KaKa

Really good composure from Barnes the second time around. Great assist.

Finally Joe! Get in!

Would love to see Miley come on in that 6 position at some point. His movement to get on the ball and composure to distribute it around the pitch simply is the most convincing from that 6 position, especially with two full backs that can't carry the ball forward. At some point the first team could do with a more experienced 6 to dictate play from the back. The current three are all action 8s that don't function that well in the 6 or deeper positions when we have the ball and are under pressure. It's breaking down from there and the forward players are dropping deeper to try and support them and it's actually just crowding that area and making it even more difficult.

Great ball into Bruno from Thiaw. Terrible touch. Ball lost. Man ... without fullbacks that can carry the ball forward, we actually can't progress the ball forward from the back. Puts too much responsibility on the midfield and they can't manage it. Poor touches and misplaced passes way too often. Need Tino and Hall back urgently, and two other viable options need to be brought in as backups. Trippier and Burn can't do the job that's needed going forward.

State of that cross from Tonali. So so poor.

That finish from Joelinton man. My goodness.

Can't lie. I'm nervous about Murphy, as Bilbao are pressing really well. Hope it works out though.

Progress through midfield is so poor he tries to drop in to help, but it's making things worse. Burn has also not been good to link up with down the left. Too slow making a decision and has been giving it away too. The problems really stem from the full backs and centre midfield.

Gordon ignores a great run from Joelinton. Cuts in and gives it away again.

Our wingers have no business dropping deeper and congesting things in midfield further. They are no good in the build up phase. Stay high and wide and so there's room for the midfield three and Woltemade to operate in. The midfield three have to move around better to get on the ball too. They aren't helping either. Our build up play through midfield is so poor.

The whole team can't keep the ball. The midfield set the tone though. They don't keep the ball or control the game and it all starts from there.

So frenetic in midfield man.

Bruno man.

100% this.

I agree about the wingers. They are far too involved in the build up early on. They are ideal for receiving the ball further up the pitch after build up through the midfield, especially now we have Woltemade who is brilliant at dropping deep and attracting so much attention. Again though, I expect Bruno and Tonali to take responsibility for making that happen. They don't look for Woltemade anywhere near enough when he has found space and is asking for the ball. They are more likely to move the ball into wide areas. It's incredibly frustrating. Oddly enough the best player in the team currently at finding the right pass between the lines into midfield areas and even to Woltemade at times, has been Thiaw! The use of the ball by our midfielders is just not good enough, both in decision making and execution. Just pass it into Woltemade and play off him and stop forcing the issue or going wide all the time.

Unfortunately those first time passes seem to catch his teammates off guard too often, and so he has to adjust. The more I watch the team, the more concerns I have with Bruno and Tonali. It's crazy how often we never seem to have control of a game with those two in our midfield. There's such a lack of calm and composure in there. It's really alarming. When Miley plays I always see complaints that he can be too conservative with his passing, but it's an element the first team could do with a lot more of at times. Everything is always so forced and careless. So many simple 5 yard passes to keep possession and move the opposition's players around a bit until space opens up are turned down, and extra touches are taken until players get tackled, or a really difficult pass into traffic is forced in really dangerous positions too close to our goal.

What has your impression of Bruno and Tonali been when we have the ball considering you are seeing them for the first time this season? I am increasingly unimpressed by their use of the ball in this team, considering their reputation as two of the more technical players. Think you pretty much missed the seasons when the team was more of an aggressive pressing team, and the midfield still seems more suited to that, but we rarely play that way anymore. We created chances by forcing teams into making mistakes. I think that's when we see the best of this bunch. Currently we have wingers that are runners that are lethal getting in behind and into space, and I find it astonishing how poor a job both Tonali and Bruno do of finding them at the right time in transition. Bruno dwells on the ball too much and spoils a lot of potentially great transition opportunities, while Tonali often rushes things first time before players further up the pitch are ready to receive the pass. Joelinton also gets bypassed a lot when he is in space to receive and carry the ball in transition, with Bruno and Tonali looking to whack a cross field switch of play pass at the wrong time too. In scenarios where teams sit deeper, again, Tonali and Bruno should be the ones moving the ball quicker and finding the right options and spaces to exploit. In my opinion both take way too many touches in these instances and are not good enough shooting from the edge of the box when they are afforded the space to do so. Very very disappointed in the midfield so far this season, particularly Bruno and Tonali, who I think should be so much better in there. At points last season it looked like the midfield was right up there with any in the league, but it's far from it right now.

Kudus has been very dangerous taking players on down the right this season. Think so far he has the best take on numbers in the Prem. He came on early enough to cause problems and possibly turn the game. Joelinton came on shortly after Kudus did to nullify him going up against Burn, which would have not been a good matchup. Joelinton clattered him early on to stop them breaking and got in his head straight away. He then doubled up every single time Kudus got the ball on that right side and forced him to give the ball up to a team mate. Job done perfectly.

Indeed. Elanga initiated that move that led to the chance for Barnes with the interchanges he had cutting inside, with Willock, Tonali and then Woltemade. Great bit of play.

Kalulu looked really good at AC Milan early on if I remember correctly. Ended up getting inconsistent time there similar to Thiaw, before joining Juve. Could see him suiting the Prem really well.

I think that's a bit harsh tbh. It's a difference of 3 seconds between the shot and the follow up goal. Elanga is really quick, but come on man.

Miss me with the stupid racism chatter. I don't care for it. I found his comment inflammatory, ignorant and offensive and it didn't need to be expressed that way. I didn't appreciate it and so I let him know. The same way he doesn't care if expressing himself that way offends certain people, is the same way I don't care if he found my response to be harsh or offensive. I guarantee you if he ran into Wissa he wouldn't tell him not to go to ShitCON. He also wouldn't speak this way to any Africans he knows or has any kind of respect for. He also would not put his name and face behind this kind of stupid talk and share it more widely. It's really shit patter.