Cronky

Didn't think it was clear and obvious.

Eddie has this team playing at the very limits of its technical ability, and at times - like when Miggy gets the ball - that shows. All to Eddie's credit that he's managed to squeeze so much out of the talent at his disposal though. We should still win, but our lack of pace at the back is being exploited.

Incidentally, McKennie's throw-ins are not legit. Two hands are on the ball but he's only using one arm.

I didn't think Trippier did enough to stop the cross.

Not a lot to choose between Almiron and Murphy. Maybe Miggy has looked the more hungry in training this week. He'll feel he has something to prove.

To be honest, I'm not so much worried about losing as worried about the reaction to us losing. We're playing away to a team with a new manager, fighting for their lives, so even though we should still win 4 times out of 5, you never know what can happen in football. But the aftermath of a defeat is going to be lots of talk about how we're faltering at the final hurdle, and Liverpool finally showing their class etc etc. Not so much on here, as in the wider media. This game is actually not a 'must win'. It's an opportunity, and other opportunities will come.

Dan Burn has been great for the team, but I think it's significant that we're getting linked with so many left backs. It's our priority position. He looks very clumsy going forward now, and vulnerable in defence. Gordon does look a bit short of confidence, and perhaps is trying too hard as a result. He's still very young, and he's having to get used to a new team and environment. Let's wait and see.

Gordon hasn't produced the kind of performance I was expecting, but as others have pointed out, he doesn't get the kind of support from Burn that Murphy / Miggy gets from Trippier. We'll see what happens when that's sorted.

Too good a player to miss out on, but Leicester will try to start a bidding war, so unless we're his first preference, I think he'll go elsewhere. Looked a very unhappy bunny after the Fulham game, talking about a lack of commitment from the team. However, it doesn't feel like, long-term, he's committed to the club himself, which may create a certain issue in the dressing room, whatever his performances on the pitch.

Nothing to complain about there. He looks great. We've been linked with lots of left backs, but he's the one who has impressed me the most. Looks very two-footed. Packs a good shot with his right foot.

Indeed, and I shall cherish that thought. One bad result for Liverpool changes things completely.

It's been such a long time since the club has tasted any success, and so the hunger and the pressure can be all the greater amongst the supporters. That can communicate to the players, which to some extent I think is what happened in 1996. Having said that, Eddie has proved to be more adept than any other manager in dealing with that. He gets each player, and the team as a whole, very focused on the task in hand, blotting out the bigger picture. One game at a time, as he keeps saying. I'm not saying I'm not worried. I'm a helpless fan, but this team is very resilient.

In the end, we weren't quite good enough. I didn't think it was a bad performance overall though. They just have certain class players who gave them the edge at certain times. We're still in with a great chance of top four. No need to panic.

I don't need reminding.

Tell your dreams to shut up.

No doubt about that. Has to be given proper game time at a good level though. Maybe a buy with a season's loan back to Fener is the best idea, though I don't know if we go in for that sort of deal.

Keegan in particular was charismatic, but you've come close to saying that Eddie is a bit dull, which I think is unfair. In fact, he's quite funny, as is often seen during the pressers where his repartee with the journos is often full of humour. And with all due respect to the other two gentlemen, I think Eddie has the sort of wide ranging intelligence that would make him great company if one had the chance to spend an hour with him. Keegan's charisma enabled him to attract great players to the club, inspire the owners to invest and commit to his dream, and provide great excitement to the fans. His place in our history is secure, in that he changed the thinking and ambition of the club. But he had the faults of the charismatic too - a lack of interest in detail, an up and down temperament, and a tendency to use emotion rather than calculation in his decisions. Not faults that you'd lay at Eddie's door. I think Eddie is almost anti-charismatic, shown in the way he puts himself at the back of team celebration photos. He sees his role as making others feel charismatic. At 66, I should have grown out of hero-worship. But there you are. Can't help it.

The real eye-opener for me was last February, when I went to see them at West Ham. At the time, West Ham were in the CL places, and our starting team was Dubravka, Krafth, Burn, Schar, Targett, Shelvey, Willock, Joelinton, Murphy, Wood, Fraser. So eight of the team were pre-Eddie, and two out of the three newcomers (Burn, Targett) had not been regular starters for their previous clubs. The other was Chris Wood. The game kicked off and I just could not believe what I was seeing. We were actually the better side, with the majority of possession, knocking the ball around with confidence. Players that a few weeks ago had not looked capable of stringing two passes together were calling the shots. It finished 1-1 but it was no fluke and we were unlucky not to win. And this was playing away against a top four club. I'd never seen a transformation like it, and it was then that the thought sprung to me that we might be on the verge of something special.

That was a realistic concern, which I shared at the time, although I was never anti-Howe. Normally, the first priority for a team fighting relegation is to strengthen the defence. We had an attack-minded manager, and I didn't think we had the players to handle a more attacking game. We had spent the previous 5 years playing defensive football so it needed a complete turn around in mentality, which was very difficult to imagine, with the pressure we were under. In a sense, we were all wrong - it's only a question of degree. I thought Eddie was a good manager, but I didn't realise how good. What he has achieved with this squad is breathtaking.

I meant never this season. To clarify, I don't think we're in the top four because we have one of the four best squads. I think we have a mid-table squad that is consistently performing at or near its max week on week. We've got to keep our foot on the accelerator to stay there. But we have a truly great manager, and I think we will.

Ah, but we've never had the luxury of doing things comfortably. We need to continue giving our max, and Eddie realises that.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, so no, there is no fix. What tends to happen towards the end of the season is that the quirky results and patches of form that take place during the season get evened out, and the bigger clubs tend to rise to the top. They also have the larger squads with strength in depth, and can deal better with fatigue and injuries. Hence Man City are now out in front, and five of the top six are now from the 'big six'. Liverpool have a fairly easy run in, but if we maintain some form we should be all right. Two wins should do it.

Not that long ago he looked like the best DM in the world and he played a major role in winning the league with Leicester and Chelsea in successive seasons. Since then they’ve tried to put him in a different role and he doesn’t look the same. Maybe it’s a bit old fashioned to have a purely defensive midfielder but he was so effective that I wonder if he should be an exception. With Leicester it was like they had an extra man, he was so good at breaking up opposition attacks. And whatever his limitations on the ball, he enabled his team mates to bomb forward without fear of counterattacks. If he’s lost some fitness that’s one thing, but wherever he goes next, they ought to play to his strengths.

I’ve had long standing doubts about ASM’s commitment to the side. He has obvious strengths but weaknesses as well. My impression is that he’s the only player we have that would fetch a fair bit of money but who we may also be willing to sell. If we are looking to raise funds with an eye to ffp, he’s the glaringly obvious choice.

I'd share these uncertainties about how he would fit in, but that may simply be because we don't have a player like him at the moment, and so there would have to be other adjustments around the team to accommodate him. I only saw the second half last night, but I was actually very impressed. I don't think there's a better all-round passer of the ball in the Premiership, and he's able to take the ball past opponents with good footwork and changes of pace and direction. In possession, he's a superb player, and he's still improving. How he is out of possession, I'm not sure, but his work rate looks good. He has ambition to progress. Maybe we would need to add a more defensive player like Ugarte to the midfield to compensate. Maybe. But overall, if he's available for a reasonable fee, it would be too good an opportunity to pass up.