STM

See how Benfica get on in the CL and go all out for that mint winger... rafa was it?

Still undecided on Arteta. I can't help but feel his bubble will burst. On the other hand I could see him managing Barca. He's an annoying little "fookin" bollock though.

I'm not a fan of making defensive choices based on the opposition. We should play what we think is our best defence and plan to implement our game on them. If we keep the ball, if we make the runs, if we put in the tackles, we should beat them, without having to change players to suit them.

Yes but do you completely disregard what happened in between? That's why it's so tricky. I like Moyes, he's actually grown on me as a bloke and I've seen some of his coaching videos online, which are decent. I do think there is a ceiling to his style of football though.

It's incredibly difficult to list them because you could look at it in a few ways. Trophies? Current club? Previous jobs? Potential? There's two things I'm sure about... Howe is mint and Gerrard is complete shit. The exact polar opposites in what I would want in a manager.

Guardiola Klopp Conte Eddie (haters gonna hate) Potter ETH Tuchel Rodgers Moyes Arteta Frank Viera Cooper Silva Hassenhutl Marsch Lage Lampard Parker (gone) Gerrard

Don't for a second think Tuchel is behind their recruitment.

It's the lack of preparation and training time between matches that causes the issues.

I think you have to take into account the first half battering they had for about 20 minutes. Miggy hit post, Botman twice, Longstaff header, Isak chance. This is where they get their metrics from. Even in the second half Willock could have had a couple.

Pretty pleased with my take from page 3.

Yeah, I'm totally with that. The issue is that other sides do exactly that, and we end up getting battered from time to time. Getting a heavy defeat is tough for the kids, they lose confidence and it gets them down. The key is to try and make games competitive, that way they learn regardless of results. It's challenging though.

1 good one in January would be nice. If they are anything like Bruno, Botman, Isak, Pope, Trippier, they will elevate us again. Someone exciting in the AM/RW would be sweet.

My personal favourite is when anyone and everyone is a "championship player", Longstaff gets it alot. Alot of these players are doing awfully well for championship players, since they are sitting mid table in the PL. Someone said the same about McTominay, who just helped Man Utd win 3-1 against Arsenal. Disclaimer: I'm not saying anyone is above criticism, it's just the way some go straight to the red button.

My U10s played a tournament today, 3 games, lost 2 and drew 1 but in reality we should have won two, we played really well. It's incredibly hard as a coach trying to balance wanting a competitive team, by playing your strongest players and not wanting to leave kids out or disappointing parents.

Won't happen but: Pope Trippier Schar Botman Targett Bruno Joelinton Anderson Miggy ASM Isak West Ham are fragile IMO. Get into them early. 0-2

Wonder how Scott Parker is feeling this morning? Fucking idiot. Also, if Bournemouth hire O'Neil off the back of a couple of decent results they deserve to go down. Would be nice to see them have some forward planning rather than just reacting to a result or two.

We've genuinely got one of the best defences in the league. Will look even better when we get our attacking players back, who will put teams to the sword and relieve even more pressure.

How's this guy behind Pickford BTW? Pickford had a great game yesterday, made loads of saves but he's equally as likely just to throw the ball in the back of his own net.

I thought he drifted in and out yesterday, which is fine, Wilson does the same but that outside of the foot pass was unreal. A sign of a quality player.

Still love this man. He's everything that I'm incapable of being.

It really is fucking sods law that we are sitting in September and we already have 2 long term injuries, one to a starter in Shelvey, and 3 knocks all to key players. You couldn't have hand picked worse injuries TBH. I suppose we should be thankful that we have a good manager and a solid squad, which means we can pick up points and put in decent performances anyway. Give me Bruno back for a sustained run FFS, points will come flying in.

Looks like we are almost at tipping point when it comes to VAR. Everyone seems pissed off today. There should be a league table for referees, open for all to see, they get demoted accordingly. They should also get paid more (hear me out), because right now there is this "poor little refs" thing that seems to go around. Pay them more, hold them MORE accountable and make it a profession that young football fans want to get involved in.

I'm in the pro-Willock camp.... just. I totally understand why people get frustrated with him, sometimes he seems to go missing, sometimes he runs down blind alleys but I think his overall contribution gets him by. He presses the ball well, carrys the ball forward well and gets into the box all the time. The issue is that his game is entirely dependent on end product. You can deal with him going missing when he's popping up with goals every now and then but right now, when the side needs him, he's fluffing his lines. What I will say, is that there are some senior players who aren't exactly putting in numbers either, Almiron, Fraser, Wood need to step up to the plate. Good thing for us is that Willock is a good alrounder, who will fetch a decent fee when we want to sell. Which we will if he doesn't get back on the score sheet.

We've become even better in defence with Pope and Botman, with the added bonus of having Burn and Targett as different options. Even Lascelles looks to have stepped up again.

Can't wait until he has Bruno sliding him passes.