Ronaldo

We haven’t lost a game with the Schar - Thiaw pairing from the start unless I’m mistaken.

Sorry, post before yours.

How are Murphy and Elanga similar btw?

He’s been ‘consistent’ in the PL for close to a year now tbh.

We’re putting a lot of stock in the ‘big man little man’ thing given Wissa has played all of his best football in a 4-3-3 and Woltemade absolutely is not a target man.

I didn’t see an alarming lack of effort. Multiple times in the second half I did see the wrong decisions being made, zero clue what to do with the ball in the final third, weird glances at the bench for instruction and a real lack of poise and dynamism.

What’s the point in spending a premium for a PL-based player if there’s as much (if not more) of a bedding-in period as a continental player with more talent and unpredictability who’d cost less?

The margins were certainly fine at home to both 19th and 20th in the league. Very respectable.

Yeah lacking Trippier’s leadership is the reason the front 3 were shit. It’s just nonsense.

He also tried to keep his mate Callum Wilson around instead of acting like a CL manager and finding a striker to replace him as priority. That’s what amplified the Isak situation.

As others have said he has no knowledge or contacts in Europe / South America and he’s too confident in himself / arrogant to look at that. Will always hold us back.

We’re 12th and already 11 points behind Villa having supposedly strengthened the squad. We’re horrible to watch, I never fancy us to score away from home, our set pieces are as bad as it gets at both ends and we’re always liable to concede. It’s a mess. Salvageable but it’s a mess.

You’re becoming propaganda at this point. We’ve thus far been incredibly poor in the league with a few wins over utter shit at home (and City) padding it out.

He’s a really good footballer who will thrive somewhere but bloody hell he’s looked so poor recently.

Rubbish this. Much as I love what he’s done.

Got the summer wrong and it’s costing him. Even his diehards have to admit he’s so poor in situations like that where it needs changing too. There won’t be pressure on yet but I personally don’t any more of ‘his’ signings. On the other hand he signed Isak who spent 3 seasons making him look like a better manager than he is.

As impotent an attacking performance as you’ll see.

Tactically fine but we just don’t have the quality in the final third to unlock.

Pope would’ve come back in for this but is still feeling his injury so not in squad.

Joelinton is magically better than Tonali now? It’s like he gets points the longer he goes without a goal or assist with you lot.

He couldn’t even function with Unai Emery who perhaps puts marginally less stock in team-oriented players he can ‘trust’. HBA and Eddie wouldn’t last days man.

Alongside who?

You’re not serious, surely? We just need a solid backup.

Why? Because he’s been giving us absolutely nothing on the ball or as an attacking threat for a year now. If that was Longstaff giving the exact same performances you’d be all over his selection and rightly so.

If we’re worse without him because of physicality something is serious fucked with the way we’re setting up to play football in the context of what we’ve spent.