Lotus

I have to say I think there is a good player in Sancho. Maybe not a natural winger but a creative playmaker starting in a wide position. He needs runners off him though. All good passers do. He had that in abundance at Dortmund with Hakimi and to a lesser extent, Guerreiro. Not sure what’s happened with him at Man U but I’m sure it’s a complex situation that all parties want to resolve. Wish him the best.

For instance. His goal was fantastic but the miss a few minutes before it was criminal. Top players bury those chances because, on big occasions against top teams they don’t come up often and the best make good on opportunities like that. Fwiw, I think it’s clear that Gordon is a better player for us than Maxi. To have him and Barnes competing for wide positions is great for the club. Now we need a natural RWF to balance out our threat. Exciting times ahead.

Im assuming once Tonali gets up to speed and Willock is in there being super press-resistant, then Bruno will get a bit more time and space. I think the way we played the ball through the middle yesterday was fantastic though. Lovely little around the corner lay offs in narrow spaces. Would give anyone time on the ball. Just got to do it against better opponents. Doing it against lesser opponents is an important 1st step though.

I did say at the bottom of the post, by the new year. Miggy had a very productive half season last year and then his numbers fell off. I wouldn’t expect the same thing to happen to Gordon if he has good run until Xmas. I think Gordon is a better player. He’s also a lot younger and has a lot more potential to be realised. He seems to have the attitude to do it and everything is moving in the right direction for him. He’ll have dodgy moments and off games and I’m hoping they become fewer and further between. I won’t jump on him if he has an off day. You have to look at the overall trend. So far this season it’s good but it’s not enough data points. We all want him to be a world beater but let’s wait for him to do it before crowning him.

His control for his goal was world class. No time to think, pinged his way and he just owned and then put it in the net. That’s just pure talent. Velvet touch. I reckon, in our squad, only Isak could do something similar.

His engine is insane. Do wish he’d pull back on the play acting though. I’m not talking about ‘that’ challenge btw.

Thought he did well. Good for his confidence.

Played well. Read the game. Good anticipation, supported Wilson when he could. Made use of the acres of space afforded him.

I didn’t think it was a foul tbh. He played the ball fairly and I think the ‘follow through’ was more of Longstaff’s momentum taking him over the player.

Excellent to see better movement from our wide forwards. Miggy drifting into the middle to receive passes caused them all kinds of confusion. Our passing through the midfield was top notch. Looked a bit like what Milan did to us. I’m delighted we maintained that level through the match. We’re a couple of levels above Sheffield Utd but it’s easy to be pulled down to standard of the team we’re facing . NUFC have been very guilty of that in the past. Yesterday our play reminded me of Fergie’s Man Utd. Just relentless and razor sharp. No mercy.

He was very, very good but we do need a bit of context here. SU did not deal with him well. He was up against a CB not a RB. He also needs to put in productive performances regularly before he can be judged properly. I didn’t slate him after the Milan game and I’m not declaring him the ‘a level above’ after yesterday. The whole team had a good game and AG certainly brought a level of danger to our attack. Was fantastic to see. Will have a better feel for where he is in his development by the New Year I would think. Hope he has plenty of +ve contributions by hen.

Rather than receiving the ball on the left with back to goal and carrying it inside, I’d like to se him make an out to in run from the left into the 10 position and receive the ball there with Isak or Wilson on the CB’s shoulder looking or a through ball or making space for Gordon to try a shot. Hes definitely got the pace for it. I also think he controls the ball a lot better like that than with his back to goal and defender up his arse as he’s not very strong. This tactic does requIre someone to make a nice weighted pass so he doesn’t have to break stride. Might work best if the ball comes from either a LB or Botman who probably has the passing range to execute.

Odd thing for me is, when a CF comes deep like that, why are none of our other attacking players running into the space he’s vacated? We have the players do to it as well. It’s obviously by design. We’re often very rigid when it comes to players holding their positions regardless of where the space is. Can’t complain for where it got us to last season but do wonder if we’ll start to see more movement from the wide forwards in the future.

It’s going to be interesting how having less time to prepare for games affects the team performances. Although our all round play hasn’t been good this season I do remember it took us a while to get going last season. I can’t really recall if the performances were off though or just the results. Anyway, Sheffield Utd will be a good time to judge how we’re adapting. Playing Milan at the San Siro and PSG coming up after, Sheffield Utd in the middle, that’s a very different type of game and occasion. If we’re improving we should see it this weekend. If it’s a slog and another disjointed performance then I think I’ll get a little worried. But let’s wait and see.

Think Burn has done alright defensively tbh.

Played them inside in a very dangerous situation. Seems like he does that at least once a game. Don’t know if it’s lack of mobility to get back in line if he drops deep on the cover or he’s just not switched on enough. Other aspects of his game were good though. Until he crossed the halfway line.

Until he clearly tired I thought his running was exceptional. We wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for his engine imo.

He’s got nothing special physically and nothing special skill wise so I feel his only path to becoming a truly good player is if he’s a step ahead of everyone else from in the top inch. If he can read the game and anticipate exceptionally well then he good have a good career. But at this point, the only thing I’ve seen from him is plenty of heart and willingness. Very admirable traits tbf.

Our Motm for me. His slip up at the end was bad but I felt he contributed more on balance than anyone else. It’s like having an extra man with the amount of running he does.

If we’re still winning with 10 to go then Tonali for Bruno so he gets some minutes before Milan.

Hall for Burn and Murphy for Gordon (keep him fresh).

Think Gordon’s been decent. Him and Barnes need to get closer to Wilson though. Our wide forwards stay very wide and seem allergic to supporting the striker. It’s all of them so I’d say it’s a system thing.

Burn does not judge the offside line well.

His minutes are possibly down to the load the strength & conditioning team are recommending until he’s up to Howe levels of fitness and endurance.

He can’t be blamed for the fact we no longer keep clean sheets. That’s a system problem. We were great at it but then we were figured out and haven’t evolved since. Pope dropped a clanger against Brighton, yes. There’s a bit of play to go though between his aimless toe punt and the goal. He put us under pressure but we didn’t deal with it well at all. He’s comfortably our best keeper.