Andy

Phillips would be an okay signing I think, a bit meh though. Kinda bored of us signing English players, want us to get in 4 sexy unknown foreigners that could either turn out to be mint or turbo shit.

The problem is, we'll never move forward beyond where we were last season with this kind of setup, and we'll struggle to even get back to that kind of level now that the league has generally improved. If you look at Liverpool, Arsenal, City and Spurs, their wide forwards are not great at supporting defensively. You don't look at Son, Salah, Saka, Martinelli, Doku and think how good a job they do at reinforcing their fullback. Same for Villa with Bailey/Diaby when they play in a system without wingbacks. At some point you need to move away from having fullbacks that need protection from your wide forwards; we have a three man midfield and some baseline protection should be coming from them, but it shouldn't need to be a constant thing which is what happens when Burn is against any kind of half decent player. You end up completely nullifying a player like Gordon if he's wasting energy in our defensive third.

Brighton were good because we played into their hands imo. They've barely managed to replicate that performance this season, especially against other top 10 sides at home.

We've played without intensity almost all season tbf. I posted about it below after the Brighton game which was back in September. Injuries and fatigue are an issue but they're not the only reason for the lack of intensity and change of style. It's either instructional or there's a bit of a motivational issue IMO, as we've managed to play that way in certain big home games (Man Utd, PSG, Milan first half) but otherwise we've lacked that identity that we had last season. This is obviously a glaring issue as we don't have the technical or tactical nouse to make up for it.

Our starting 11 today was much better than Forest's.

Howe is a motivator and is great at capitalising on and maximising waves of positivity. This is a massive test for him, as there are shades of his last season at Bournemouth - obviously we're not in danger of relegation, but there is an injury crisis, players look frustrated and demoralised, and there is a sudden turn in mood across small but vocal sections of the fanbase. He needs to get away from selecting players based on what they've done, rather than what they're doing. There is no way Burn, even arguably Trippier should be starting on current form when there are other options there. It was good to see Longstaff hooked instead of Miley, but I suspect this was fitness related and it would've been the other way around if not too. The next month is going to be extremely difficult and may determine his fate here. Much as the level headed amongst us still love him, there will be a big change in climate if we lose to the mackems and struggle to amass points in some very difficult fixtures. Today felt like a must-win and we completely flopped. He is in by far the most fragile situation he has been in since Bournemouth imploded imo.

Nah this isn't a Championship level first 11 like. No excuses in terms of the respective ability of the two teams.

I guess the difference there is that our strikers are crocks. Was obvious you'd struggle to even get half a season out of Wilson, and Isak is clearly prone to muscle injuries too, so it always felt a risk.

We have an extremely dodgy run of games after Forest. If he loses that Sunderland fixture, it's realistic we also get nothing from Liverpool away, City home and Villa away. If all of those results go against us I can see a chunk of our fanbase turning on him unfortunately.

Agreed on the creative midfielder. We'd benefit far more from an athletic DM to bridge the gap between midfield and defence imo, with Joelinton and Bruno playing a bit further up. Bruno is good in the "6" role when we're in control of a game, but in games with high turnovers he struggles and huge gaps appear.

The recent run of form goes to show how important belief is in football. Last year we were riding that wave of positivity and were gladiatorial. The players looked taller, stronger, faster and more technical than the opposition. It's obvious that the injury crisis has caused a physical issue, but there is a clear lack of belief away from home. We're playing within ourselves and look small, weak, slow and clumsy on the ball. Players are making bad decisions, playing too safe, dropping too deep, not being brave enough in the press. Some of this can be down to fatigue, but not all of it, as our home performances are still relatively similar to last year. Lots of work for Eddie to do. A few good signings in January are needed to change the mood imo .

Time for Matt Ritchie imo

Fatigue is definitely an issue and we'll improve when players return, but we've been naff away from home all season tbf. There's a little more to that than just fatigue imo.

Fair enough City. The other games we didn't give a good account of ourselves at all - Wolves away is a game we should be winning and dominating, we were lucky to get a draw. Brighton are no great shakes either this season - they have only beaten us, Brentford, Bournemouth and Luton at home. As others have said it's the difference between home and away form that is concerning, as it suggests there's probably a bit more to it than just the fatigue and injuries.

While that's true, our away form (and performances) have obviously taken that to the extreme this season. We are close to being bottom three in the league away from home, and were before the injuries hit too. I'd be very surprised if it isn't something that Howe is concerned about, I doubt he's just dismissing it.

We manage to control games at home though, to me it's either a physiological issue or and instruction to drop off once we score away from home. We've done it all season, not just during the injury crisis.

Yeah it's not helping with the fatigue issue either. We can't control the game away from home so end up chasing the ball for the majority of the match, anyone who's played footy knows how tiring that is compared to maintaining spells of possession. I'm not sure if it's the formation or how deep we drop after scoring, but it's been an issue all season away from home.

More likely that the exchange with the fan was an early sign that something else isn't quite right with him tbh. Was out of character for him to bite back like that.

There's something not right with him man. Looks pale and gaunt, he's either ill or has some shit going on. Never for one minute should have been taking that penalty like.

I wonder if there was something in the "personal issues" that he was sent home from England for? His form has been iffy ever since then

What's going on with Trips man. He looks a shadow of himself mentally and physically.

So is Ritchie

Nothing in Hall's performances so far has suggested he would offer less than Matt Ritchie here like. Really odd.

We had to win the game to qualify, I'm not going to rip into them for pushing on and having a go like, even if it was a bit naive. Quite happy to fuck the Europa League off, we can clearly do without the additional fixtures.

It's how he's played all season and been praised for it the team is clearly structured around Schar making these bursts, the cover should be there if he makes a bad decision or pass.