Conjo

Pope takes ages to get down for low shots. Can't see him saving that. He's good with the reaction saves with his feet and higher shots. On top of that we'd conceed possession a lot more today, allowing Chelsea to establish more pressure around our box it's not sure we'd be 2-0 at HT at all.

So as long as it's shoulder to shoulder, anything goes is that how it is?

Crazy talk

Miley

He's not. But great to see he can slot in there in the time of need. If he had Livramentos defensive qualities, pace and stamina he'd be the best right back in the world.

Fuck I love watching us press and win the ball back high like this.

Incredible how it can take so long to determine stuff like this. Should be done and dusted in under a minute.

Very positive start. Gordon looks fired up, Tonali has that little strut in him that's been missing the last few weeks. Ramsey looks little more decisive and alert in his play. Ball sticking to Woltemessi. Murphy crosses are laser guided. Just need another goal so we have some breathing room for the inevitable 70-90 min capitulation.

Why does Gusto get so bad pain in his leg when Gordon goes in shoulder to shoulder? He should get that checked out.

Days=weeks weeks=months months=season

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAeDK5XJoE4 Skip to 02:50

Seems to have played every game for Middlesbrough since end of August. Majority of them the full 90.

Handsome then.

Clear as day Murphy let his man find space behind.

So the trick is simply to wait until late in the game before we take the lead in order to prevent the opposing team from equalising late in the game.

Dark hair? Check Tall? Check Can play anywhere on the pitch? Check Scores crucial headers? Check Gary Speed reincarnated.

Wish he hadn't. His decision to not shoot in good positions in the past has been vindicated.

Wissa with a throwback Lua Lua-style offside

Prefer Miley at RB simply to not have four players playing out of position instead of two.

Watching Bournemouth defending against Man Utd now, they leave their wingers highest up the pitch with little/no tracking back, while Evanilson is a little bit behind them. Feel like that is exactly the type of position Woltemade would excel in to receive the ball in transitions and create situations for us, instead of being a lone striker chasing shadows while our wingers support our fullbacks.

Although it hasn't been converted into better performances, one thing at the top of my head is that he's doing a lot more rotation of the squad than last time. Granted, we struggled awfully with injuries, but even when he had the chance to do so, he didn't. So that's one thing.

He started playing 3-4-3, then swapped to 4-3-3 and also introduced the 5-4-1 last season. We've played many different iterations of the 4-3-3 too. The Joelinton/Willock LW/LCM, Gordon LW, Burn LB pushing up as a target, more traditionally with Hall, Trippier wing back era, Trippier as a more withdrawn inverted fullback, Bruno 6, Tonali 6, Bruno/Tonali interchanging, etc etc. I don't think he is incapable of chaning the way we play. It can take time though. By his own admission he doesn't really care about the formation. His main work seems to be to evaluate games and make small changes all the time, as well as adjusting to the opposition. That is ofc easier to do with less games to play. This is only his second season ever playing in 4 competitions in a season. He'll learn and adapt.

Up

ah makes sense

Appreciate the insight, just wanted to highlight that he's not "potentially a brilliant appointment". He's been here for 4 years, and is already a brilliant appointment for us.