Cronky

Assuming everyone's at top form and fitness (which is a big assumption) - …………….Krul Debuchy Colo Schar Dummett Barton Wijnaldum Cabaye Townsend Carroll HBA

I've never been much of a fan of Sterling, but I thought today he played a blinder.

Disgusting decision. This country has gone to the dogs. I'm baffled by it. The Police are issued with tasers to protect themselves and members of the public. Unless it can be demonstrated that no-one was in any danger at all, I can't see how they can be accused of murder. It gives a very strange message to the Police who are currently expected to use them.

Looks good on video clips.

Fellow anoraks will be pleased to know that we no longer hold the record for the biggest home defeat in the top division. Leicester are doing much better than I thought, but Southampton showed no spirit at all. Teams often get criticised harshly on those grounds, but in this case it was the reality.

Does anyone know what happened in that incident with him and Fred? All you could see on the box was Fred on the floor, then Fred and McTominay having a bit of a go at Matty.

Yeah, it's not clear where Rashford's strengths really lie. At the very, very top level, I feel that a manager is either going to opt for someone who is more clearly a number 9, or a player who is better out wide or in a withdrawn role.

Good comparison, apart from the tackling. Scholes couldn't tackle, but it never stopped him from having a go. I suspect that tackling isn't Matty's strong point either, but we can't complain when the other parts of his game look so good.

I've been looking forward to seeing the Longstaffs together. Our inability to thread passes together in midfield has been our major weakness and those lads produced a clear improvement. Matty hits so many good balls without a steadying first touch and that can make such a difference. Like his brother, he covers so much ground too. His performance should take the pressure off Sean, who I think has suffered a bit from all the attention. Almiron and ASM can be as frustrating as hell with their poor decision-making, although their pace is very valuable and was a big factor in the goal. If the team can get a bit of confidence, hopefully those two will show a bit more composure in turn.

Very frustrating. We're getting into some good situations, but then wasting them through a lack of composure. ASM and Almiron the chief culprits. The passing in midfield looks a lot better though.

I've been looking forward to seeing the Longstaff bros together. Potentially, they're a very good combo in centre mid. This may not be the best time or the right opposition, but you can't always choose these things.

I gather, from a reliable source, that Man U ended up offering £37m. The lad is coming back from injury and he's having to cope with suddenly large expectations on his shoulders, in a team under pressure. It's no wonder he's struggling, but the kind of ability he showed doesn't disappear overnight.

There’s merit to this. I hesitate to admit this here, but I share something with Michael Owen - posture-related hamstring strains. I remember being dismayed when a doctor tried to explain it to me, and he pretty much led with “Do you know Michael Owen?” Have you considered consulting an Alexander therapist? The Alexander Technique is about identifying habits of movement and posture that create problems, and forming exercises to deal with them.

Just as a sideline, I can remember some expert in biomechanics saying, at an early stage in Owen's career, that there was something in his running style that would make him vulnerable to muscle strains. The guy was offering his services to Owen to help him correct this fault. The paper where this was reported was mocking this guy as some kind of quack. Sports science is advancing all the time, and I'm sure he'd be taken a lot more seriously now.

The usual hysteria.

I didn't make that up myself. In that interview with the Daily Mail, Ashley said that the Rafa camp were asking for a one year extension, but he wanted to sign Rafa long-term. Presumably the one year extension was to give Rafa time to see what was happening with a takeover. Oh sweet baby jesus A decade later : This tribunal statement over the issue of whether Keegan had control of transfers does tend to get trotted out whenever it's convenient to disbelieve absolutely anything that Ashley says. You have to look at each situation as it comes.

I didn't make that up myself. In that interview with the Daily Mail, Ashley said that the Rafa camp were asking for a one year extension, but he wanted to sign Rafa long-term. Presumably the one year extension was to give Rafa time to see what was happening with a takeover.

The statement doesn't really tie in with the rather more optimistic noises that Rafa was making towards the end of last season, and the apparent position of the club of hoping till the last minute that Rafa would sign. There's a comment about the takeover in there, which indicates to me that Rafa was putting things on hold in case that went ahead and he had the chance to work with a different owner who would loosen the purse strings. As for being offered a contract on the same money with less control over transfers, I suspect that the situation was that Rafa had the choice between a long contract with more control, or a short-term rolling contract with less control, if he didn't want to commit at that point. The club have made it clear that they don't want to spend large transfer fees for a manager who could quit any moment, and be left with players that the new man didn't want. This also explains the curious impasse over Joelinton, where Rafa seems to have taken the position that he quite liked the player, but not at that price. The club would only spend that sort of money for a manager with a long-term commitment, but Rafa wanted to see what developed in other areas. So we had a complete impasse until the club had to take action in order to prepare for the new season. People can still criticise the club for unnecessary penny-pinching if that's how they see it, but I think Rafa's behaviour was a little more complicated than his statement indicates.

If Willems had moved towards the ball when he should have, he'd have got there easily. Instead he hesitated. I couldn't believe it when he stood there and waited for the ball to come to him. In fairness to the guy, he looked nervous from the start. Hopefully there's better to come from him. Dummett in a three man central defence is fine. His pace is very valuable there.

Willems looked out of sorts mentally. He was at fault for the goal and generally seemed nervous. Shelvey can pass and shoot, but he can't run. Longstaff didn't have a great game - maybe all the publicity has affected him. That midfield trio with Hayden didn't work. ASM and Almiron were the ones most likely to produce something, so dropping Shelvey and going back to the 3-4-2-1 would be a good idea.

Yeah, I agree. The projected Arsenal team doesn't look anything great. I think they'll miss Koscielny as well. At this moment, I'm looking forward to the game and looking forward to the season. It's a new team, and I think we've generally bought well. (Not sure about ASM) I'm in the normal pre-season bubble, hoping the first game won't burst it.

George Best without the drink problem.

Man City but that ain't going to happen. I find Brighton a bit irritating. Their fans seem to be enjoying it too much.

Norwich were very impressive from the technical point of view - going forward they put some good passing moves together. Their manager seems to have done a lot of recruiting from the German league, and I've often felt that's a somewhat neglected option. The problem of course was the space that they left in the full back areas. They'll have to hope that they outscore the weaker teams, which tbh they probably will. Salah is a great finisher but he doesn't always choose good options on the ball. His team mates must find him infuriating at times.

Premiership Winners: Man City Runners Up: Liverpool 3rd-6th: Arsenal, Man U, Spurs, Chelsea Relegation: Burnley, Sheff Utd, Brighton Overachievers: Us! Underperformers: Leicester Top Goal Scorer: Kane Break Out Year: Foden, Matty Longstaff Season to Forget: Watford PFA Player of the Year: De Bruyne PFA Young Player of the Year: Foden Manager of the Year: Guardiola First manager to quit/be sacked: Garcia Championship Winners: Leeds Runners Up: Derby 3rd-6th: West Brom, Sheff Wed, Boro, Cardiff Relegation: No idea Newcastle United Where will we finish?: 9th Top Goalscorer?: Joelinton Will Bruce still be manager at the end of the season?: Yes Who will be the first player to be sent off for us?: Lascelles Domestic League One Promotion: League One Relegation: League Two Promotion: League Two Relegation: FA Cup: Wolves League Cup: Man City EFL Trophy: Ipswich Europe La Liga winner: Barca Serie A winner: Juve Bundesliga winner: Bayern Champions League winner: Bayern Europa League winner: Chelsea World Player of the Year: Messi Other: How many goals will Rondon score in China?: Don't care Will Ole still be at the wheel come the end of the season?: Yes Where will Sunderland finish?: 3rd