Taylor Swift

I thought Burn was bought as a center back and he was excellent there. Just because he played well at LB after doesn’t mean he should still play there. In hindsight the Hall signing was a huge mistake, we really need a natural LB.

If I think back to all the big matches in the last 20 years, the thing that sticks out is the best players make the difference. They score, they create. Sometimes it’s not a tactical thing because both teams are evenly matched, but it’s the magic that the best players can produce. We need to find someone like that to make the difference in these matches. Liverpool have Salah, City have KdB and Haaland, Barca used to have Messi etc.

The difference between us and City yesterday - besides some tactical things - is that we don’t have anyone on KdB’s level. These players make the difference in these types of matches. We don’t have anyone on that tier, yet. Isak’s close, same as Bruno, but both are a tier below.

Liverpool had a lot of injuries last year and couldn’t make up the gap when their players got back. Even with Klopp, they finished outside the CL spots. Then, they spent heavily and are now top. I hope Howe gets the same chance. Let’s see if we can get on a run when everyone’s fit, even if we finish outside the CL spots.

This is from the SBR days, man. I swear I’ve seen this match before.

Been a while since we scored from a set piece.

I don’t understand how we’re so good at home and bad away.

Best player in the team, his movement and touch is incredible.

I don't understand the Phillips interest. He showed up overweight to City during what should be his prime years. He was unfit for nearly a whole year. That's incredible. Pep is saying all the right things because he wants money for him. If he was honest, he wouldn't get anything close to what was paid.

What a finish by Gordon!

On to PSG and Man Utd. Beat Man Utd next week and it’s been a decent start to the season in the league. Behind 5-6 points after the injuries we’ve had is okay, lots of time to catch up.

Game over.

3!!

One more goal to finish this game please!

What a cross by Gordon.

Lascelles making up for his errors.

What a pass by Miley. He is going to be a star.

I’m hoping that we figure out how to close games better. We’ve dropped deep against West Ham and Arsenal. Punished against West Ham but didn’t against Arsenal. As far as I’m aware, City, Liverpool and Arsenal don’t drop this deep at the end of the game, even against very good teams. Someone can correct me. We should be able to control the ball when under pressure.

Just keep hovering around 2 points per match. Win away at Bournemouth next weekend and it’s 23 points from 12 matches. That projects out to 70+ points which will be top 4.

I can't believe how much better his touch and dribbling is compared to when he arrived. He's so confident on the ball now, his control is tight spaces is excellent for the type of midfielder that he is.

3 VAR checks

Rice has been very good. Saliba as well. Other than that, I think they’re missing Odegaard quite a bit. We need more options besides attacking through Trippier. Hope the Burn injury means Hall comes on.

Genuinely looking forward to another winter World Cup. Timings are so sweet for Asians, few super late kickoffs.

I understand the comments about rotating players, but there’s no reason why many players can’t play 50+ games. That’s the way the top teams do it as well. Haaland played 53 games last year, Grealish played 50, Rodri played nearly 60. Salah has played 50+ games every year for 5-6 seasons. Trippier may be too old to play 50+ games but the rest should be fine. We don’t have too many old players in the starting eleven. I would like to see Hall getting a few games because he looks better on the ball and he’s also quicker. Our left side was the side they were attacking all game, Howe should have realised. Burn’s a good defender but Neto was pushing him very deep all game.

Worst case he gets banned for 8 months like Toney, I guess. These players are fucking stupid.