Memphis

Watching his performance again from yesterday, it was genuinely elite-level stuff. I cannot believe how much better he's gotten, and how much more consistently he is putting in quality balls. It's impossible. It's like if Matt Targett all of a sudden looked like Nuno Mendes, what on Earth is happening? He is such a great character and has been selflessly supportive of others for years, loves the club, loves the people, you can't not love him - and now he's a superstar all of a sudden. What a season.

Like most everyone else, i figured he was done as a top-level player, but I couldn't be happier to be wrong. It really is fitting for him to be playing a key role in this side as it was him signing that started all of this momentum in the first place. Running more than he has in ages, he's putting in quality deliveries and linking up perfectly with Jacob Murphy on that right side. Appreciative that he handled Bruno being named captain with such class as well, that could have been ugly. Thrilled to see this version of him back and I'm happy to have him for another season in this role. 

How would we respond to winning the Carabao Cup?

12 points from 12, 14 goals scored, 2 conceded

Mentality monsters.

Can't believe he's our player. Thunders into tackles, first touch of a ballerina, passing range for days, never gets tired. We've said players were world class before, but this guy - this is what world class looks like. Would stroll into pretty much any midfield in the world and make it better. 

Just so good to watch. Another Tonali masterclass in the middle. Tactics were spot on from Howe (Tindall?). Made the pitch really wide, wingers and fullbacks had all kinds of joy. Murphy has evolved like a Pokemon into his upgraded form. We could have had 8 or 9 easily. And we can yet improve. Have to pinch myself sometimes to believe what I'm watching.  

Jacob Murphy

BALLON D'OR BALLON D'OR BALLON D'OR BALLON D'OR BALLON D'OR

Excellent game to watch, Villa deserves credit for the fightback, did everything they could do. No shame in being put out like that. 

Thought taking Rashford off was the wrong move, he was phenomenal second half. They lost some spark with that sub. 

I had managed to forget about the legendary Antonio Mango until now 

Pinching myself that we have a player of his calibre in our team. He is a proper world class midfielder. He can do it all and will do it all for the full 90+ minutes. Irreplaceable. 

Wonderful second half performance. Really upped the tempo and intensity and blew them out of the water. Winning is a habit. 

Murphy not doing too much going forward but has really helped tracking back. Barnes not as much, which is why we got punished on that side of the pitch. Really looking forward to Gordon returning. 

Strangely muted. Great goal and we should have had at least one more. They’re much improved over the season and are taking advantage of our lack of pace on the counter. Hard to say where it goes from here. 

Lewis Hall-esque performance from Nuno Mendes there

Wretched game, lovely 3 points

1 minute ago, Scoot said:

What a shite second half this is.

the whole match has been execrable

I can't believe there's a team lower than Leicester in the league. That seems impossible on this evidence. They defy description.

this has looked like one of those friendlies in the US where it's incredibly hot and everyone's just jogging around

Did you see the stat they showed earlier? Leicester haven't scored at home in almost 12 hours, which is bad enough, but their combined xG over that time was just 2.7 - imagine having a season ticket for that 

Osula on at the half please. Don't think Isak is fit. Let's not get him hurt. 

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Dont  think we are dominating open play. 

we aren't at all, yet we're more or less comfortable, it's a strange game

Looks like we've been challenged to win a game by using as little energy as possible. Just doing the bare minimum here, poor play, lots of bad touches, but it doesn't seem to matter. Hope we're getting all this out of our system tonight.

We are dominating a game we look like we can hardly be bothered to play. Leicester are so bad.

We are finding ways to win matches when far from our best. At West Ham the Monday before the Cup Final and now at home against a very good Brentford, we managed to take 6 points from 6 in spite of mediocre performances overall. I think that's the quality you associate with consistent winning clubs - how many matches have we watched where we've been done by Liverpool or someone similar despite outplaying them? We're developing the mentality you need when you want to consistently challenge for things. Everyone bar Tino and Sandro played at a level below their best and yet we won. I thought by that metric it was a positive night.

I’ve never had a goal cause my jaw to literally drop before. Just shocking. Of course he meant it btw