Andy

Last 25 minutes or so I'd say that was the case, we were very poor before the subs When we find ourselves needing a goal we look a completely different side, as was often the case last season

Absolutely guarantee we'll play with high intensity against Spurs and look a completely different side, we just look so flat away from home and against weaker teams

Which is odd though, because those patterns of play came from these coaches It's hard to tell what we're trying to do when we go forward, unless it's a counter attack we're very aimless and terrified of having the ball

We have absolutely no structure to our play whatsoever at the moment, all of those clever little patterns of play we had in 2022/23 feel like a very distant memory. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what has changed and where it's going wrong.

Aye he definitely has a penchant for being right when it's bad news definitely not so good with positive news like I've always got the impression he wants the club to do well though, unlike Hope and a few others

Aye you just have to take Edwards with a pinch of salt and realise a lot of the time he's just on the wind up (or the wine). He's nowhere near as toxic with his reporting as Hope.

We seem to scout based on personality as much as footballing ability though. It may be that there are other targets out there with similar potential ability to Guehi, like Lacroix for example, but the club's interest is driven by more than that. Guehi is a leader and clearly a good egg too based on the way he has handled this transfer, also very popular amongst other players by all accounts.

I think the problem is that we've stopped doing it tbh. The intense high press was non existent in a lot of games last season (put down to injuries), and has been pretty much non-existent this season too. We aren't very good at developing play from the back, so without the turnovers we struggle.

It's not just to do with favours but also convincing players to go there. Not many of our deadwood strike me as the kind of guys that would up and move their families to Saudi.

Agree with this mostly. History should have no bearing on a football match. If you suddenly whacked a World XI in a Newcastle kit you wouldn't think "ooo but it's Bournemouth though, they usually do us". I think it's more that the teams they've recently had counteract our squad, style and system.

He was good against PSG in the CL too iirc.

Aye. He's okay as a backup, but he shouldn't still be starting games for us in 2024. I don't think there are many other teams in the league he starts regularly for, if any tbh. Certainly not in the top 10.

Aye. I'd rather lob money at him than Guehi personally. He would improve us massively.

He was as bad this week as he was good last week. Hopefully a one off.

Aye, I said similar in the match thread. Tino is really reluctant to overlap, he stays so deep. Kelly obviously the same on the other side too. So important in modern football for at least one of your fullbacks to be pushing the opposition back.

Did well today, I still think Howe will stick with Kelly though

Always liked VAR

Much better since the subs.

Tino needs to be more brave going forward, for me. Trippier came on and immediately sprinted beyond his winger, the entire team is further up the pitch straight away.

It got written off as being caused by the injuries, but this was the standard away performance all last season, from the start. No structure, massive gaps between attack and defence, no intensity. There is no excuse for the latter now. Where has our press gone? Where are the bodies driving up the pitch when we turn the ball over? Nobody is breaking their neck to run beyond the ball, it's all static and lethargic. When Joelinton lost the ball for the goal, aye it was shite by him, but he had no one to pass to. No full back bombing on, Gordon jogging himself into being marked, midfield stood static. If you play with no bravery as a team, you'll lose the ball like that time and time again. Big changes needed in the second half and in away games going forward.

Defensively fine but he is reluctant to cross the halfway line for some reason.

Aye. Easy to jump on him as it was his error, but the lack of options in front of him in that position was staggering. He should never have had to turn back.

Poor by Joelinton but he had absolutely nobody showing for it like, Gordon just jogging in front of him

He'll get his chance, but I think Kelly has been brought in as first choice tbh. 19 is incredibly young for a fullback, there are obviously exceptions but most don't become good until mid to late 20s.

Aye, it doesn't take a genius to work out why his form suddenly fell off a cliff last year. There's obviously been a lot going on in his personal life that has transferred on to the pitch, and that has ultimately led to him wanting a change of scenery.