TRon

Still don't think he's shown that much technically. He does look like he can get beyond players though, so hopefully he will end up getting into goal scoring positions once he's up to speed. I just haven't seen that much to suggest he's press resistant like say Bruno is.

Their players still fetch much higher fees than ours though, especially their back up players. That tells you something.

I heard someone on a podcast say that with Ross Wilson, Howe has basically appointed his own boss. Might be a bit of a stretch, but I do think there needs to be clear lines of separation between the roles of coach and DOF. Howe will probably be here for a long time, but just in case he's not, we need a policy of recruitment that will remain consistent regardless of who is manager.

Might put us off as well. He has put contract talks on the shelf, both him and Botman were in line for big pay deals, and now you have to wonder how far we'll go to hold on to either.

It's about stadium projects in Saudi Arabia for the world cup.

The only reason they get lumped together is because they are both new, and neither has set the world on fire. But ultimately they deserve to be judged on what they produce in their own right. I'm still not convinced Ramsey is what we need, but he needs more full games like yesterday to give him a chance to get up to speed.

No one really mentioned it much yesterday but Fulham played some pretty slick football at times. They were better than I thought tbh.

But you are doing it yourself here.

Pretty sure he is.

Can't wait to have Botman lining up with Thiaw personally. I think the extra pace will save a few goals over a season. Provided he can actually stay fit.

He's not a very good footballer generally, but he can put in a wicked cross, so worth seeing if he can hit it off with Wissa like he did with Isak. There were signs in the first half especially. Elanga is getting slated at the moment, but he might find it easier playing with Wissa as well.

Elanga should be judged on his own merits and likewise for Ramsey. That's what I try to do anyway.

No chance he's getting accelerated with Howe in charge. I think he just needs to be treated like any other midfielder and we should have no hesitation in using him at the same level as any other midfielder. We've had occasions earlier in the season when we've flogged Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton when they were not 100%. I'm glad we seem to be moving away from that now.

Cherki is obviously unatainable for us when the big payers are in for him, but we do need to identify someone with that potential to give us options to open up defences that can cope with pace alone.

I hope this has marked the end of his promising youngster phase and he can now be regarded as a first team player on merit. I know he was playing at full back yesterday, but he still showed fabulous composure and and a willingness to get forward when it mattered. He's a high quality midfielder, let's treat him with that status.

Sort of agree with this. I think he's putting the effort in, he just doesn't have any answer when he comes up against really quick full backs. If he can't beat them in a foot race, he runs out of ideas. This is where a Rayan Cherki type makes the difference.

And more composed than I was expecting. I'd like to see us trust our youngsters a bit more when we are short of options.

This is my fear though. I think he's actually far more capable than he's looked so far, but I do worry that he's a small club player. Man U and NUFC have very demanding fans, that needs broad shoulders and a thick skin. I really hope Eddie can encourage him to express himself without fear.

Thought he gave the ball away a couple of times so the jury is still out for me. I do like that he was trying to hold the ball when he was dispossessed though, that means he does think he's capable. Maybe just needs to get up to speed yet.

This. He's no Lewis Hall but always thought he was a good defender. Easy to forget how integral he was to our survival season when Eddie arrived.

Looks made for this club tbh. He's got that absolute certainty that he will get goals.

Fuck it, they are all hard games at this point.

I think Howe needs to take a leaf out of Keegan's book and tell him to just "get at 'em!" Keegan used to tell his players to play their game and he would take responsibility for the mistakes. I think Elanga needs some of that.

Looks terrified to make a mistake. He needs a goal.

They wanted him to attack the space when it was there, which he needed to do tbf.