Yorkie

Three then.

I get the logic but Hatem was a lot better than ASM and was absolutely made for the 4-3-3. I think there's a chance he has enduring success here under Howe.

I wouldn't start with it but it would be nice to have two finishers on the pitch at some point if we need it.

B.

When it comes to strikers - maybe goalkeepers too - I think the most straightforward route to making an assessment is comparing them to their peers. Isak might not be 99 for every single attribute but he's literally the best striker in the league so he's clearly an A, imo. He's scored plenty of headed goals and holds it up well too. What foot he scores with isn't any meaningful metric, is it? Wasn't for Shearer anyway ("make your left foot good, but make your right foot brilliant.") His dribbling, finishing and quickness of thought are all as good as you're ever likely to see from a striker on a football pitch today. If you told me he was the best striker in the world I'd believe you.

TBG is good but this is your goat 🐐 wum right here, folks.

Stupidly good. For years we debated who the best since Shearer was, then this guy arrived and ended the argument very comprehensively. Fantastic player who has the potential to be the best we've ever had.

Delap could go to the top. Imagine every man and his dog will be after him in the summer. Chelsea seems an obvious destination.

9 man Lazio win it

New contract is a no brainer but I'm tipping the dialogue wheel away from Crucial to Rotation and his chump agent can say "that's what we're after."

Blaze now KI has confirmed can we make sure we get the Sky comms? Cheers.

Yeah do that, Jim. 💔

I like Barnes a lot. We've still not seen the best of him consistently, and I doubt we ever will. He's frustrating in how he disappears from games because when he makes an impact, it always seems to be in a really meaningful way. In the early throes of this season he was literally in the running for our player of the season tbh, then more injuries come and suddenly he's scrabbling around for minutes again. That right foot of his is absolutely glorious; the goals against West Ham and Wolves were absolute beauties. But yeah, C.

I'm sure you weren't always a parody account.

That it was sustained against Liverpool is the ultimate kick in the nuts, like. Our whole left side gone in an instant.

Think Gordon is quality, personally. He's a pain in the arse for defenders even on an off day, and on an 'on' day he's a nightmare. Love his directness and workrate; wish his decision making was better at times. He's got a fire in his belly though and is slightly mercurial - love that in a player. I was absolutely miserable when I thought he was going to Liverpool (it ruined the Euros for me ) so I was ecstatic when we kept him. Totally gutted he's having to miss the final. He doesn't deserve that at all.

Dearly hope that the NUFC fans in the ground go into it remembering that this team is capable of delivering absolutely massive performances on big occasions. I understand why people might be pessimistic or predict a defeat, but the mopey shite is painful to read. It really isn't beyond the realms of possibility at all that we do it. Literally just having Alexander Isak in the team gives us a chance. We've had a few sickening results this season (the most recent one taking the biscuit) but in the recent past we've seen some momentous games from these lads. If we take the version of ourselves that we saw in the semis into the final, I genuinely think we'll nick it. I honestly do. It's a cliché and it undermines the tactical and technical performance - but we wanted it more than Arsenal, and I think we'll want it more than Liverpool too. I think Gordon will be a miss but I expect monstrous performances from the likes of Big Joe (who's always good against Liverpool), Bruno (whose leadership style will suit the occasion), Dan Burn (no poems this time) and Isak. If nothing else, we definitely break the duck here. We'll score. Then all we need to do is defend. I genuinely believe and I honestly can't wait. Don't dread it, lads, please. You deserve to look forward to it and you deserve to feel hopeful. We've endured an awful lot of shite so don't squander these special times with dread.

Pretty sure this is correct. I hope so anyway cos I took some comfort from that.

No it isn't. Some absolutely bullshit rules is why we haven't been able to spend.

Points between 3rd place and 9th place: 2014/15 - 21 2015/16 - 19 2016/17 - 32 2017/18 - 30 2018/19 - 30 2019/20 - 12 2020/21 - 10 (BCD season) 2021/22 - 23 2022/23 - 16 2023/24 - 30 2025/25 - 6* *unfinished It's just insanely tight this year, and the standard across the top half especially is very high, which has been incredibly punishing most notably for ManU and Spurs. The team who finishes 9th are set to finish on a record high number of points. Being in pole position to get a CL spot given that context - and given we haven't been able to add to the squad where others have - is commendable. We do need to improve though if we're going to sustain it.

Cheers, Bruno. It's fine though, I'll just blame VAR.

We definitely looked 4-4-2 off the ball, to me.

Murillo, Aina and Elanga all come straight in. Anderson features in every game too.

Could do. Europe is guaranteed so you think it might take the pressure off a wee bit and we play with a lot less anxiety. I can't wait for it, do believe in the lads