Lotus

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.

Tbh, that left feeling there were better options out there for the money.

Not sure believing in a creative power and same sex attraction are mutually exclusive tbh...

I am prejudicial against the idea of signing Marc Guehi. Not good enough in the air and doesn’t have any other outstanding traits to make up for it.

Also, absolutely EVERYONE has their prejudices and whoever’s may be judged as more disrespectful or harmful than others atm has to do with the flux of culture and current ideology. And which side of whatever fence you may be sitting on.

I wasn’t present when whoever said that, said that but…..there’s lots of tracts from Sufi or mystical Islamic authors with a very similar theme. They’re referring though to the idea of one’s attachment to God being paramount and that other ‘worldly’ attachments, of which family is extremely strong, are a distraction if one wants to choose the life of an spiritual devotee. My initial reaction would be that the passage you’re quoting may well be of a similar ethos rather than an actual call to arms against your kith and kin.

At least he was trying some creative passes. They didn't come off much but it's better to have a player having a go. Sometimes you have to criticize the receiver's positioning as well. Or the run they take which might make the pass just a little harder.

Vieira

I’m just happy whoever plays LW has to earn it because there’s another player right behind him with quality.

If we get beat down to the difference in quality I can live with that. I just want us to play with maximum effort and bravery. Want the players coming off the pitch thinking they couldn’t have done anything more, flair, passion, smarts, intensity, game management. That’s the thing, don’t want to feel like last time. Be their best selves and let kismet takes care of the rest.

I’d like us to be circumspect with the ball. We keep either banging hopeful balls forward with little result of it coming off or players with ability trying to play the Hollywood pass nearly every time. We relentlessly give the ball away often after very few touches. Don't see any benefit to us becoming a ‘possession’ side but being more careful with the ball when a magic through/over the top/around the corner pass has only a 10% of connecting I think would help us a bit. Some patience and just working our way up the pitch, making the other team run around a bit. Move them about, see if their positioning/ marking gets a little loose under pressure. Players like Bruno, Sandro, Isak, Miley, Hall, Trippier and even Schar, Gordon and Botman can see and execute clever passes in and around the opponents box.

I’m a fan of his but the only thing he did of note was miss a very easy chance to win the match.

I honestly believe Longstaff would’ve done more. At least disrupted more. Anyway, still look forward to see him develop.