Cronky

Lack of pace at the back getting exposed.

Interesting. Is Gordon going to have a free role around Isak, like Bellamy with Shearer. Looking forward to this.

I don't think he'd fit into Arsenal's style at all. Rice has his qualities, but I don't think he's a great passer of the ball, and doesn't seem to go in for the short, quick interchanges that Arsenal like. And the Arsenal midfield has Partey, Xhaka, Jorginho, and Odegaard, with Smith-Rowe coming through. Unless they have him in mind as a defender, I don't see any space for him.

There wasn't really anything in the interview to suggest that Eddie was after Declan Rice in particular. It'll be interesting to see where he goes and for how much. The elite clubs look well served in that department already, with Enzo, Rodri, Partey, Casemiro. Liverpool maybe? I don't think it'll be us though.

Yeah, he was good at Palace, where he nailed down a regular place. At Chelsea, he only gets limited time, and probably as a result of that, he tries too hard to make an impact when he's on. He's not the only one suffering at that club. I watched Mudryk - a couple of weeks ago I think it was. I reckon he's a very talented player and it was a bit disturbing to watch him perform like a frightened rabbit. I wonder if he's looking at that 8 year contract and wondering what he's done.

He’s quick off the mark and quick over a long distance too. I think we’re still searching for the best way of integrating him into the side , but once that’s sorted, he’ll be a real game changer like our boss man says.

Says who?

That looks like Peter Withe and Alan Shoulder. Who were we playing?

£200m might only get you Bellingham, if there's a bidding war. It looks like his heart is set on Real, and Dortmund might not be able to get quite such a large fee if there's only one club in it. Someone else can take the risk on Rice.

I've been impressed with Onana, but he doesn't seem to be linked with anyone in the gossip columns. Is there a catch?

I noticed on oddschecker that we’re now odds on to make top four 2-9. Scary

Yeah, one or two players seem to have had one eye on the lifeboat. The mistake that some owners seem to make is thinking that you can spend a lot of money and then spend less to just keep the team ticking over at the new level that you’ve reached. In practice, you need to keep spending.

I fully expect a miracle recovery for the weekend.

I kind of feel a line has been crossed here. Please can we leave young children out of this kind of banter?

Neither Rafa nor Bruce had us playing good football. We were just getting men behind the ball and hoping for something on the break or from a set piece. We had no press at all. Apart from the turnaround in results, it's a major achievement of Eddie's that he's been able to coach a much more positive and attacking performance out of the squad. The usual strategy for getting out of a relegation scrap is to shore up the defence, but he achieved it with the opposite strategy.

It's hard to say exactly what happened with Emery. Leaks are fairly commonplace when things reach an advanced stage, and aren't necessarily deliberate. It must be very difficult to keep things private for very long. My feeling is the guy just changed his mind. We were firmly in the relegation zone, and looked unlikely to survive, no matter who might be in charge and with only one transfer window to address the problems. Ultimately, he just didn't fancy it. When he joined Villa, they were a much better prospect. Gerrard had made some mistakes after a decent start, and there was clear potential to turn things round.

Rafa may be having difficulty finding a job because I think he has a reputation now for not getting on with club owners, and that doesn't just mean Ashley. That's not necessarily fair, but I think that's what's around.

Bet it's Osimhen PS - just checked. I was right.

After a very promising start, Isak's career stalled a bit. I understand that it didn't work out at Dortmund, and his last season at Sociedad wasn't great. I think the fee we paid was based on his potential, while other clubs looked at his recent history and decided not to take the risk. Time will tell whether he's a bargain, but I think we got it right. Purely based on his technical skill on the ball, I think he's the best striker in the league. What has surprised me is that other aspects of his game - his pace, strength, finishing, heading, intelligence - are much better than I had dared to hope. I think Eddie is right in saying that he doesn't have a weakness in his game. I gather he's quite a shy character, and that held him back at various points in his career. There's a little bit of a swagger about him now which is good to see.

I've watched the lead up to the incident again. He had sprinted forward, and then started rushing back from a forward position. He barged into two opponents, one after the other, giving away a free kick. He lay there on the ground, knackered and then just managed to get up and start jogging, watching from a distance as Brentford nearly scored as a result of the free kick he'd given away. It was very naive play, and I can understand Eddie thinking that the lad had lost his head a bit, and that he needed to put on an experienced player. I think saying in public that he was worried about Gordon's ankle was a bit of diplomacy on Eddie's part. I suspect that part of Gordon's anger was that he knew he'd made a rick of it and couldn't face being confronted about it.

An amazing strike. It was like a golf shot, where the trajectory of the ball is exactly where the golfer intended. Except that that the ball was moving and the player didn't have a minute and a half to prepare himself.

I think a lot of Eddie's fellow managers will be looking at our squad and just wondering how he is able to get so much out of them. Frank was suggesting that the difference was the amount of money spent. He also said that we won because of a couple of 'moments' but the reality is that we upped our game in the second half, and it was too much for them. Eddie has been getting these results of over a year now, and it can't be a fluke.

I'm sure it'll be sorted out, but he should apologise to his manager. Eddie wanted to stop him to have a word, and he tried to barge past him. He's a good player, and like Bruno and Isak before him, he's being held back from the first team until Eddie feels he's ready in every respect. That's his way, and he shouldn't take it personally.

The standard in the Premiership is now so high that I don't think teams can get away with a DM whose job is limited to winning the ball and then giving it to someone else who can pass and create with it. It's a hobbyhorse of mine, but a player in that anchor position will naturally get a lot of possession, and they've got to be able to use it well. Ideally, you would have a Partey, Casemiro, Rodri or an Enzo who can do a bit of everything. I don't think Bruno is a great tackler, but he makes up for it with his brain and his energy. He often seems to win the ball by anticipating where to position himself.

Rice is a very good athlete, and in certain situations on the pitch, he will shine. I can remember seeing him come on as a sub in a cup tie against Kidderminster, and he completely dominated that standard of opposition. It was like a man amongst boys. He's very good at bringing the ball forward out of defence, when he has time and space to do that, like a marauding centre back. He made one of those runs against us on Wednesday, and we weren't able to stop him. What he doesn't seem able to do from his position, is the sort of thing that Bruno does regularly, which is to take the ball under pressure, create some space and time with a bit of nimble footwork and then ping a quick pass out which leaves the opposition wrong-footed. Rice is a big unit, and needs time and space to operate. In those situations, he can look more like a centre back filling in further forward. He often looks a bit conservative in his decision-making as a result. He is a good player, but I do get surprised at the size of transfer fee and the sort of club that he gets linked with in the gossip columns. We don't seem to be one of those clubs, and I'm quite happy with that personally.