Shak

Wonder if we'll go back looking for Rigg in a year or two, see he scored tonight. Thought we might get him in the summer but seems like he's going to get a fair bit of first team action there so was probably a good move to stay there.

My own feeling is that we're still one short on wingers. Barnes, Gordon, Almiron and Joelinton seems very short on numbers for a team who asks as much as we do from our front three in terms of pressing the opposition. And Joelinton will be playing plenty of LCM too so it's basically three and a half players for those two spots. Needs to be a lot of rotation of those spots or they're going to burn out after Christmas. I know we all love Murphy now and all that and I'm happy for him to continue to be a reliable shithouse sub but in terms of starting games I'd hope it'll be domestic cup games and half a dozen starts in case of emergency otherwise. Right now I think we're thin on numbers, and that's assuming everyone is fully fit. One long term injury and it immediately looks really bad IMO. If we don't add anyone I'm gonna not get worked up about it, thought we didn't do enough last summer and it was a mistake not getting a CM in January but neither turned out to be true. I'm reasonably confident that Howe has thought about this more than I have so if he thinks we're covered then I'd assume there's a good reason.

Sometimes transfer links are wrong Now it's time to all move on

Not that I think there'll be anything in this but where would he play in our system? RW?

Aye I'm up for that, bring him in.

I hope so but I just don't see him getting the game time. Willock injured, Barnes and Tonali still settling in and Anderson absolutely playing out of his skin in preseason. Yet I still don't expect him to start next weekend. Only going to get tougher for him to get playing time too. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets loaned out right at the end of the window, when Willock will hopefully be close to being back.

It's the real reason ASM didn't fit in the team IMO. Not because he couldn't press, or because he couldn't use the ball well and play with his head up in possession. His movement off the ball was diabolical. (And yes, I know there are numerous things ASM does better than Barnes could ever dream of before anyone goes mad at me )

Also, I do think that Anderson taking the step forward we all hope he does might mean that either Joelinton or Willock could end up being sacrificed to the gods of FFP in summer of 2024. If ASM going was hard to take, either of those two would be far harder IMO.

I still think the ideal scenario is for a year on loan somewhere where he'll be one of the first names on the team sheet every week. Even if he has taken the step forward we think he has, I think he'll struggle to get a lot game time. I'd expect he'll play primarily in the LCM position, perhaps sometimes at LW. The competition for those spots is going to be Willock, Joelinton, Barnes and Gordon. Even if the plan is to use Gordon on the right a lot, Anderson probably isn't starting many games of the two Joes and Barnes. Ideal scenario is probably a year on loan at a top Championship side who play a similar style to us. Meanwhile, we bring in a RW, even if it is a loan initially. DM - Bruno + Miley LCM - Joelinton + Willock RCM - Longstaff + Tonali LW - Gordon + Barnes RW - Miggy + New Addition CF - Isak + Wilson Think that would be a very nice group for the year. I just think that right now we have a lot of players who I feel confident in playing on the left... and far fewer I feel that way about on the right. Lots of versatility there, players who can play a number of roles. Means that we could afford to send Anderson out and let him get used to being a regular starter, rather than a bit part player.

It's not shoehorning him anywhere, it's the recognition that he's about to turn 33 and expecting a player that age to cover an entire flank for 90 minutes and not quickly get burnt out is just fanciful. If Trippier was 27 years old this wouldn't be a conversation. But he's not.

Very interested to see what the plan is, I just don't see us paying such big money for a 2nd choice RB, no matter how good as prospect we think he is for the long term. My guess is we'll see plenty of Trippier at LB, playing that more restricted role in terms of getting forward. At his age it's just not really feasible for him to be the wing back every game for a team regularly playing twice a week. Perhaps LB will be more manageable for him as it's less demanding physically in our system. I'm sure there'll be plenty of games where Trippier will play RB with Burn or Targett at LB but I'd hope that Livramento at RB and Trippier at LB will become the first choice full back pairing sooner rather than later.

Had a look at this before and if transfermrkt is to be believed he's played more and been more productive when played on the right. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/federico-chiesa/leistungsdaten/spieler/341092/plus/0?saison=ges

Anybody able to find me two tickets together for Everton v Fulham on August 12th for a decent price?

I think Tonali and Bruno will start in CM for sure. Joelinton will either take the third spot in midfield or play LW. I think Anderson is fighting with Barnes for a starting position in the first game, possibly with Gordon too if we see him as a LW.

I teach English as a foreign language and Brazilians will usually say "I have a doubt" in situations where a native speaker would use "I'm not sure", even if they are pretty high level students.

He clearly meant at the back like

Feels like the role that Willock plays for us is where he's got the best chance of making it as a top player, really great to see he's come back in such good condition and ready to go. I know short term it would be exciting as fuck if we went out and spent £500m on building a squad full of world class players but the likes of Anderson and Miley coming through and contributing would be so satisfying.

I'm assuming we're going to evolve beyond the current system though? I guess the type of LB we bring in will tell us a lot, I assumed the defensive LB setup was out of necessity rather than design but maybe Howe wants to stick with it as it does allow us to push more men forward from CM with one of the fullbacks staying back. But in my above scenario where Joelinton, Barnes, Almiron and Gordon are the primary wing options, it's not exactly the most crafty set of wide men we could have, is it? Feels like having a LB who does on that side what Trippier does on the right really helps mitigate that, which is why I could see us going for a proper attacking LB. Would be kind of weird, having fullbacks whose best attributes are their ability going forward and wingers who excel at defending.

If Anderson genuinely is ready to play for the first team then maybe we don't need another wide player? Anderson and Willock fighting for the LCM position, allowing Joelinton to play LW more often... with Gordon and Almiron being options on the right? (Obviously we have a number of player who can play a number of positions but I do think you should always have a primary position) Miley also looks like he could be the 6th choice CM behind Willock, Anderson, Bruno, Tonali and Longstaff. Mostly sub appearances and starting cup games. If we don't have to spend on another attacker... I'd love us to go big on a LB. Theo Hernandez links earlier in the summer resurfacing would be tasty.

What sort of complete bullshit are you up to for this new football game? Tracking character login times and cross-referencing them with posters or some shit?

Aye, you've really established yourself nicely as the forum creep

Oh fuck off and get a practical username you big tart.

We lock registration. Open up another forum as a sort of proving ground for new posters. Anyone who isn't a complete whopper, we bring them in.

Who was the last new poster who turned out to be anything other than shite?