Shak

Feels like a lower league game but loads of players on the field capable of some genuine quality. Frantic, disorganised and absolutely gripping.

Stifler man, he'll either rule the world one day or cause its demise.

Are people genuinely suggesting a shite penalty means Maddison wouldn't be a good signing?

Well he won't be taking penalties here Maddison with a good job winning the ball and then springing the counter attack though, to be fair.

Was Matheus Franca we were linked with quite a bit in January.

Probably in and around that, aye. Quite a lot of it in add-ons on top of an initial fee. That's a kind of price range we've shown a willingness to operate in though so don't think it's out of reach at all.

He'd make A LOT of sense as an addition to our squad if Howe thinks Isak playing from the left is something that we want to do going forward. Wilson and Roque rotating at CF, allows Wilson to avoid playing too many minutes and means that we're not expecting an 18 year old to come in and immediately be the main man. Obviously we also have the option to play Isak there so we suddenly have three quality CF options. Would be interesting to see how we'd tweak the setup, if at all. I think you'd want to give Isak a little less to do defensively than the wingers do now, obviously our front players need to press but I mean in terms of tracking full backs and such.

Snide little comments at Mason as well. Truly shown everyone who he really is this season.

I mean...

To be fair on the GD if we do finish level on points they'll probably get very close to us. Rarely take a point at home but right now I think I'd take it next week against Arsenal. Looking at those last four fixtures six points seems far more comfortable than seven. Could be a couple of scrappy games in there, wouldn't be shocked to see some draws.

If Longstaff and ASM are both still out then I'd find it very hard to suggest a better option than starting the two of them. Gordon and Murphy as the two wingers has been tried twice now and both times we've been absolutely shite with that setup. Have a go at them, fuck it.

Think I prefer him on the left of the front three. He'll be really good in either spot but he's such an absolute joy to watch running at defenders and I think we'll see that a lot more often with him on the left. Also, we'll have more goals in the team with this guy and a striker on the field than with Isak and someone like ASM or Gordon on the left. Would love to see us try to bring in one of the top teenage strikers in the game in the summer. A Moukoko or Vitor Roque, maybe. Someone who is ready to play first team football but would also benefit from being protected a little bit in terms of playing every week. Let them compete with Wilson to be CF. Obviously Isak can still play CF when needed, so we'd have quality depth at such an important position.

Already my favourite player in this squad. He's just a joy to watch play football, if he ever leaves I'm going to set myself on fire.

I wish we could play another half hour. We're so much fun to watch when we have a lead and are just picking teams off when they're caught between trying to push forward and get themselves back in the game and accepting the reality that they're absolutely fucked and should just sit back and try to not concede any more goals.

Next season man, we're doing it. Breakfast too

My stream is behind, it would seem.

Massive "one of those days" vibes. Feels huge, this half.

Wasn't he injured? To be honest I suspect we wanted Maddison but he decided to wait until the summer to see what his options were.

Think he's looked fairly bright today, to be fair to him. My concern is that for the money we paid he looks a lot like a pretty limited player that is going to work hard and put in a shift but not a whole lot more than that. Hasn't been a single moment from him where I've felt we've got a glimpse of some massive potential hiding underneath. Didn't look particularly confident with either of his chances, doesn't look like he's got some outstanding dribbling ability. I know it's hard to come in during the January window and make a big impact but right now I do feel like we've paid £40m for our long term successor to Jacob Murphy as our hard-working backup winger. He'll be a valuable member of the squad for years, I'm sure, but it does feel like we could have signed someone with a bit more about them for that outlay. Hope to be proven wrong.

Isak is the fucking dream, isn't he?

Would have been surprised with anything else. Would be great if Gordon put in a performance, if Longstaff is out for a while we'll need Joelinton and Willock in midfield so we'll need for Gordon to step up or ASM to get fit pretty soon.

I'm not sure he'll want to start Wilson twice in three days, otherwise I'd very much agree. Think it'll be Gordon on the left and Isak up front.

If we get absolutely played off the field and lose 3-0 again just because Longstaff is out... how do you think we process that?