Lotus

From what I remember (which may be fallible) he was not tight to Ferguson. So if he’s chased a forward deep and can’t get anywhere near him he should really be playing closer to his own box. I do agree that 3 of our defenders should’ve done considerably better off 2 attackers doing a simple 1-2. But BDB is a good defender in a low block but not so useful with the way we’re trying to play. Clearly, Kelly is even worse in training so BDB is the better option.

BDB is fantastic at the last ditch stuff. But a high press needs CBs to get super tight to forwards as they drop deep to make options for the opposing team to play out. There he is badly exposed. He hasn’t the pace to get tight and he’s the most easily turned. His recovery pace is non existent.

We looked better when he was higher up the pitch. We have so few decent passers of the ball it really hurts us when one goes off. Hope to God he’s not injured and it was just a workload thing.

Don’t understand what he was doing for their goal. Also, his inability to get tight to a player outside his penalty box is problematic. But, he put in some crucial tackles/blocks today. That bit is undeniable.

Without trying to be hyperbolic, I kind of feel the U.K. Government is guilty of all the things on that banner with the possible exception of beheadings.

In the absence of watching all of the football played everywhere the usual data sites do provide an idea of what kind of player someone is. Tonali is still an exciting prospect. We still haven’t seen him be a dominant force over a stretch of games. He certainly looks like he can be but it hasn’t happened yet (when he’s been available). Lots of mitigating factors but at some point he has to actually do it to be worth the money and the hassle. I also think his natural style is being hampered by the lack of quality around him. Bruno, Isak, Hall and Tripps would, I think fit in with his style very well of fast paced passing and some decent movement to create a bit of time and space.

Wasn't there a report that mentioned we were scouting Dibling and Akliouche? Bet the Monaco lad would be better value (not saying he'd be a better player...).

I don’t think Isak needs to be in a possession dominant team to succeed more but I think some highly effective passers around him would benefit him greatly. He has some clever movement and doesn’t need space to get a shot off. Our primary way of opening teams up is forcing them into a mistake as they try and play it out from the back. Effectively making our ‘number 10’ an opponent flapping under pressure. Don’t think that gets the best out of Isak.

And Bruno is my favourite player. It would kill me to see him leave. I'm coming to the conclusion that a Howe team is not really the best vehicle to showcase Isak’s talents to their utmost. I think an EH team needs a stronger striker who has a relentless engine for defensive work.

That’s true. If, as a club you’ve committed to squad churn to achieve the maximum potential levels for squad investment then it makes sense to sell when your highest value players at their highest value.

I'd prefer to keep Bruno and spend £150M. But, reality…..

I think when people think of the horror of selling Bruno they seem to be completely overlooking the fact he would obviously be replaced by a lower profile, younger player on lower wages. Hopefully that player would have a similar career trajectory and then we’d sell him. To be able to really invest serious money in the squad we either massively increase revenue (clearly extremely difficult) or we sell high and reinvest in lower value players. If we are to grow the value of our squad that squad will need to have a transitory feel for a while.

Is FIFA or UEFA open to the idea of recognising the proposed ESL? Because if they actively opposed it and banned its playing staff from competing in their sponsored competitions like the WC I’m sure it would look a lot less attractive.

I kind of wondered if the ‘cartel’ clubs wanted to make the PL so unpalatable with them in it that the league would welcome them breaking away and joining the proposed Super League. Whether all this accelerates their desire to do so or seriously impedes it, I have no idea.

Was that Hughes for the ‘defending’?…….awful. The header just looks like he misjudged the bounce.

Tino’s attacking threat is mostly with his ball carrying.

I thought was a decent player tbh but not suited to our league. Think it knocked his confidence thereafter. Reckon if he’d have stayed in Portugal for another year or two and then went to Spain or Italy he would’ve had a decent career.

Tonali has always been a player who tries high reward/high risk passes so he’s numbers have never looked anything special if completion rate is the only metric you’re using.

After 10 starts I expect to see him settled and performing well. He moves very well to create space for our other midfielders. Would like to see JL and Bruno do the same. Opens up the pitch for the player who ends up getting it.

It’s a tough one with him. He's our most talented and creative midfielder but we play him furthest away from the oppo box as is possible in our normal set up. He’s also probably the most press resistant midfielder so that makes him 1st choice to get the ball off of the defenders. Ideally I’d like another player to be collecting the ball from the back and Bruno to be a link further forward.

He was ok and looked better just by the virtue of not giving it away (much). I say this as someone who likes him but tbh he didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have expected Jeff Hendrick to have done.

If it’s any help, I’ve thought the same thing about Targett (when he was out for a while) and Hall (last season). It turned out when they played they were clearly not good enough/ready/match fit and that’s why they hadn’t been getting any starts.

Was amazed they didn’t score either tbh. They had a great chance at the end there. I kind of felt, if that penalty that AG got (was it last season?) when he kicked a defender’s leg as he was about to strike the ball, then that should have been one for DCL as well. Would like to see us defend well for a full 90.

He looked very useful when he cut inside from deep. Was looking for line breaking passes through the middle.

Better today.