Andy

I disagree with this. Bruno is in the team regardless. The switch to the teamsheet that needed to be made (and that I was clamouring for) was Longstaff out, Tonali in. That change is the sole reason we've been able to accommodate Bruno moving to the right. No other player could sit centrally like Tonali has, particularly Longstaff. Howe hasn't dropped Longstaff for Bruno, he's dropped him for Tonali.

The argument being made earlier in the season, by a lot of people, not everyone, was that in the games where we won, we did so because Longstaff was on the pitch. The statement "we were winning when Longstaff was on the pitch" may be true, but it evidently wasn't the reason. I had at least one lengthy argument on here that removing Longstaff from the team and adding in Tonali (which is what has happened, regardless of the positional switch) was a no brainer. People were saying they couldn't see what Tonali offered that Longstaff didn't because he wasn't changing the game in 30 minutes cameos where we were losing. It's absolutely no surprise that finding a way to build the team around the best central midfielder on our books has seen a tangible improvement in both form and performances.

These arguments were always stupid tbh. Just ignoring all nuance and any other variables that could affect performances and results, and plumping straight for "LONGSTAFF PLAY TEAM GOOD, TONALI PLAY TEAM BAD"

Draw a red rectangle covering the full length of the pitch. That's what it feels like his heatmap should look like today. Everywhere.

Great to see. Being effective on set pieces can be the difference between a good few league table positions, there was really no excuse for how bad we were at them given how physical our team is.

He's probably trying too hard to impress due to the limited minutes he's getting. Showed glimpses of being a handful, particularly when he first came on.

That sub always irritates me since Tino ends up moving too, always seems needlessly disruptive. Few times it's happened now I think. Good performance and result tonight.

Aye. At worst it was 50-50, but if anything Joelinton was being held.

I'm not sure why there's a need to even retread this ground tbh, but the majority of this forum, and people in the stands, wanted someone else at left back last season. I'd hazard a guess that even Burn himself would say he wasn't having a great time there. Much like Longstaff at times, he wasn't "scapegoated", he was struggling. For some reason when it's a Geordie lad, valid criticism becomes scapegoating. He was good in that role the season before, but to me, the only rewriting of history is coming from people who are now acting like he was assured there last season. There was a period where the opposition were consciously targeting his side of the pitch week in week out and getting a lot of joy from it. It only really stopped when Tino went to left back for a spell. He's been pretty solid this season at CB. However, I couldn't think of anything worse than him going back to left back for a sustained period. The difference in having Hall there should be an obvious enough contrast.

He was getting rinsed often enough for it to be a constant cause of debate on here. Wouldn't take much effort to look back and find the posts. It's certainly no more questionable than pretending he was solid at left back for the majority of last season, when he played there. The reality might sit somewhere in between, but he was certainly poor in the position as often as he was good, which is below the standard you'd expect of a premier league left back.

I agree there were other factors, but I definitely think he lost a yard of recovery pace between the end of 22/23 and January 24. He was never exactly quick to begin with mind. I didn't say it happened entirely over the summer, but recovery from pre season is where age tends to take its toll.

Disagree with this personally. He got rinsed time and time again last season, hence people clamouring for Hall at left back. He was good at LB the season before but lost a yard of pace between seasons.

Think he's had a good season, but not sure I'm quite at the point of gushing over him like others. He's excellent when you're backs to wall and need someone to throw themselves in the way of things, he's questionable if you're playing on the front foot and the other team are fast in transition. His lack of pace is definitely a problem at times, compounded by Schar's lack of pace, and further compounded by Bruno's lack of pace when he's playing deep. That said, it's hard to argue that he's been an excellent value signing overall.

Russel Martin's ego is killing Southampton. He's another Kompany; all about pushing his "style" at the expense of the club. You can't play the style of football they want to play with those players.

If you'd said in the summer that City would be behind Nottingham Forest at the end of match day 16, I'd assume they'd been deducted at least a dozen points.

From what I've seen of Ipswich I think they will cause us problems.

Just watched the MOTD coverage where they were saying he should've been sent off for two yellows. Such a thick argument. If he'd been booked for dive, he almost certainly wouldn't have made the second challenge. Complete moot point that they wasted two minutes discussing.

He's top class and actually plays with positional discipline over the full 90, unlike any of our other midfielders. Should be the second name on the team sheet after Isak.

This is where I am with it as well, Leicester are the perfect team for us to play against as they're completely incapable of putting out a solid defensive performance and they don't really have much in transition. They've conceded something like 75 shots in 3 games now. However, there were definitely positives today in the energy levels and attacking intent, and that wasn't all down to the opposition.

They'll drop off as the season goes on unless they have a good January, they don't have the squad depth to sustain it IMO.

Much better from us, good to see some intensity, let's see if we can carry that forward. Leicester were abject.

Good to see us playing with a bit intensity in that first half. Should be a clear of them but for some poor finishing.

Stays the same and Chelsea could be a point behind them tomorrow, which is mad considering Liverpool won the league last month.

Thankfully we have a superb track record of handling knee injuries, so I'm not too concerned

There was certainly a time when I thought Solanke would be a shite signing, but from what I've seen of spurs this season, he's genuinely the least of their problems.