Cronky

I thought we were in for a difficult second half, but the third goal knocked the stuffing out of them. Moyes will have a hard time getting them to recover from this result. Murphy no longer looks out of place in this side. A lot of their fans were leaving when it was still 3-1 with quite a long time to go.

They're a danger from set pieces, so I'm not confident we'll keep a clean sheet tonight. However, this team persistently rises to the occasion, and I think we'll get at least a draw.

I don't think 8 games is enough. Given that the aggression was physical as well as verbal, the ban should be twice that. It's a line no player should cross. My experience of being a ref is limited, but what I found from my brief experience was that you had to make decisions very quickly. It's in the nature of football that the play switches very quickly, and if you hesitate, then things have moved on to a different phase and it's too late. In rugby, the play is more static, and it's easier for a ref to take their time. I also found that, when I did make a dodgy decision, the amount of moaning I got, and its persistence, was very draining. You'd have thought that an incorrect decision was the end of the world. Generally speaking, the standard of refereeing at the top level is very good. If some of the pundits were to gain a bit of experience in refereeing, they might become less strident in their criticism every time a questionable decision gets made. They tend to take it from the players' point of view too much.

After a while, I noticed with Targett that he's not particularly quick on the turn. Dan Burn is even slower, but there's other things he brings to the side - particularly leadership and organisation. Burn has also got a ruthless streak and stretches the rules to the limit in defending - man or ball can get past me but not both. He's canny enough to know how far to go and how to handle referees, and of course he's not going to get beaten in the air at the back post. So although he's more limited than Targett going forward, I can see why Eddie thinks he offers the better package. But as others have said, this is the position that's easiest to upgrade.

I saw a bit of Spurs last night and they weren't very impressive. Conte has as good as said that he thinks they're a club who are going nowhere, so I think they may have trouble attracting anyone from the top drawer of management. Kane will now want to go and I reckon a newcomer will have to rip it all up and start again. I'm not sure that any particular part of his game is strong, but I don't think he's a great defender. I do think he's better than Burn going forward, which I suppose isn't saying much. Tierney would be a great buy, but I still wonder whether any of the big six cartel are going to sell to us.

I agree on the left back issue. We can't get away with playing Dan Burn there for too much longer. Matt Targett is decent going forward but isn't a great defender. I think LB is the easiest position to upgrade. I'm not sure we'll have that much to spend in the summer, so I'd be happy to see a sizeable chunk of the budget invested there. Whatever we might think of the ability of particular individuals in other positions, the team is operating so well together that we have to be careful of upsetting the balance. We're in 3rd place on merit. Bruno-Longstaff-Willock / Joelinton are a bit of a unit. Maybe another wide player who can also fill in as a striker would be handy. I think Maddison is a great player, but I'm not quite sure how we'd use him, and who would make way.

Because it looked more like a back one.

I think other managers are starting to fear us now. There was a good analysis on MOTD. Ten Haag decided to stop Bruno by getting McTominay to do a man-to-man marking job on him, but it didn't work. Bruno is good at taking advantage of that pressure, acting like a matador. Sabitzer and Fernandes were then left in the holding roles, but acted like a pair of revolving doors as our midfield just ran right past them. Basically, Ten Haag was sufficiently rattled to make some negative decisions, which backfired.

Well the guy has pedigree, doesn't he. He took Bournemouth from 24th place in League Two to the Premiership in just over 5 years. It's hard to say which is the more incredible feat. Yes, I think he chose us as much as we chose him. He saw a club with big potential, but also one that he could mould according to his own vision and style, which is not perhaps as easy with the mega clubs like Man U or Chelsea. Tbh, I think other managers are getting a bit rattled, with the exception of Pep. They can't quite figure out what's going on.

No, and I'd include all the past greats like Ferguson and Clough in that. When he took over, it looked like we were going to go down with about 20 points. Taking us to 3rd place in just over a year is incredible.

I did wonder whether Potter would be the right fit. It needs a big name with the clout to impose themselves on what looks like a chaotic club.

Loved the first goal, where Isak did brilliantly. They say that every goal can be defended, but that was close to unstoppable. Reminded me very much of the Arsenal game at the end of last season, where we blew the opposition away with our determination and focus. Just a word about Rashford. I've often had the feeling that he only puts effort into the tasks that he's naturally good at, and avoids other demands. His attempt to challenge for the ball for Wilson's goal was so half-hearted. A centre forward shouldn't be getting a free header in the centre of the goal area.

That was as near to an undefendable goal as you'll see.

I'm hoping for a repeat of last season's Arsenal game. I think we'll tear into them and they won't fancy it. They're a talented bunch but leadership looks a bit lacking at times (eg Liverpool game)

Hmm..... I think he's found his right level now. I don't think he's quite good enough on the technical side to interest the CL clubs.

I don't usually feel sorry for Liverpool, but the last 20 minutes was total humiliation.

True story, I believe - A young lady from abroad came to work in England, and after a few weeks she was asked about her opinion of the English. She said that it was great that there was such a spirit of international brotherhood around the country. It turned out that she was going by all the graffiti that she saw, of 'Man United'.

We're all Eddie hero-worshippers on here, so I may be blind, but I don't think revenge would come into it. He seems to be very self aware and very focused on the task in hand. He would see thoughts of revenge as being an unhelpful distraction. I've sometimes wondered how he handles any bad boys within his squad. Apparently he's careful to recruit only those he regards as good characters, and I can't imagine him doing a Fergie-style hair-dryer rant. Maybe he relies on building a good group-ethic to keep everyone in line, and he naturally engenders respect. But I remember seeing an interview, in which Nathan Ake talks about getting a bollocking from Eddie Howe. It clearly had a real impact. I think he gets to know his players as individuals, and knows when and how to push the right buttons. In this case, he delivered some uncomfortable but helpful home truths. From 3-20 onwards - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qK77RvM9SM

It was interesting to watch him talk about it in the pre-match conflab. The mask of geniality slipped a tiny bit, and you had a glimpse of the competitor beneath. He made light of it, but you could see he was a bit pissed off that his team mate didn't take it seriously enough. He's a fascinating character. He seems genuinely caring and compassionate, but to reach the top in professional sport you need some kind of killer instinct.

I don't really want to take sides against the family, but this idea of Rice as a CB has been knocking around for while, and doesn't lack merit. The only strange opinion in there is Ryan Fredericks saying that Rice could become the best midfield player in the world. Re England, Southgate has often played two DMs in Rice and Phillips, and I do question that. It might well be a better use of resources to just play Phillips and have Rice as CB in a three. Rice would be excellent at going forward with the ball to disrupt a defence, when opportunity presents, like Ferdinand did at Man U, and to a lesser extent like Schar sometimes does for us. Three at the back would also enable us to drop Walker and have two attacking wing backs in James and Chilwell. Rice has never looked the most confident of players, though I think he is improving in that regard. He can still be very conservative in his decision-making, but maybe if he moves to a club where he's with better players, that might change.

Longer term, there's no reason why they can't be as big as Arsenal or Chelsea, particularly now they've sorted out the stadium issue. The pattern of footballing support in London can be very fluid. A lot of young people in the city when they're deciding on their allegiance will simply opt for the team that's doing the best at that particular time. They won't just go for the nearest club, or the one that their family supports, and even some apparently committed supporters can change their minds. It's a situation where you shouldn't say 'never'.

He’s had horrendous luck with injuries but at his best he’s a very classy defender. It all depends on his fitness.

He'll probably stay for the next two or three years at least. Then a lot will depend on whether City get done for cheating. Arsenal look in a really good place, with a young squad that's only going to get better. If the FA manage to put the squeeze on the financial dopers, then they have every chance of staying at the top. He might even spend his entire career with them. Saka now looks like one of the best players in the world. Doubling up on him doesn't seem to have much effect.

That was then. In five of the six seasons since, it's taken 90 points. It'll probably go to 90 this time around too. I think the new stadium was the right long-term decision. As with Arsenal previously, he realised that there would always be a problem trying to compete at the top with a smaller, sub-standard ground. He decided to take the short-term financial hit that was involved, but has still managed to keep them up there. Many supporters want jam today. But if there's any chance of competing with the clubs who have been financially doped, then you have to look at the long game.

I've become aware that Conte was having personal difficulties, with the bereavement of three close friends, and living apart from his wife and family in Italy. He was starting to talk a bit crazy, as though he wanted to quit, and have someone else take the responsibility for the decision. He practically invited the board to sack him. I also didn't realise that so many Spurs fans are unhappy with Levy. He's delivered the best stadium in the country and regular CL football. Okay, they haven't won the Premiership, but given what Man City have been allowed to do, that's extremely difficult. It takes 90 points and a slice of luck.