Chris_R

I've been desperate to like Wood, to see the good in him and hope he comes good, but that's it for me. Beyond horrific.

It isn't https://www.footballcritic.com/alexander-isak/player-positions/91776

Murphy so shit there, just must get his head down and drive, he was one on one but just jogged.

We look like the players know Howe wants them to play out from the back, but aside from Botman none of them look capable of it and Sheff Wed seem to know this and are looking to exploit it.

Better going forward there from Lewis, who's otherwise been shaky as hell.

Where's this shit with Isak as a wide left player come from? He's never played there. He's a striker.

I'm desperate for ASM to be a success under Howe, he could be great for us. Against arsenal they were camped deep in our half for long periods after Wood came on and we were crying out for someone who'd push them back a bit just through fear. He scares opposition players just by existing sometimes and that's an important trait that nobody else in the squad has. And yes I know we got a point which is great and that he came on at the death but by then they were just having to commit everyone forward out of desperation, damn the consequences.

And they're just a skid mark.

Worse than signing McTominay for £55m would be giving a close rival £55m that they can spend elsewhere. That would be a £110m difference in what the 2 sides could otherwise spend. We can't hand them that kind of advantage.

Can you imagine them all sitting down to this on a Sunday? "Do you want some gravy pet?" "FUCK OFF I'M NO MAG, I'LL EAT IT DRY!" Fucking weirdos.

Had to walk out the room during that last corner, couldn't watch. They spent so much time just trying to get us booked in the first half, probably to lessen our pressing, so fuck the whining divers. They didn't like it at all when we started doing it back. Loved to see Arteta get nowt after his theatrics at the end too. Glad Howe stood up to him, not that I'd have doubted it. Lascelles getting another yellow was class. What teamwork.

We've been brilliant so far this season, so this feels like a free hit. Expect us to get beat because Arsenal are clearly the favourites, so I won't lose any sleep if we do, but I know we're definitely capable of getting something from the game which is a great feeling to have going into what on paper seems like it might be the hardest match of the season.

Passing players round is fine. Passing them round for free to get around FFP rules is what I'm thinking will be frowned upon. I haven't examined Watford's transfer dealings in detail but I presume a reasonably acceptable amount of money exchanges hands between clubs to keep everyone happy when the players move.

Well I mean we could do all our transfers that way in theory, have them bought by Al Nassr then loaned or sold back to us for £0 Think the PL might have something to say about that though...

That's great, but now deduct his £1.5m/week wages.

Owen had hamstrings made of cheese. Rooney liked the drink too much and didn't look after himself (just look at him now), Wilshire injuries too. I'm not saying players don't peak early, I explicitly acknowledged that. I said they don't peak early because of number of games in itself and I stand by that.

If 320 games make your legs stop working, someone needs to tell Messi and Ronaldo. Absolute nonsense talk. Sure people can peak early and maybe he has, but not just because he's played a lot. Injuries or attitude sure, but you don't have mileage concerns like he's a cheap Ford Mondeo.

PIF have just spunked $784m on golf in the first year of the LIV tour alone. GOLF ffs. Year ONE. Hell, they've spent over $200m just to get one old Portuguese bloke to run in circles in 45 degrees of heat in front of 8,000 disinterested people. Yeah, we're going to be prudent with our transfer business....

It's functioning exactly as intended.

We could play until next year and not score.

It's a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Asterisk? The gall.

Why is the goalkeeper playing up front? Honestly I hope there's a separate circle of hell reserved solely for people who post football formations upside down.

He left Burnley because his mum died in March 2012 and he wanted to move back home. Sure, he wasn't pulling up any trees there but you need players to buy into what you're doing and maybe that wasn't happening as he'd have liked. As for Bournemouth, what would realistic expectations be of a club with an 11k capacity in the PL? They finished 18th, just one point (and with a better goal difference) behind Aston Villa. They'd had bad injuries during the season too, plus it was during Covid times and many sides form was different (some better, done worse) when playing behind closed doors. Yes it was disappointing given the 4 seasons prior, but I think there were extenuating circumstances and the only person in Bournemouth who wanted Howe to leave was Howe himself, he never lost the fans, the players, or the board who'd have all kept him in the championship. Plus many great managers have suffered relegation. Wenger with Nancy, Benitez with Extremadura, it shouldn't be a stigma. But I guess it's our benefit that it has been seen as such.

Never let that stop you. Just put 12ft.io/ in front of the URL.... 12ft.io/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/12/30/manager-2022-isnt-pep-guardiola-mikel-arteta/ No need to give money to those Tory rags.