Taylor Swift

Likely to be worse without the CL. How much have wages gone down? I don’t think anywhere close to enough to make up for it.

We just cannot afford deals like Mbeumo because there’s no chance we make our money back in the future. No one will pay £50m for him when he’s 29. This is the key issue. In hindsight, the Barnes deal was bad because of this issue. We won’t make our money back. Deals for Bruno, Isak, Gordon, Tonali, Botman, Hall and Livramento all worked out great. That’s the blueprint. I don’t think we’ll spend more than £20m on anyone over 25, it just doesn’t make sense. A winger and a CB both under 23 in the summer.

Even if we spend £50m on a new RW, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be as productive as Murphy. Hopefully we get someone who’s better at controlling the ball and dribbling than Murphy so we can show teams a different look, especially in games against the top teams where we don’t have the majority of possession. But against weaker teams, Murphy has been very good, it’s hard to be more productive.

Mbeumo seems too old for us. There’s no chance to resell him for a profit. We sign younger players: Tonali at 23, Isak at 22, Hall at 19, Livramento at 20, Bruno at 23, Botman at 22, Gordon at 21. Dibling is a good shout, so is McAtee. Mbeumo will be 26 at the start of next season. With our PSR issues, signing anyone over 23 is risky. Dibling will be 19 at the start of next season, young for what we usually target but probably the best choice out of all the other potential targets.

Which clubs might miss PSR this year and be forced to sell cheap before the season ends? Man Utd? Chelsea? Who do we want from Chelsea? I would love to poach Colwill.

I can’t believe they’re still pressing this high up. We look like we’re a pass or two away from getting another good chance.

What a finish by Gordon.

That is beautiful.

I know it’s heresy to discuss an Isak replacement but given our PSR issues, would Isak for £150m for Elanga, Ekitike and Guehi be a decent way to refresh the squad? I know I deserve a ban for even suggesting it.

Best left back in the league.

They can’t keep the ball. We need to score early in the second half and take control of this match.

I don’t think we’ve played bad.

Frustrating game.

He's not good at defending and he's not pacy. Are we sure LB is his best position? Even if he ends up better at defending, he's not close to being the end product, and his lack of pace will always be a limiting factor. We should have gotten a lot more for 30m than potential. Arsenal got Timber for 40m and he's a complete player. It feels like LB is going to be a weak spot for us for the next few years as we've invested too much to change strategy now. The PSR bullshit means we can't really correct this mistake quickly.

The rules force us to have homegrown players, he’s a fine backup. He should get a new deal. It’s insane to lose a homegrown player who’s 26 on a free. It’s bad business. Sell him for £15m in 2 years if Miley has taken his place, but letting him go for free is stupid.