Cronky

In the short term, maybe, but I think Anderson is in a difficult position. Longy and (hopefully) Tonali are ahead of him at this time for the third midfield spot, and Miley looks better than all three in terms of all-round talent. It's just a question of time. I'd say he's our best young player since Gazza. There will come a time when Anderson will need to leave if he doesn't get enough games. He'll need to show that he's got something that the others lack.

Willock first - looks weak on the defensive side. Anderson second, and with regret. With the emergence of Miley, I don't think Anderson is going to get enough games. Good question though.

I agree with 99% of that but as far as I’m concerned, Eddie is already part of the elite. What he has done over the last two years is incredible.

Looking at Eddie's spells at Bournemouth and here, you really couldn't ask any more of him, in terms of what he's managed to get out of the players available to him. From that point of view, his record stands comparison with anyone's, at any time. On this debate, the last word has yet to be spoken.

Conventional wisdom is that you can't have two number 1's competing with one another. Otherwise whoever holds the shirt is going to be jittery that one mistake is going to cost them their place. Goalkeeper is the position where confidence is the most essential. Schmeichel was very clear about this at the start of the season re the Arsenal situation, and it looks like he was right.

I can't recall ever seeing Gillespie in action, but Karius would not be an upgrade. Sorry, but 'too hasty' is the trap I think you're falling into here.

Eddie would have wanted to rotate, but the bench that we've had for the previous 4 games didn't give him any options. That's quite a rarity in the Premiership, but that is what's happened. With Longy and Wilson returning that changed a bit, but they're back from injury and starting them would have carried risk. Let's not forget as well - Spurs are a very good side.

Spurs are much better than us in working the ball through to dangerous areas, and look very strong in winning the 50-50 balls. I'm just hoping it doesn't become a hammering. The minute Son had Trippier on a 1 v 1, I knew he'd get past. They've got some good players.

Joey is trying to ride two horses at once - the fierce rebel and the mainstream career media personality. It won't work. He'll end up confusing himself as much as everyone else.

He'll be disappointed that he's not been given the nod with Burn being out, and the right-footed Livramento being given the nod. Both are young and inexperienced and can be caught slightly out of position. That's all it takes at this level, but Tino has the athleticism and quick feet to recover, I think. Trippier is too important to the side as a whole, so we're not going to see Tino and Hall together. Eddie does take his time to bring new players in - even Bruno had to wait a few games, so that's another factor. Full back isn't the position where a manger is under most pressure to rotate and rest players. Eddie really needs strikers and midfield players to be available to ease the current situation. I've seen enough of Hall to believe in his talent, but perhaps his attacking ability will always be a bigger asset than his defending. It'll be easier to play someone like that when we have a better squad as a whole.

I'd say we have only one quality player, and Isak sometimes looks better as a withdrawn or wide forward.

Looks good on Youtube IMO. Might be a good upgrade on Miggy.

It looks to me like he deliberately went out of his way to get himself sacked, with slating off one of his players and then insulting another manager. His morale had probably taken a dip, and he decided to make himself a victim, while telling himself that the game wasn't worth bothering with anyway. He never seems to take proper responsibility for his decisions.

I don’t want to sound woke but isn’t this idea that female pundits are out of their depth in the men’s game complete nonsense? Lads, if you’ve got some extra level of expertise please don’t keep hiding it away. We’d all love to hear it. The pros get very touchy when they feel they are being lectured or questioned by an amateur like a journo or a fan. Especially if the amateur happens to be in the right. I think the same defensiveness is happening here with women.

Quiz question - the answer surprised me. Who is the only Englishman to have won the European Golden Boot - season's top scorer in all the European leagues?

That would always be the dream. Heavily linked with money-no-object Chelsea though.

Overall, we've been incredibly lucky with Bruno's fitness. Despite his workload and his number of appearances, he's kept himself available. It's no coincidence that our worst performance (Bournemouth) came when he was out of the side. Dare I say, his form seems to have improved in Tonali's absence. With Miley's emergence, it may be difficult to fit Sandro in.

Yeah, the fitness of Isak and Wilson is dodgy and we need a third option. It might be Minteh, and I think he'll probably return to us in January.

I'm hoping that these rumours of replacements are just agents sniffing out a possible chance for their clients. I'm quite happy for Dubs to be given a solid chance to prove himself. I think he has the character to do it. Karius as the number two bothers me more. but we may just have to lump it until the end of the season.

The Man U situation looks very stuck. Ten Haag's position looks shaky, but they may find it difficult to find a replacement of any repute, who is willing to step in to the turmoil. Rashford looks like a problem, but I don't think there are going to be many clubs eager to spend the money to take him off their hands. He'll probably be reluctant to go anyway. And in the background, you have this weird and probably unworkable plan for a minority shareholder to be part-running the football side. Disunity everywhere. Ultimately, I think the manager needs to be made more powerful, not less. It needs a dressing-room clear-out, and because they're a bit stymied by FFP, they may need to rely on bringing through the younger players. I think they do have some talent there, but it'll mean a step back to eventually move forward, as happened with Fergie. Only a few months ago, Ten Haag was the genius who had landed them their first trophy, got them to another final, and achieved third place. Now he's supposedly a robotic berk who's lost the dressing room. They have to either back him fully, or make sure his replacement is a long-term one, no matter what. Not that I feel sorry for them, of course. It's just fascinating. Someone's going to write the inside story of this one day, and it will sell.

Not sticking with the designated penalty taker always looks unprofessional, but the reason that Fernandes gave - ie to boost Rashford's confidence - looked very misguided. He's one of the highest paid players at the club, an experienced international and Premiership player, and he's not pulling his weight. What do the other players think when he's given the pen? I think the problem with Rashford is his ego, not his confidence. He seems to think that doing the dirty jobs, or filling in for the team at not his ideal role, is beneath his dignity. Maybe a team can accommodate that sort of attitude if it's one of the best players in the world, but Rashford is not. I think it's a big problem, because Garnacho is emerging now and deserves a place, but the heavy investment is with Rashford, and it won't be easy to get rid of him.

For sure Fernandes is a very good player and in the unlikely event of us being able to sign him I'd be very pleased. But I think the reason he's the captain is there's no other possible candidate who can command a regular place in the side. He moans too much to team-mates and referees, and a captain needs to be a positive influence that keeps his focus. I also thought that it was the wrong decision to let Rashford take the pen against Everton. That was a reward that needs to be earned. Maguire was the one who showed leadership qualities on Saturday, but the club were trying very hard to get rid of him only recently.

It intrigues me that he never seems to get linked with any other jobs, apart from England. I think he functions best as a rescuer - of individual careers and clubs. At least that's his record. He might not fare so well at a LIverpool or Man Utd, where he'd have less control and would have to manage bigger names and bigger egos. Brian Clough, another rescuer, failed spectacularly when he joined Leeds. My older brother, who only has a passing interest in football, keeps telling me that we're just a stepping stone for him, but that's only based on the usual trajectory of a successful manager. My feeling is that there are horses for courses, and he's in the right place with us.

He's fine when he's played out on the left against an inferior team, where he has time and space to run at the opposition and he doesn't have to defend much. Give him any other role for the sake of the team, or close him down early, and he won't even try. If he's not going to be the team star, he doesn't want to know.

I wondered whether he just didn't see Grealish, who was surrounded by three defenders.