Lotus

Thought Liverpool played well on the night. Was nice to see a team just go for it. Didn’t see the 1st leg but quite aware they put themselves in a position where they had to. Still, plenty of teams can be cagey despite a desperate need. On that front I did enjoy Liverpool’s play. Fwiw, I also enjoyed some of Atalanta’s. Their passing was a times very very crisp and clever. Paid close attention to Ederson due to the links. He’s faster and has a good touch but doesn’t have the dominant character Bruno has.

Odd to have so little possession but have a much higher expected goals stat. It looked that way as well. We left a couple of goals out there tbh. 6-0 wouldn’t have felt like a robbery.

He’s got the pace, stamina and attitude to reduce a good few wingers into misery, I reckon. Ultimately doesn’t have enough about him to be a modern FB but he can apply himself to the WB role pretty well.

Will be a huge boost if we can get him back.

Left side of a back 3 is clearly his best position.

Barkley had amazing balance and control. Wasn’t great at getting his head and passing the ball though. Elliott is decent running with the ball but scans the field well and looks like he makes good early decisions.

He’s a better footballer than I expected. I think he’s better with the ball, passing and striking it than Gordon, actually. Not necessarily a better player but has better technique and very good vision. Delighted he’s contributing as much as he is. Should be fresh and raring to go for the run in.

You can’t judge his input from the one game though. He doesn’t do progressive passes, the stats show that. He also only really makes his tackles in our defensive 3rd. The running thing for sure seems a Howe preference. He clearly likes players who can run the ball up the field rather than those who pass it. It’s a trade off, running it is less risky in that a pass can be intercepted, but passing it quickly through the lines is a much faster way of attacking. Better teams than us do this. Over time, we may change. It’s early days for us so far.

I think Joelinton is an unusual player. He’s attacking midfielder. He does next to nothing in the middle 3rd of the pitch. He doesn’t do passes and the majority of his tackles are actually him showing the desire and get back and help out in our defensive 3rd. He does get involved in our attacks though. Running with the ball (although he does lose it a fair bit) and receiving passes in dangerous attacking positions. He’s also very low on the assists numbers. So when people say we have more control over the midfield with him in there it’s not because he makes tackles there, because he doesn’t and it’s not because he’s spraying the ball around from there either. But he definitely does bring a level of combativeness and intimidation that we clearly miss.

Maybe he and other Ukrainian sports people donate a proportion of their wages to the war effort ?

Not a player I’d be thinking about selling at all. He’s feeling his way back in and we’re a little dysfunctional atm which doesn’t help.

I wouldn’t get too excited. Wham were totally defeatist by the time Hall came on. If Trips is fit to start I wouldn’t be surprised to see some permutation that means Hall is on the bench again. And, tbh it would probably be for a good reason. He made some good blocks when he came on but it was mostly high up the pitch. I do trust Howe to judge if he’s ready to be positionally sound when defending our box.

Aye, wasn’t his best performance. He’s probably playing below the standard of Jeff Hendrick atm. Maybe he needs a bit of a rest.

Delighted for him like but Wham were all over the place. Need to see him have a few good games before knowing if he’s significantly improved.

Surprised WHam didn’t get tighter to him when he came deep. They were even more disorganised than we were for a while. Would’ve like to see Isak have more goal threat throughout the game. But if you’re not, getting an assist and scoring 2 penalties is pretty awesome tbh.

Reckon Howe’s played a blinder by holding him back. Like Pardew did with Ben Arfa 😜

Although, given illness to Miggy and that Murphy and Barnes would still have been on return protocols it may that there just wasn’t another option. Just speculating though. Barnes and Murphy could’ve been given the all clear for all I know. You defo did call out Gordon as being overworked prior to all this.

Alhamdulillah

EH must be absolutely shattered. For his mental health I hope there is no downward pressure on league position this year and he can concentrate on performances with a view to next year. Feels like he’s had to spend far too much of this season choosing between bad and worse. Must be incredibly taxing. I understand how it helps our profile having some form of European football regularly. Will help recruitment imo. Players will become used to seeing the club playing against continental teams. I’m sure that will help. But this year just feels like a write off. If they believe he is our SAF then have to give him a bye this season after everything. If they have doubts though or all the board are not aligned there’s gonna be a weird atmosphere at the club.

This is not apropos of Gordon but as muscles are fatigued some of the stress and load is transferred to tendons and ligaments. I did my quadriceps tendon this way. Overloading. Muscle was not recovering in time between workouts. Volume was too high (for me). One movement too far and the tendon ended up taking a load it was not designed for. Tear. This is not controversial. Re: Gordon, no idea. He’s played a lot. Too much imo given how much he sprints. I thought his hamstring would go at some point. I was wrong about that though. Hope he’s back asap. Crucial player.

Long term thinking is the only way I think. Your last paragraph is bang on too. I just want the coach who can grow the team. It’ll be great if we already have the right person in place, obvs. I just haven’t the nous to know who’s right if I’m honest. I knew Pardew was full of shit because he and I have a lot in common like that so i could tell straight away. But I don’t know good from great. I suspect it’s a lot to do with being at the right club at the right time. When you’re very emotionally invested in a sporting project it’s all too easy to get caught up in the smaller picture. The most reward is winning on match day not whether a training centre upgrade is in the pipeline or some new junior wunderskout is about to join. But as you say, those very key elements will have a far bigger say than another bad 90 mins in South London.

Well, we can disagree. I like Fernandes as a player and wished he played for us. But, it’s all moot I guess.

How did you feel about Anthony Gordon when he was at Everton?

I think, of our current midfielders, Bruno, Sandro and Willockinho will be the best blend. Should be careful paying anyone in the midfield who isn’t those 3 (or a better newcomer) top wages.

I think the transformation of Anthony Gordon is a great template for any young player who wants to achieve their potential. The player has to want it though, want it bad, real bad….