KaKa

How are things looking with building up from the back without Bruno there? Is the double pivot with this setup helping make that easier?

Martinelli is fucking nuts. Why he's bothered about getting on with the game I'll never know. He's been utter shite.

Arteta.

The poor sods that have sat in the cold and rain for this mess man. I'd be raging.

Martinelli is shocking man

What a ball by Madueke finally! And there's no striker or winger from the far side there

Frimpong with a chance to take MLS on in transition. Stops and goes backwards for more horseshoe passing.

Arteta is 100% playing for a draw here. At home against this Liverpool side missing so many players. Diabolical stuff.

The state of Martinelli there

My God this is pitiful Both sides competing to see who can complete the most sideways passes under no pressure. Seriously, what actually is this?!

Take that over this nonsense all day every day. God forbid Newcastle ever play this stupid brand of football. Can't believe Liverpool have gone from Klopp to this crap.

Its unacceptable IMO.

Absolutely disgusting showing this. Boring non threatening football. Despite all their so called top technical players.

Arsenal as tedious and dull as ever. Should be all over this Liverpool side, but just spend too long going side to side and are so painfully slow and impotent.

Yeah, but wingers are going to lose the ball. Our wingers need more touches further up the pitch to get into a rhythm and build some momentum. We are incapable of setting them up to do this. Doku for example loses the ball a good amount, but he keeps getting it in forward areas to go at his full back, and it inevitably pays off this season. Our wingers most often get the ball in awkward areas deep in our half with no midfield support showing for the ball for them to combine with enough, and it's all just a mess.

We can't even get the ball out from the back well enough to get the wide players possession further up the pitch consistently, so they get into any kind of rhythm going at full backs or combining in forward areas to create anything. All down to the broken midfield incompetence IMO.

We've got to move past last season. We are now over halfway into the new season. I've seen enough of Tonali in that position this season. It has not worked and it is not working. It's bad going forward and even the previous defensive upside of that setup is no longer evident as the team is inviting so much pressure by not being able to manage any kind of consistent build up or control of the game. Any game we continue to start that way is just going to be an uphill battle.

He was a handful. He usually is. It's his finishing that can sometimes let him down, that's it. However certain people's "ego", won't let them admit he was a threat last night. Apparently he did "absolutely fuck all". Just so pathetic

Bruno certainly isn't ideal or perfect in that position for some of the reasons you've stated, but he's our best bet currently. Bruno has been finding killer passes from that position even, like he did Barnes the previous game, in the lead up to Willock's awful miss. I love Miley's potential in that position too, but I don't see Howe playing him in there from the start. Bruno is our best bet as things stand as things are so dire currently when Tonali starts there. Just go back and watch the first half yesterday when our centre backs have the ball. He just jogs from side to side behind the opposition and never fights to find space or demand the ball. At one point Hall has the ball and throws his hands up in frustration at the lack of options to pass to in the middle.

Judging by the subs at half time I'm hoping he's realised that midfield isn't right with Tonali at the base of it. Yet again we saw a significant improvement once Bruno moved into that position. Keeps handing the initiative to teams at the start with that starting midfield lineup. Really hope tonight was a turning point. Everytime we start as we did today, and have most of the season, you can expect a poor start where the team cannot get a hold of the game, and we're under pressure.

Did it just for you. You pathetic cry baby

Keep giving teams all the initiative starting with that shit midfield setup and then change it too late. So infuriating man.

Where on Earth is Lewis Hall there?!

Every problem with this team is that stinking midfield. Even when Thiaw has the horror error for their first, just go back and look at the state of it when he looks up for a pass, before then hesitating and falling over. Don't trust this team in any game with the way the midfield is currently setup. Everything is difficult and tedious when we have the ball because of it.

Oh dear ...