or Ratcliffe the amateur turn out to be right about Amorim. Right from the start, Amorim struck me as a flavour of the month signing and the early signs are that he's struggling to cope. My money is on Ashworth.

Which forum is that?

This issue is fully worthy of its own thread. The club is huge and it's messing everything up in quite a unique way. It's fascinating.

They didn't win the top division between 1990 and 2020, which come to think of it, is a 30 year gap. They had won it 10 times in the 15 years before 1990. That's the slipping down that I was referring to.

Diallo would be good for one of our problem positions, but I don't think they'd let him go. It looks like we need another CB, and I'd consider De Ligt or Yoro, depending on the price. Of the ones who they are likely to let go, I rate Garnacho, but we don't need a left-sided winger.

That's interesting, because last night Gary Neville was saying that none of the Man U players would get into our eleven. I think that's nonsense. Without getting into all the debates about individuals, all of those players could come under consideration. Our only untouchables are Isak and Bruno. What we saw last night, and particularly in the first 20 minutes, was a team against 11 individuals.

When a club slips down after a long period of success, it's difficult to recover. I saw that with Man U after Busby's departure, and with Liverpool during the 20 or so years before Klopp. There's a huge pressure to be successful again, and patience is in short supply. It's almost like the club tries too hard. Man U post-Fergie are going through the same thing. Rumour has it that Amorim was looked at by other Premiership clubs, who then decided against, for whatever reason, and of course Ashworth was a doubter. It feels like Ratcliffe decided that this guy was a genius who could do something exceptional. The whole decision has impatience at its root, and they're paying the price.

I can't see that 3-4-3 is some magic formula that will in itself give a team an advantage. Managers in the Premiership are experienced and will know about the pluses and minuses of each system. Amorim isn't going to surprise anyone, and if he does survive long enough to get the players he needs to make it work, will it really be worth waiting for? Players need to have faith in what their manager is trying to get them to do, and at the moment it's not there. It's difficult enough for a manager to impose a new system on a team, but when he doesn't have the players to make it function, it just looks like a waste of time.

I think our players tired in the second half, and in the final section of the first. Eddie has played practically the same team for the last few matches, and they looked like they needed a rest. Otherwise it would have been a massacre. Man U were so bad in the first twenty minutes that it was weird. We just cut right through them.

I ought to be a lot more happy, i know, but we stopped attacking the second half. It's worked out all right, but if they'd got a goal back it would have got tasty. Their manager threw it away in the first half with a poor selection. We could have been 4-0 up.

I think we need to stay positive in possession and keep making runs forward. We started to look a bit laid back. If they get one goal, they'll get the crowd right behind them.

Emery just doesn't see why he should be losing to this ordinary English manager and his bog-standard players.

On his presentation, I watched 12 minutes of a press conference and virtually all the time he was literally wringing his hands. I've also seen him seated on the sidelines, head down in a picture of misery, staring at the ground. It's not just the media distorting things. And while there may well be lots of positive messages, it's not what you say, it's the way that you say it. I can't see that it's so necessary to implement his system right away. He can surely just use the existing system, and give himself time to get to know the players and strike up good relationships with them. His current state of urgency just looks like insecurity and an anxious need to stick with what is familiar ground to him. Eddie Howe has spoken of the peculiar isolation which attaches to the position of Head Coach / Manager. The responsibility is huge, but the people above you have often never been in your position at all, and can only offer limited advice and support. I think Amorim is really feeling that at the moment.

I think he just likes to throw his weight around.

It's not just the manager though, it's the situation in which he finds himself. Whether it's all salvagable I doubt, but if so, I think three things need to happen. 1) His body language and his public statements need to be a lot more positive, whatever he's feeling inside. Stuff like 'one of the worst situations in the club's history' will not help to inspire the players. Or himself for that matter. 2) I think his project of bringing in a new system has to be parked until the summer, when he'll have more opportunity to change the squad around. If his current time is as restricted as he says, it makes no sense to institute major changes. Harry Maguire has talked about concentrating on the basics, and that sounds sensible to me. At the moment, it looks like a classic case of a new manager trying to change too much too soon. 3) He needs to get rid of Rashford. That won't be easy, because no club in their right mind is going to shell out a £50m transfer fee and 300 grand a week in wages. He will need the support of those above him, who won't like taking the hit. There also seem to be journos out there who are happy to keep this pot boiling by taking Rashford's side. However, you have a senior player who is not pulling his weight and who has reacted to being dropped by saying he wants to move. It's a team game and he has to go. Good luck (after Monday).