Shak

We can also raise some decent money to offset FFP concerns by selling other players instead of our obvious best ones If we do look to sell, Almiron and Longstaff are the two that I'd probably be looking to try and move on. Almiron it feels like next summer will be our last chance to get money back for him. Longstaff is a bit tricky as he's useful for the homegrown rule in Europe... I feel like from a pure footballing perspective though Miley should be taking his spot in the team/squad. If we sign a new DM as has been rumoured, it leaves Longstaff quite far down the pecking order once Tonali is back too. Also could see us looking to move on one of Joelinton/Willock, unpopular as that would be. However, if it opens up opportunities to add players who can offer more in the final third, it may be a hit worth taking.

I'd 100% prioritise it and would be completely fine with playing the kids against Liverpool on Monday to be as ready as possible for the Sunderland game.

Delighted he's been left out so we can have a big lumbering donkey of a CB shoehorned into his position

He's massively out of form but because of the injury crisis we've basically had to persist with him and it's doing him no favours. Painful watching the guy with the ball at his feet, seems to do the absolute wrong thing almost every time. A few minutes before the Forest goal we had that attack with him and Tripps 2 on 1 against the fullback. The ball he played to Trippier forced Tripps to make a slide tackle to get some sort of cross in. Turned such a promising position into nowt. Same again with his chance before their goal, he just seems to have absolutely zero chemistry with any of our players. He'll get far too much flack over the coming months and it's sad because he's been great for us and seems a lovely lad who gives it all, I'm looking forward to him not being in the team though I must admit.

at people saying it was a poor penalty.

Feels like from Isak's reaction there must have been contact but it was hard to see. Does the defender stand on his foot, maybe? Fuck it, we'll take it

Aye but even then it will be two full weeks between City and the 4th round game.

Feels like this little run and how he adjusts his ideas going forward will be the making or breaking of him long term. I would hope that the last season and a half before this have built up enough credibility that our owners aren't considering doing anything stupid. This season has thrown so many challenges at him, barring a complete meltdown and him losing the dressing room in the second half of the season there should be no serious thought given to moving on from him. That said, this season has given him some serious issues to consider going forward. Firstly, he hasn't managed the squad well from a fitness perspective. Maybe it's just an epically unlucky run of freak injuries, but the most worrying thing for me has been that we've had a number of players either suffer setbacks on the way back from injury or get hurt again soon after returning to the first team. Eddie clearly demands a high intensity approach from his teams and I think it's very fair to wonder if he's demanding too much of them physically before they're ready. The last few weeks have also shown that once we can't play the relentless high press that we're a side very much devoid of ideas on the ball. Today was painful to watch, we kept the ball quite well but it's clear that we have very little idea what to do with it once we get to the final third. Does Eddie try to bring in players who maybe offer more in terms of craft on the ball, even if it means sacrificing some of the workrate? Or does he feel that with three or four more quality additions to the squad we'll be able to play the relentless style he likes every game and it won't matter? And if that's the plan, has he solved the fitness issues that have arisen from it this year? Those are the two main questions going forward for me, and it's OK to ask them. There is no perfect manager out there, nor a secret list of the good managers and bad ones that we're trying to find out which one he belongs on. Being a manager that can take a club where we want to go is a really big ask, and it's entirely possible that ultimately he won't be up to it. However, he's shown a lot of top level qualities in his time here and his drive to keep improving are incredibly evident. I really don't think he'll be sitting there wondering why things have gone badly the last month or so, he'll know full well why and will have ideas on how to fix them. And he deserves our backing every step of the way while he tries to do it.

This lad not starting today was mental like. Can't fucking believe Burn appears to still be first choice LB.

Genuinely shite couple of hours that.

That's a shocking effort by Wilson tbh, so much empty goal to aim at and under no pressure and just headed right at him. Anyway, good to see us keeping the ball like we have the last ten minutes.

Italians leading the way in accountability and justice as ever

Could play CM or Almiron's spot too. I always wondered why our interest seemingly just fucked off. Wonder if investigations turned up something about the alleged gambling. Would be hilariously ironic given who we spent even more on a year later.

Aye, seems to play like he has eyes in the back of his head, so many clever touches into space. Think he's very much pushed the need for a DM way down the list, reckon that'll end up being his position and he'll be quality there.

I think Raphinha would be ideal.

No, I'm saying we don't spend any money on a DM. Bruno starts there. Miley his backup (Miley can also play the other midfield spots). Spend the money on other positions instead.

I'd be good with it. I mean, it's Bruno's spot, asking Miley to be backup doesn't seem too much to me given how good he's looked. If you're ready, you're ready. Spend the money saved on a new DM and put it towards making Osimhen the new striker addition. Who says no?!

No, it's all still being hashed out. Hence why they're spending hundreds of millions on Jon Rahm as basically a bargaining chip Ultimately what PIF really want from golf is the access to corporate America that comes with a seat at the table. My guess is that it all ends with the PIF being a major investor/stakeholder in the PGA/professional golf. You're right in that money talks and eventually the richest people will get what they want... my point is that it'll come at the expense of the product.

Nobody.

Our next signing for me has to be a player who can pick a final ball better than anyone currently in our squad. My guess is it'll be a winger but could be an advanced CM too.

Miley looks like he can play Bruno's role pretty well IMO. Looked one of our better players against Dortmund in that spot. Good in tight spaces, reads the game very well, rarely caught in possession.

Has Eddie ever really tinkered with the formation since being here? Might be something to be said for a 3-5-2 if Gordon and Isak are still unavailable? Dubravka Lascelles Botman Burn Trippier Tino Bruno Longstaff Miley Almiron Wilson I suppose you could achieve a lot of the same things by just playing Tino at LW and keeping the 4-3-3 but just a thought.

I feel like at this point the move is to not do anything too mad in January. If a deal comes available for a long term target, make the move. Otherwise it's all a bit shutting the barn door after the horse has fucked off, surely? Unlikely any new players are gonna be ready to really contribute until after the City match. If we get to the FA Cup final, we're looking at playing 22 matches in the last four months. Absolute max. After City we'll have played 31 games in 5 months. The second half of the season just isn't gonna be as demanding and we'll presumably have some players back by then so I don't know if bringing in second tier targets just because they're available in January makes a lot of sense.

That midfield trio in those positions was how we opened last season. Think both Joes look much better in the LCM position. Willock in particular is much better there as a big part of his game is running at defenders and getting out left and cutting inside is obviously a more dangerous dribbling position for a right footed player. Think not having Tino at LB over Burn is a bit mental, like. Tino offers us so much more on the ball and I think he's a better defender too. I know we're conceding more goals recently but that's a result of the rest of the team being completely fucked rather than a consequence of Burn being out IMO.