STM

Was always a game we could lose. I know its not our identity but we should have sat back and countered. So long as we batter Ipswich, it doesn't matter.

Because sadly that's not the rules. Ref can't give a yellow from VAR.

Aye thats because we have 3 without pace.

Trippier getting caught all half. Apart from that we look OK. Ref is shocking. He's a classic homer.

That goal for Southampton will heap pressure on Potter. Lucky the season is nearly over.

That O'brien is an absolute unit mind. Perfect for Everton.

Everton were visibly knackered at about 60 mins. That's what 6 months of Dyche will do.

Haha. Oh well fuck em.

Silver lining but Everton getting beat a few times before the end of the season aint a bad thing. Want them on holiday for last game. Also Brighton, similar, need them with nowt to play for.

Fuck.

Pickford saving us but feel a city winner coming.

This is terrible from them. They've barely done anything.

He won a European cup at West Ham. The Man United gig was a poisoned chalice and I won't blame anyone for failing at Sunderland. I'm not saying he's a great manager but he's not a bad one.

Everton are so good under Moyes

Everton putting up a decent effort.

How dare he be asked how his team will improve. The fucking temerity of the journalist.

Because he has been asked to by an agent. It could well be Mileys people trying to drum up interest or it could be another club trying to unsettle him.

I agree and I'm not advocating a sale but let's play devil's advocate for a second.... 40 odd million (guesswork) pure profit in the PSR coffers might be the difference in us signing 2 more first team ready players. I also think that if we are to head to the top, we might not want to get attached to young players that come through the system. Have a look at Man City and Chelsea, they churn out players precisely for selling them on. I wouldnt want to have to make that decision, if a big offer came in.

Yeah it's a funny one that but what if someone puts 45m down like Forest did for MGW? We'd have to make a decision on whether he's truly destined for the top or not because it's alot of money to turn down. You can see why someone like Everton or West Ham might be willing to shell out for a top young English midfielder, for example. Like some have mentioned above, he should get plenty of game time but is he ready for that? If one of our midfielders gets injured, is Miley ready to step in for 15/20 games? A loan wouldn't make any sense either because we'd be getting the worst of both worlds.

Lyon are proper shit.

I've never trusted a team as much in my life. Even if we slip up against Villa, we will smash Ipswich.

Against MU he looked sluggish but yesterday he was class. It's such a shame that he's coming to the end of his peak years. He's an absolute joy of a CB to watch.

Another player who i was convinced was finished. There's no way we let him go next season. He's such a formidable leader on and off the pitch. With CL football we need a squad and even if Tripper doesn't start in the CL, we might need him in the next PL game or whatever. He's one of those guys who could have a place at the club way beyond his playing days. If he's got an eye on management, he should take a similar path to Arteta with Guardiola, except with Howe. I can't think of a better way to learn your trade than stepping alongside Howes coaching staff.

Yeah in the last few games Sandro has been our best midfielder but Joelinton was very good against MU and Bruno had a good game last night. It's so weird seeing Bruno outshone.

On our day we can match any team in the country, we've beaten Arsenal 3 times which is a fair basis to judge any side on. We've had consistency issues, which related firstly to finding the midfield balance and secondly our inability to rotate players when they needed a rest after a long spell in the side. The first part is already fixed, we know our best midfield and the chemistry is perfect. The second part requires two things, firstly a squad of sufficient depth to rotate players in and out. For example, we can't mount a title challenge when in order to give Bruno a rest we bring Longstaff on in his place. Secondly, Eddie has to bite the bullet at times and show he's willing to rest the odd player who is in a performing side before they get jaded. This isnt a criticism of Howe, it's just something new he's going to have to think about. If next season, we can come off a win and have the bravery to, let's say rest Gordon and bring Barnes in, rest Botman and bring Burn in or even rest a fundamental player like Isak/Tonali, only then will we have the capacity to mount a serious threat. Our first team players are going to have to quickly realise that they are going to have to sit on the bench and be rested from time to time. This will prevent injuries and allow us to keep our levels up. .... Anyway, I'd be shocked if we didn't get CL from this point. It would also be nice to get 3rd or 4th too.