Shak

My ideal scenario would be us signing an absolutely top class CF and allowing us some flexibility in how we use Isak. His ability to play CF while also being an option from the left off a main striker should be a huge asset to a squad but with him and Wilson being fucked all year it's basically been a non-factor.

Someone put it well the other day in this thread. For where we want to be he should be the Matt Ritchie/Jacob Murphy of the squad. Mostly brought on to do a job closing out games and you know if you have to start him in an emergency he can do a job. Not upgrading him in the summer was a mistake and it has come back to haunt us.

Was class, if he'd got the winner it would have been amazing. I'm absolutely mystified that anyone still wants to play him in one of the #8 roles for us though, he looks absolutely awful trying to run with the ball at full speed

Was Bruno, had the perfect opportunity to take him down but let him go. Think he was on a booking going into the game.

Have to foul him.

Great stuff. Can't wait until we have a fit, in form striker again

Bookies have us 10/11 to win the game

Could name a few I'd be happy to see there.

Onana has to come out and close him down, surely?

Coward.

Aye but fuck the idea of there being no football on over Christmas, frankly

Saw this in the replies. Mamardashvili could actually be doable in January as Valencia aren't in great financial shape. They're also right in mid table in La Liga, looking quite off the pace to challenge for Europe and not really in danger of getting dragged into a relegation fight either. Obviously there's merit to bringing in a stop gap until the end of the year... but I do think the best move might be to bring in a Pope upgrade rather than spend money on improving the backup position when we don't have a really top keeper. Not sure what would become of Pope in the scenario that we buy a flash new GK. If he's content to stay here and push the new GK that's ideal, if not we could probably get very decent money for him to help with FFP.

Aye but that was still one light IMO. We were always one injury away from being incredibly thin.

Aye this, basically. Very good squad player and not getting a better player than him in the summer to be first choice RW was a mistake. Some people on here are absolutely melted in the head though.

I think you're shite tbh.

We desperately need another RW, thought that was obvious when we were coming to the end of the transfer window and not buying one was a massive mistake. I'm not the biggest Almiron fan but he gets too much blame when things are going badly.

Brilliant from Dubravka just there tbf, feared the worst when that ball came rolling slowly towards him.

Jesus, Dubravka is absolutely hopeless.

Aye, getting those three a few minutes today (and potentially giving the likes of Isak a breather too) would be huge. Hopefully they're all able to give us something off the bench the next two games, then maybe start against Fulham next Saturday.

Aye, one new right winger would be good. I do think adding another top CF would do wonders for us too. Remember how off their fucking tits Isak and Wilson were playing together late in games last season? And it just hasn't been an option this year. I really think there'd be more than enough minutes available for both Isak and (for example) Osimhen if we brought in another CF, and it wouldn't mean just shunting Isak out wide.

I would have liked to have seen us tweak the system to some degree to incorporate a player like Maddison but I just don't think it's in Howe's plans. My hope is that we can offset the lack of craft in the CM spots by adding wide players who are a bit better than what we've had in terms of their link up play and ability to find a final ball.

If we could sign Phillips until the end of the season to cover Tonali's spot, and add a top quality RW on top of that I'd be thrilled with that. Then spend the entire budget on summer on two more top class additions at CF and CB. Move on Murphy or Almiron to help with FFP. No major departures and then go into next season with something like the following as your first team group. Pope Dubravka Karius Trippier Livramento Targett Hall Botman New CB Schar Lascelles Bruno Miley Longstaff Tonali Joelinton Willock Anderson Gordon Barnes Almiron/Murphy New RW Isak New CF Wilson Think that group would be far better equipped than this season's to compete on multiple fronts. Lots of versatility in that group. Summer 2025 you go find a GK upgrade and try to bolster the midfield. I like the idea of not having any major overhauls, just add a couple of top players each summer. We'll also hopefully have established a good group of young players by then too who'll be providing extra competition in some of the above spots.

With our lack of squad depth we're just gonna have more games like this than most teams in and around us. It's not just the fatigue, it's the fact that some days individual players just aren't on it. Was pretty obvious that Isak wasn't on his game tonight for one reason or another but we just had to persist with him. Same for Joelinton and Gordon, to name but two. Maybe we go on and lose anyway, but if we'd been able to bring on Wilson, Willock and Barnes for those three you'd imagine the last half hour have had a decent chance of working out better for us.

It's harsh to say he "should" save the first goal. However, I think Pope would have saved it.

He's turned into a pretty good finisher too IMO. I often get frustrated with him for taking on a shot when there's a better option available but that break today just after they scored the first shows why it's probably for the best that he keeps doing it. Was an easy pass to Isak and it was so, so bad what he served up. Can't imagine it's much fun to play with for our other attackers, he creates almost nothing for his teammates. 6 assists in 160 Premier League appearances now. Only 3 since Howe took over too so it's not like he can blame previous managers not using him well.