Lotus

You think Miley will be a better bet defensively? I'm not sure I've seen that yet. I think Williock's athleticism could be a better factor in mitigating Palmer's influence. Neither of them are ideal, obvs. Didn't Eddie say before the Brighton game that Miley was more of a right-sided midfielder? Given Chelsea is such an important game I would think that would rule Miley out of the running for the LCM slot. Could move Bruno there and Miley and RCM.....Dunno, it's a tough fit.

Think he was very annoyed with Pope for (I’m guessing he didn’t) not getting a ‘man on’ call.

He’s been one of the best passers of the ball I’ve seen in the Prem. Incredible technique and vision. Defensively he’s been undone too often. Really not sure why, you’d think he’s been coached to a very high level and would understand what went wrong. Anyway, wish him all the best. Always happy to see English players going abroad and hopefully doing well.

oh do fuck off

insh’allah

Agree, I thought he was ok. One of the least of our problems (dive aside). It's a shame: a) he can't play in a 10 style role b) we're unwilling to try (possibly because of a) Him just drifting left all the time can be predictable but I guess he's trying to get himself comfortable in the side again. Hoping Chelsea give him more space to run into.

Palace we battered, they were shite. No way around it. Man U was a closer game than the score line makes out. Think they might have edged possession, shots and shot on target were about the same iirc. Don't think there was much disparity in XG either. But we were way more clinical but we certainly didn't dominate them for 90 mins like we did Palace. Surely you must remember that? I'll not include the Villa game because we were absolutely abject and I wouldn't put much stock in the Palace game because they were. We're not using the ball as well as team with Trips, Schar, Bruno, Sandro, Gordon/Barnes and Isak should be doing. There's nothing polemic about that opinion. It's not heresy the way some happy clappers (not you btw) on here treat anything less than fawning praise. Just feel we don't control the ball sometimes when we need to and we can definitely struggle if a team defends deeper because we're not particularly set up for incisive passing. We very 'down the flanks' and we seem best in transition. We're leaving Isak a bit isolated as a result and he doesn't look that useful in the box on his own surrounded by defenders. He hasn't the power or the leap to make the best out of that. It's not his optimal situation. Which is fine, he's still great in situations that suit him better. But we're not engineering them enough imho. Others may view it differently and your view I will always read as it tends to be balanced and thoughtful. Others, not so much.

Thank god for the penalty. Felt like we could’ve played into the night and not score. Our performances seem streaky and we’ve not been playing particularly well for a while. Or at least not as well as we can. I'm not sure of the maxim, good teams put in sub standard performances and still pick up points…..I think good teams don’t put in streaks of sub standard performances tbh. We were less than the some of our parts. Not sure why. Brighton were not much good at all but we didn’t look like finding the cutting edge needed to open them up properly. Still, we’re still very much a project in progress. Hope we get CL for the budget and see if we can build some more next year.

Not sure Eddie could actually considerably improve the players touch and ball skills but I'm sure he could improve his effectiveness within games.

I don’t think he’s got a soft touch if you know what I mean. Powerful, energetic, as you said - great attitude, reads the game well and hits the ball hard. Looks like what I imagine a good German striker would look like Good fit for Villa I reckon. Apart from Isak we lack finesse in the final 3rd. Don’t think Delap would solve that on his own.

Delap looks to me like he hasn’t got that next level skill set and touch that you would expect from a striker (hopefully) playing regularly in Europe. Lots of effort and good physicality though.

Looking at that table it seems the big thing between the top 3 and the chasing pack is away wins. Away draws are similar with those above us. Home form is similar. But the away wins and losses are off. Our goal difference is way head of the chasing pack but some way behind the top 3. If was can start changing some of those away losses even into draws we’ll start opening the gap to the pack. I think catching the top is some way off but if we can firmly establish ourselves as better than Villa, Chelsea, maybe Spurs if they get a better coach then we’re in CL wonderland and the real building can begin.

I’d give him that for sure. Probably considerably better at using his strength to hold the ball up if we need to.

I find this take a little odd tbh. EH and our coaching team have demonstrably proved effective in raising some players games. Most, even. But not all. If it was such a given then why can’t EH just make Osula score goals instead? Why can’t he make Longstaff a Tonali regen? Why is Targett still not as good as when he was a loan signing? Why didn’t he make the Almiron purple patch a permanent one? The players got to have the skill set and the desire to keep putting in the work. They have to have both, all the time. I’ve no doubt Longstaff and Almiron had/have the desire but didn’t have the elite skills and the ability to slow the game down mentally and make time the way much better players do. Maybe DCL can, maybe he has both. We can say, looking at his past record he hasn’t shown it so far. Because he hasn’t, he’s a risk. Up to the brains trust to decide if that’s a risk worth taking. But it’s not a nailed on success just because EH is involved. EH looks excellent at facilitating a players growth but it’s the player that actually does the growing.

Be very surprised if we buy from a Prem team that’s not just been relegated. I would’ve thought, with our budget restrictions and obvious squad needs we’d be looking for better value. Which is why we hired Paul Mitchell, you’d think.

Angel Gomes is a no brainer imo. I'm sure there’s quite a queue for his signature though…

Lennon Miller looks a good player in the making.

Past being no certain indicator of future events, over our season so far we’ve normally responded decently to a thumping. I think coupled with a hopeful return of EH and Ipswich being a side in deep trouble we should see a confidence boosting performance. Be curious if we rotate at all. I do think our reluctance to leads to its own problems.

What’s our record like after a convincing defeat? Do we go on a bad mini run or straight back with a bounce back performance and victory?

Think Willock could’ve been in for JL yesterday as a runner in the 10 role of a 4231. Then bring JL on in the 2nd half and revert to our normal shape. Would’ve allowed Bruno & Tonali to play closer together as a deeper midfield 2. Been thinking for a while they’d both look good there. Anyway, didn’t happen.

Thought we robbed Villa tbh. Should’ve been 8-1. Commentary said it was our 7th game in a row with an unchanged side. Was vey surprised to hear that. Our subs often look a bit lacking sharpness and I do wonder if the fact we never rotate is an issue. I wouldn’t have been shocked to see Gordon start for example or Krafts in for Tripps from the off given his age and playing time recently. It will exceedingly hard for Willock to get match sharpness if he never starts either.

Yeah, no worries. To reaffirm, I’m not saying Guehi wouldn’t be good, it’s just that from my limited perspective there’s probably better players for the supposed money.

@southernmag I’m not a Christian so forgive my ignorance. I would’ve thought someone who follows the teachings of Christ would use what Christ has purported to have said as the absolute fundament of their beliefs and outlook. If Christ makes no mention of something how do you infer what his opinion was? I can’t find any actual ‘quotes’ that Jesus said anything about same sex relationships at all. If he did, please correct me.

Does Jesus ever actually mention same sex relationships? I thought all the homophobic stuff was from the Old Testament and never actually quotes Jesus himself as he said nowt about it. If true, that would be people inferring what his views were in the absence of any wouldn’t it? Tricky ground…

Sometimes you see Bruno and Tonali playing close to each other as a ‘double pivot’ as I think it’s called. Bruno looks very effective and comfortable like that. I think if we got a player in the style of Cunha who is a physical 10 type then the formation could effectively change to a 4 2 3 1.