Yorkie

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

The lingering feeling for me is sheer bitterness in that, for us, we had to win it twice and that didn't apply to Brighton. Others will take a different view because of their hard-ons for lines that only exist in the digital world, but it's not far off Tino/PSG levels of bullshit for me. Just fuck off, man. Self-destruct my arse, we won it.

Great to see. Agony we're not still in the mix.

Were it not for Gordon - who I really pictured having a big game in the final - I hadn't felt any different. It's one game on neutral ground, and we'll have learned from the last trip to Wembley. I still believe we can do it and am really looking forward to it. It's wonderful that we've given ourselves this opportunity again. Gordon thing isn't quite Pope all over again, because we have options, but it's a pisser and above all I'm gutted for the lad himself. Felt like a bit of a destiny thing and he made a huge contribution in the semi, too. Fucking Brighton.

Obviously shocking positioning but can't dig him out too much when it's that late in the game. Concentration bound to waver by that point, and he'd switched positions too. Made a good claim for the LB spot. As did Tripps for RB; thought he was probably our best player tbh. Will be a huge bonus if he can keep that up.

I hope he's removed from the team before he harms what ought to be a fantastic legacy. That said, no VAR and, yet again, he's done the thing he's most adored for at this club: scored a brilliant goal. A desperate shame that it got taken away from him and I'll never, ever believe it's right for the game. It's not bias either, I've made the point about dozens and dozens of perfectly good goals ruled-out by this manifestation of the need to make real football like FIFA/PES.

Exactly the same for me. West Ham looked bleak but what I thought looked like the players potentially giving up on Howe was simply a bad performance. Absolutely ludicrous if he's had to work with a mostly identical squad for two years and not given the opportunity to rejuvenate it once we're less restricted. The evidence is there that he can key taking us forward

Probably on brand of me but I actually do have a great deal of sympathy for him, despite thinking it was a red. What he's done is momentarily lose his composure in an incredibly high pressure situation and now he's victim of the incredibly overzealous three-game role and misses the biggest game of his club career. That the ref denied him a clear foul for the same infringement moments earlier (contributing to his actions) and then was visibly excited to get the red card in front of his face, sticks in the craw. It's a terrible, terrible error and he is accountable to it, but fans laying into him as if he isn't a massive reason for why we're in the final at all is a bit depressing. Understandable to some extent, but still just sad.

Thought Joe looked really sharp in the first half and linked up with Gordon very well. Sandro's decision making on the ball was way off and not for the first time recently. Off it he was his usual all action self and made some crucial contributions. Frustrating game from him I thought.