Cronky

This is providing much entertainment, but sadly all these incidents have long disappeared from my mind. Erm... apart from Pele v Uruguay in 1970. I watched the Isak chip against Spurs again and it is well worthy of inclusion in this company. He won the ball from a defender, made himself only a little bit of space and time, and then produced an attempt from a very unpromising angle and with the ball not really in the right position for a right footer. It seemed to be a cross between a chip and a toe-poke. His ability to improvise is brilliant.

Is it just may imagination or has he bulked up a bit? Sorry if this has already been mentioned.

That was an interesting article. Thank you for posting. It goes some way to explaining how we only conceded one goal, despite a makeshift back four. Joelinton's physical fitness, for a big man, is phenomenal. I can remember a couple of years ago, it emerged how hard he was working on this aspect of his game, privately as well as at the club. He was determined not to be the failure that we all that was his fate at one stage.

I actually thought they were quite fair, really. They pointed out that whilst their high press and all-out attack allowed them to dominate for long periods, the flip side was that when their press failed, their back four (which ended up as a back two really) was very exposed on the half-way line. Postecoglou seems determined to stick with this method, and no doubt his persistence has paid off in the past. But he's up against a different level of opposition and he probably needs to adjust if he's going to achieve his club's potential.

Roy Keane is not my favourite pundit, but he made a good point when he said that if you have pace in attack, you've always got a chance. So it proved.

Eddie has made it explicit that he only wants players in who will improve the squad. That sounds obvious but amidst the general pressure to achieve and progress, it's an important issue to keep hold of. Man U have spent the decade since Fergie left in bringing in players who aren't any better than the ones they already have. They also did that in the 20 or so seasons between Busby and Fergie, with the same results. Likewise Liverpool between Dalglish and Klopp. In the summer before Fergie won the league, he brought in hardly anyone. He had the nerve to give his players the message that they were good enough, despite narrowly missing out on the title to Leeds the season before. Later on, he was prepared to take a step backwards in order to allow his younger players the experience they needed, and the team benefitted greatly in the long-term. Years before, when Clough's Forest were remarkably chasing the title in the season after they had been promoted, he was tempted to bring in a player before the close of the transfer deadline (as it then was). It was tempting to respond to an impulse to 'make sure', but he decided against it because that would be a failure of nerve and would give his existing players the wrong message. It looks like Eddie put his foot down a bit in resisting the desire of others to bring in new faces of less than ideal quality at more affordable prices. I don't think that was just a matter of saving money for the bigger buys. I think he was also wanting to maintain the morale of the existing squad, and give them the message that they would only be replaced by others of significant talent. It's a delicate balance which that very naive Mag article doesn't deal with. On the Mitchell / Howe relationship, there probably have been differences of opinion. If both men are good at their jobs, that's bound to happen. Providing they are able to reach some form of resolution, that's okay. Final thought re Mitchell and Eales and the concept of a DOF. Given the turnover in Head Coaches at any club, it does make sense to make sure that there's some continuity in player recruitment, and that things don't have to start all over again when a new guy comes in. However, Eddie is very much a man with a long-term approach who likes to grow a strong identity with a club. He tries to create a solid atmosphere of mutual support. He's not one to have his head turned the minute a bigger club comes in. We've seen that commitment with Bournemouth. He may well be an old-style manager like a Fergie or a Busby. That's who we've got and he's done very well so far. His is the route that we're on.

It's disappointing, but let's cut our regime a bit of slack. We're in a delicate position with PSR, and it looks like Eddie's judgement was that the players who were available wouldn't represent a significant upgrade. Declining to spend can be seen as holding our nerve. It also seems that we wanted to free up funds by selling Miggy, but he didn't want to go. Many of the comments I see here and elsewhere remind me of Wenger's remarks about the 'supermarket trolley' view of transfers. Players don't come with a set or stable price and there's a lot of negotiation and maneuvering involved. We're not popular and it's inevitable that the media are going to pile in on this. Let's resist the temptation to join in. It's a long game we're playing.

My hero

Looking at the BBC viewer player ratings after Bournemouth, Longstaff got 1.66. The rest ranged from Barnes (6.67) to Joelinton (4.99). A similar thing seems to happen every week. Now come on, he's not that much worse than his team-mates.

Hopefully Tonali will step up, but I'm not convinced that Willock offers a better package. Yes, he's better going forward, but defensively he's very weak. I think that Longstaff has become the new Shola Ameobi. All the attention seems to go on his limitations and none on his strengths.

On the brighter side, it's quite something that we've had Burn and Krafth at CB for 150 minutes and only conceded one goal.

After 60 minutes, I'd have definitely settled for a draw. Hall's arrival seemed to transform the team. I was surprised that the Bournemouth goal was ruled out. It didn't look to me like a 'clear and obvious' error on the part of the ref. Similarly, I thought VAR was going to call the ref to the monitor to check Joelinton's foul on the keeper. It should have been a red.

Joelinton and Longstaff look vulnerable on the ball. Murphy does some good work, but he's wasted a couple of good situations. The limitations of our midfield are being exposed, but we're hanging on in there. As long as Isak is around, there's always hope.

Got to agree. I've seen most of Villa's first two games, and Morgan Rogers was outstanding both times. Young, strong, technically adept and very difficult to stop. He's definitely one to watch.

Modern commentators. Their primary function was, and still should be, to tell you which player has the ball. The modern commentator feels that player recognition is far too mundane a job, and instead wants to dazzle you with a series of stats and details from past matches which are distracting and largely irrelevant. Stop it guys.

Let’s bear in mind that we played for over an hour with Krafth and Burn at centre back and two relative novices at full back, but the opposition still couldn’t score against 10 men. Ever since Eddie arrived, I’ve been mystified as to why we don’t concede more goals. It’s got to be something he’s doing. In general, our squad isn’t nearly as good as our results have suggested. We are still some way from being able to dominate games in the way that the best teams can do. But we are good at maximising what we have. Four of the starting eleven were here when we were in the drop zone and looking set to go down with about 20 points.

This could be fun. Bit of a bonkers selection by Ten Haag. Surprised to see Garnacho not starting.

I beg to differ. His athleticism covered up his poor touch a lot of the time. At 27, no medals, no caps, and on loan from a Saudi club to a Turkish club. That's happened for a reason.

Sanusi has a great change of pace and direction, and unlike St Maximim, quite a decent touch on the ball, it looks. All the raw ingredients are there. Very promising indeed.

Given current prices, I think it'll take a bid of £60m or thereabouts. He's young, highly rated, and with Premiership experience.

McFaul Nattrass Moncur Woodgate Kennedy Bruno Green Gascoigne Beardsley Shearer Bellamy Manager - Eddie Had to dig into the memory banks for the defence, and pass over many good attackers. Diamond formation in midfield, which probably wouldn't have worked. Would have liked room for Isak, McDermott, and Lee.

Winners: Man City Runners Up: Arsenal 3rd-6th: LIverpool, Newcastle, Chelsea, Villa Relegation: Southampton, Leicester, Notts Forest Overachievers: Newcastle Underperformers: Man Utd Top Goal Scorer: Haaland Break Out Year: Conor Bradley Season to Forget: Darwin Nunez PFA Player of the Year: Alexander Isak PFA Young Player of the Year: Conor Bradley Manager of the Year: Pep First manager to quit/be sacked: Espirito Santo Newcastle United Where will we finish?: 4th (I'm assuming we strengthen at RW and CB. Top Goalscorer: Isak Top Assister: Gordon Season to forget: Harvey Barnes Will Howe be manager at the end of the season?: Yes please.

Bruce Halliday, centre back in a 0-6 defeat at Chelsea in a Second Division match, 1980. It was his debut and he looked incredibly nervous, so maybe one should make an allowance. Losing a Second Division game 6-0 was truly a low point. Playing in only his second game that day at centre forward was one Christopher Waddle. My only memory of him is of a folorn figure struggling to get anywhere near the ball. The early 80s was the worst of times.

This is a worry. People are citing players from the last 10 years that I've forgotten, but I can remember everyone from the 70s and 80's. One day, this will happen to you guys too.

Sorry, but genuinely surprised at this. I thought he was terrible. Thinking about it, 95% of our games that I saw in that era were away from home. Maybe he was different at St James's.