Lotus

Spurs were much more in it in the 1st half. After they scored, in the most un-Spursy way ever they successfully shut up shop. ManU didn't have the cutting edge to score. I do honestly believe if Spurs needed a goal they would have got forward a lot more and do I think they'd have caused ManU problems if they had needed to.

Think the assist stat can be a bit unfair as it relies on another player to do the hardest thing to do on the pitch. Gordon put 2 balls across the box on Sunday that I reckon Murphy would’ve been in on (no guarantee of a shot on target, obvs).Barnes didn’t make the run. Isak has been a bit in and off. Gordon may have a couple more assists if Isak had been sharper/fitter.

Had to let things settle before posting.. Very disappointed by the result because I thought our performance deserved some reward. I thought we had some really good movement and interplay, especially in midfield. There were times when we really looked like we had a Brazilian and an Italian pair of internationals in there. Thought Gordon was industrious, he ran a lot! Don't understand the criticism of him at all. Certainly can't blame him for not getting to Rice in time. Barnes had a better view of that tbf. We got done in transition in a very dangerous part of the pitch. Shit happens. They had 3 in midfield to our 2 and you largely couldn't tell, in fact we were better. But for the goal the extra man paid off. C'est la vie. Tino was brilliant, I think Murphy did well enough in that role. Back 3 were very good. Wilson struggled somewhat but I think he was ok tbh. Not much of a goal threat himself but his presence there allowed other of our players to get into positions. We just didn't manage to score. Barnes had an off day imo. Gordon played a couple of good crosses that Murphy would've got to the back post for. HB didn't show the same willingness. I thought Willock did ok, enough to warrant a start if JL is injured. Miley was tidy, no mistakes. Nothing that stood out in a good or bad way. Thought we were well set up and prepared. I think there's some evolution happening around the way we play. Couple more ballers and we'll see that progress nicely. Rice is beast. Havertz looks like he's got early stage syphilis. Hope it's undiagnosed.

You had the total hots for Onana and don't lie !! You were saying Onana was nailed on for the Golden Gloves earlier in the season! He's probably just going through a rough patch. He's not become a bad keeper over night/week/month or 6.....

They did it like you thought they would!

Anyway, I think Nmecha has the potential to have a similar physical profile as JL with a higher technical floor.

Actually, my apologies to you! I didn't see Frankfurt were 3rd That is going to be an interesting end to the season. If Dortmund win I think I'm right in thinking they need: a) those 2 to draw b) any Frankfurt win as Freiburg's GD is crap c) a thumping Freiburg victory. If Dortmund draw they need a Frankfurt win.

Freiburg are in 4th and play Frankfurt at home. They're a point above Dortmund. Freiburg have 4 wins and a draw in their last 5 matches. Dortmund to the CL is not a guarantee.

Only caught the last 20 mins of normal time and then the extra time. Coventry were absolutely in the ascendancy until the last 15 mins when they ran out of legs. Sunderland were woeful up to that point. I'm not from the NE so the rivalry means very little to me so I feel I can watch it a bit more objectively. And objectively they were rubbish until the Cov players died on their feet.

If the Dortmund fanbase got past it I'm sure ours would.

Think Felix Nmecha would be a very good fit. Good combination of physicality and technical ability. If Dortmund fail to get CL they could end up losing a few players.

Would like to see us play the ball more into the central zone between the centre circle and the opposition penalty area. Think it's zone 11 and 14 when they divvy up the pitch. Ideally it would not be Isak receiving the ball here but one of our wide forwards or one of the CMs. Bruno has the passing skills to make that work but not the pace to escape a recovering defender. JL has the power and pace to drive forward but lacks the ability to play a killer ball (his stats bear this out). I don't honestly think Gordon or Murphy can do it either. Barnes, maybe.... It's very much a position Bournemouth use to great effect. It really opens a team up. We've seen it done to us. We love going down the wings. We're very cross heavy. We're 3rd so it's clearly got lots of merit. When we occasionally go through the middle though I think Isak really comes alive.

It's our job to misinterpret and misrepresent everything you say, Froggy! You know the deal

Think Villa would be Delap’s best landing spot for his career tbh.

Does sound like you’re giving up on him too early. Tbf a couple of months ago you said he was as good as Isak and worth more because he’s younger. Being on a bad run can’t mean he’s suddenly not up to it. Patience..

The big drawback of signing for Chelsea is that they’re very likely to sign another (or possibly 2) players in your position over the next couple of years. For no other reason other than they can. They sign multiple players in a position. Far beyond rotational need. If a deal can be made, they make it regardless.

Maybe he does a lot of body weight stuff or resistance bands. Would find it hard to believe he does NO strength and conditioning, like. Fwiw, I think I remember Mike Tyson only did body weight stuff when he was in his prime. Very different genetics, obvs!!

If Burn was 5 years younger I reckon Botman could have a problem. But given Burn is getting on and the money spent on Botman I think he’d probably pencilled in as the main LCB for next season. Glad he’s got a player of Burn’s calibre to compete against.

Btw, if the plan is to give Miley 20-25 starts next year I’d definitely think he should stay. If he’s going to make 20-25 appearances from the bench for a few minutes here and there I’d think he’d be better off going on loan. Anyway, we’ll see when we see. Hope for the starts obvs.

Think he’d do a little better if we played through the middle more but we’re not set up for that. Looks a little low on confidence atm. Hopefully he terrifies Arsenal.

Burn was great but you could see the difference in actual talent when Botman looked to play progressive passes. Tough choice between the 2.

He was great.

He was totally uninvolved for ages after coming on. He just doesn’t get minutes here let alone starts. Looked like bags of potential when he first came through but now just looks off the pace all the time. Lots of people keep saying loan moves are a rubbish idea and he’ll just get better and better by training with us and barely playing. Don’t think there’s much that can compare to actual game time tbh. We’re not a team that likes rotation (non injury related) so I’m not sure how much he’ll play next season if get another CM in. Guess the club will make up their mind about that but I think getting around 30 starts at some club (could be us….) will quickly improve him and give everyone a better idea what his trajectory might be.

Iirc @The College Dropout said it was an odd signing given how little he’d played at his age.

Fair enough. Actually forgot about Longstaff - poor chap. Ideally I'd like to see Miley start and have a very positive influence on the game. I think his passing range looks great. Worried about his defensive awareness but perhaps that's come on a lot, it's been quite a while since we've seen him so you never know. If Bruno & Sandro have a cracker game I guess whoever's the 3rd player in there won't matter as much. Just need 3 points!