Lotus

Hope Villa get 5th (or 4th with us getting 3rd…..won’t happen though….). Great for the league if some different teams get into the top 6. Would like Arsenal to win but I think they’ve thrown it away.

Was looking on the Everton forum. Was surprised how many thought we were quite a poor side. Trying to look from their perspective, they were quite dominant in the first 25 minutes or so. But, apart from that DCL 1 vs 1 with Schar they created nothing. They did control the midfield for that period but never did anything with it. Thing is, we were quite poor with the ball tbh but I don’t think they’ve given us credit for being positionally very good and defending resolutely. The other point is, you never really saw their FBs create width and make overlaps/overloads and that’s because of how good we are on the break. Against a supposedly shite side, your FBs don’t spend the entire game 5 yds from their CBs. Especially not at home. Also, they really do come across as entitled.

Actually thought he looked good when he came on. Everton were beaten by that point though. Still, he looked dangerous and very positive with the ball. Glad he got that appearance out of the way too.

I think his finest ability is how important he makes himself. He always asks for the ball when we’re deep. He makes a very active effort to be the one who starts the attacks. And when we’re closer to the opposite box he always makes sure he’s in space to receive a pass should that be an option a wide player wants to take. It seems like a small thing but that attitude is massive. The desire to imprint himself on the game. Fwiw I think Isak has a similar mentality but his position is that much higher up the pitch (obviously). I’m still not sure about Gordon but this is one area he could actively look to improve himself. When he feels a bit more confident and feels like he belongs, I’d like to see him look assert himself more. I think he has it in him.

I understand what you mean by an out and out DM but imo, all our CMs do their best defensive work when running back and nicking the ball from the side the attacker is not expecting it. I would like one of our CMs to have the tactical awareness and the legs to get back or be in a position of shielding or intercepting or even just discouraging play straight through our centre and directly threatening our CBs.

Tbf, if you don’t have an emotional reaction from watching sport I’ve no idea what the point is.

Defensively I thought most of our problems started with Schar. He was poor in every aspect. It exacerbated Trips and Botman’s issues.

Targett must be really quite bad in training. Or still unfit.

I’m in that difficult position of trying not to judge him on anything he’s done. Just on what he might do.

It’s not just Bruno’s lack of pace, it’s that none of our midfielders ever effectively sit in front or back 4. With our system and our use of the high press, all the midfielders need to move up to cover the passing options through the middle. It does mean though that a team can go diagonally from the back, miss out our press and then find a massive gap in front of our back 4. I mean, Bournemouth did it to us with some ease if we’re honest. They just didn’t have the quality to capitalise. We need to be a bit more flexible tactically. I’m sure that’s kind of obvious by now. EH will, I have no doubt seen it. Hopefully we’ll start to see the plan b and c options take shape next season.

He made quite a few bad decisions with his positioning and timing. He was exposed for his lack of recovery pace as well.

Villa played around us, they played through us. At times they just did what they wanted. We had a complete lack of defensive presence in midfield and our back 4 was exposed so often it was tragicomic. We lack pace at the back and or/at CDM. It’s been obvious for a while. A better player here and there may not have changed the result today (Villa were that good) but it might have mitigated it somewhat.

I’d like to see him make use of that pace by making runs off the ball. Maxi doesn’t really do that on the left side the way Almiron and Murphy do on the right. He could really make that a point of difference.

I’ll wait for the club’s announcement on his predicted return date before declaring he’s dead to me, like…

Max Caqueret from Lyon. Looks similar to Bruno, style wise. Doesn’t dominate games like Bruno does but does look faster and more agile (handy in CM positions). He’s looks very intelligent with his pressing and covering.

?

Surely it’s not the formation that’s important it’s the players playing in that formation. If have different players one may well play a formation that suits he different line up better.

His mentality is exceptional. He always wants the ball and he’s always one the first to close down the opponent if they have it. That mindset coupled with a fair degree of talent makes him invaluable.

Thought Rice was good again. He’d improve us if he came here. Was let down by his teammates. Paqueta is quicker and stronger than Bruno and has good feet and technique. He just doesn’t make himself important the way Bruno does. Don’t know if that’s a systemic problem with WHam (the table would tell you it is). Paqueta certainly didn’t look like he’s worth what they paid for him whereas Bruno looks about 4 times the fee. The WHam team doesn’t look like it’s been put together with any clear plan/identity. Seems quite disparate. That being said, we have made quite a few teams look a lot less than the sum of their parts so playing against us is clearly a f***ing nightmare.

It does seem that way. I think you get more bang for your back with measurables like pace and stamina though. Tbf, Bruno and Batman are not 'quick'. Bruno certainly isn't and they are probably our most important players.

And my point is in the absence of an obscene transfer budget and/or and legendary youth system, athleticism is a great asset that can balance the midfield battle out somewhat. We can also argue that strikers don't need to be quick, or good in the air if their anticipation and positioning is truly exceptional. And their 1st touch is that much better than everyone around them. Same for defenders. They can slow af. Rarely see it though.

But the level of technical excellence there is exceptional. And incredibly expensive to buy. Also, I think you're being unfair on both KDB and Fernandinho. Both had plenty of gas when younger. I'm aware Barca developed those players. Harder than buying them tbh.

Tbf, he also lacks pace. Very good footballer though.

I like Schar a lot. Very good all round footballer (most of the time). However, I don't think he did anything last night that Lascelles couldn't have done (on recent form). He's going to need to be more circumspect with his long pass attempts in the future imo.

Excellent hunger and attitude. Think that sort of rough house game suits him. He probably had loads of that with Bristol.