Andy

Another iffy performance, but a good win ultimately

There are two consistently glaring issues in our defensive structure every single week at the moment; the gaps in our midfield, and Dan Burn getting pulled to bits. One of these is solvable at the moment, the other probably isn't. Eddie needs to act on the one that is to at least give us a chance of getting some confidence back. Really frustrating that the majority of us can see it but Eddie either can't or doesn't want to, as it's now constantly costing us points.

No way Elanga burns him in that situation from a five yard head start like, Tino is deceptively fast, his recovery speed is excellent

If only we had a pacey fullback to cover some of the ground in the absence of a sweeper keeper

Feels a bit harsh blaming Dubs, aye he got megged but Elanga has so much space that it's one of those where if the keeper saves it, it's a bad finish. He has to come out as Burn is never recovering.

Looks similar to how we finished against Luton

He'll be fine. He only had a twisted ankle didn't he? It's one of those where you know it's either better or it's not just by walking on it, it's not like a muscle injury where you aren't quite sure

Seems like a bit of a stubborn decision from Howe, it could definitely backfire if we lose and Burn has another stinker, could see it turning a lot of the more impatient and vocal fans against him after the noise this week We should have enough with that attack to win the game though hopefully

Relative to how effective he was in the 60 minutes prior to Livramento coming on, he was anonymous. His effect on the overall flow of the game was clearly vastly diminished, I don't know how anyone could watch the game and think otherwise. He was involved in attack after attack prior to that. I would personally describe the chance as a half chance, it's not exactly a sitter, he has to take the shot first time as Tino closed down the angle extremely fast, he can also only really hit the ball near post because of that. It would have took a very good strike to score.

A player can be mostly nullified while still having a half chance, which has been caused by the entire defence being dragged infield. The only way he scores that is by hitting it across Dubravka, which Tino's slide arguably covers. Ogbene was clearly a lot quieter when Burn went off, before that he was having a field day running with the ball, which didn't really happen at all with Tino on the pitch.

He had that chance aye, could argue Tino blocks it if he hits it across goal though, which is the only way he could have scored. He was far more anonymous in general play, one half chance doesn't really change that.

In fairness, City and Arsenal have the luxury of having top class players in almost every other position to make up for that. The players they had at fullback are also faster than Burn. Burn has been badly exposed because of the lack of protection from midfield this season; last season he had Willock and Joelinton doubling up to help him. Miley (understandably) and Longstaff don't do it as effectively, so if Gordon isn't back helping out he's in trouble. We have a fullback sat on the bench who so far has shown he doesn't need the same level of protection. Ogbene was anonymous when Tino came on today.

Hardly a shock that a 17 year old isn't mixing it athletically in midfield like Thought he was good with his passing tbh, played a part in all of our goals.

Such a dangerous player. Playing at probably 50% today and he looked by far our biggest threat.

Like I said in the match thread, I don't believe for one minute that any other manager would play him at left back if they came in and inherited the squad tomorrow. It's such an obvious weak link and a huge blind spot for Eddie. He was decent there last season with protection from Joelinton and Willock, but even then it was obvious we'd have to move on from that at some point, we were playing with two left backs at times against the better teams. He's been massively exposed during the injury crisis due to that lack of cover and protection from midfield.

Fuck off man it's not arrogant to say we shouldn't be going 4-2 down at home to a relegation battling team, having been ahead twice. It's obviously not good enough, especially given the nature of the goals we conceded in the second half.

Really poor result, let's call it what it is. Having to battle back against Luton at home isn't good enough if you want to finish in the European spots. Burn cannot start against Forest.

The reason it often doesn't happen is that the pacey winger is doubled up on by Joelinton or Gordon. It's been rare historically that Burn has been allowed to be isolated 1v1.

If any other manager was in charge of this squad of players, there's no way Dan Burn would start at left back. Love Eddie but he needs to realise he's getting this one wrong and it's costing us.

He can mix it at this level but has obviously still got a load of physical development to do, especially in his engine room, he always noticeably drops off after about 50 minutes. Going to be a top player when we can afford to ease him in and out of games.

While I agree about his first half performance, it's not much good if he can't do it for 90 minutes, which he rarely can this season. He's been done time and time again this half.

So much better, great to see us higher up the pitch and getting our foot on the ball

Aye it's shite. You're in a perfect place for a once a generation title push, but despite having money, you can't strengthen due to FFP, so you'll drop off, probably find yourself in a similar boat to us next season where you struggle to maintain top 4 due to champions league being the focus. You'll shift on key players to the big six, and probably never get back into this position for a decade. Absolute closed shop.

I guess the counter argument would be that Pep doesn't need to manage fitness and fatigue to the same extent that Howe does, since he has an infinitely deep squad. Doesn't really matter if he runs players into the ground as he can switch them out when necessary.

Love Bruno but he does try to force the play too often sometimes. Needs to learn to keep it simple and pick his moments. 30 yard, outside of the boot through balls look mint when they come off, but in general they're about as effective as Shelvey's hollywood passes used to be, especially when Isak is stranded. Feel like this is something he's introduced to his game far more regularly this season, maybe it's due to a lack of moment around him I guess.