Lotus

Shooting the breeze…. Dubs Schar Lascelles Burn Manq Targett Bruno Joelinton Willock ASM Wood

Is Botman not happening then or do the journos just know nowt?

It's one thing doing that on a windy Tuesday night in Poland.....

Tchouameni would be awesome.....

Manager Lee Johnson had said to Bristol Live back in August 2017: "He's 6ft 3in........... There is pretty variable info on him around the net tbf. I thought he looked way taller than 178cm when seeing him on video but did find the above quote eventually.

Clear from the video that he’s at least as quick as Kovacic who was much fresher as he was only a 2nd half sub.

Can I ref demand VAR show him an incident he didn’t see and VAR don’t think there’s enough in it to intervene?

I don’t honk JL nor Shelley are ideal for that position but needs must. I imagine we’ll change tactics and formation based on the opponent and players available. See so obvious to write that but had been sorely lacking for so long!

Wonder if that formation will be the optimal for the rest of this season? 4 2 3 1 with Bruno and I presume JL when he’s back playing 6 and 8 and Willock ahead as a 10.

Bruh....

I just Krafth is not Prem standard at all. I think we've done recently utterly in spite of him, not because of him. Unless Manq has a genuine fitness issue I can't think of any justification for Krafth playing.

If we’d had got Botman for £40m and he would’ve played like this everyone would have said it was a steal.

In the 1st half he gave the ball away a couple of times when we were pressing forward in attack. Simple balls too. Put us in a very difficult position to try and get people back to cover their subsequent attacks. Poor play. Wouldn’t want to see him start for us again.

After Bruno came on I thought Shelley made a couple of positional errors. Twice I think he was resting a bit, nothing wrong with that per se, but you have to rest in position and he wasn’t. He was not central where he has to rest as the deep CM. He was on the left and given the ball was with Brentford on the right I thought that was the 1st time I’ve noticed him make a definite tactical error since Bruno showed up. He was slow to react and just kind of ambled more to the middle. Up to now I think he’s been pretty good tbh (last 6 games) but those couple of little lapses made me wonder if that’s the crack that Bruno squeezes through to start a game.

His 1st touch is a caress.

Very very good performance. Both with and without the ball.

Our organisation and work ethic over the past 5 or 6 games makes us a very stubborn opponent. It’s so different from what we’re used to. I think we’ll get at least a point. All 3 if ASM is playing and on form.

Not sure what Almiron would do though….. doesn’t carry the ball forward, no defence split passes and no crosses, especially if he’s on the right. if both ASM and Fraser are out I think you have to look at a formation change tbh

I get that point and I’m not saying I’m right, it’s just a feeling I’ve got. Thing is, Vieira and Petit did actually contribute at either end as well. That’s what I think JL needs to bring to his game. I’m not saying he can’t. Just that right now, he isn’t. Vieira and Petit also had the benefit of Bergkamp dropping from deep but seeing as we’re not playing with a 10 I think both CMs, i.e. JL and JW have to show some stats in one box or the other. JW is tbf. That’s why I have a gut feeling, once Bruno has made the physical adaptation he’ll replace JL in that position. I would hope JL proves very effective in a new position, perhaps in Fraser’s spot but slightly deeper and more central, proving cover for when Trips is back and making bombing runs down the right. JL might also do better exerting his physicality against a fullback rather than a CB. Guess we’ll see.

Why would the owners of one of world’s richest clubs have to put their own money in? Also, even if the club has paid its owners £100ms it still had enough to spunk a £billion net and still not be the level of competitiveness that outlay demands. Every team buys a player or 2 that doesn’t work out. Can’t always be the players. Must be the fans tbqph.

I was genuinely thinking of Jenas!!!! A muscular Jenas. But tbh, Jenas had a few assists irc. Kroos was absolutely great at pinging the ball around.

I realise this will be an unpopular opinion and I could be in for a flaming here but I think needs to do more at one end of the pitch or the other. I'm not sure he can legitimately play as a top 10 (of the table, not the world) 6 or DM in neuspeak. I think if EH had seen the tactical discipline he would be there already. He's good enough at getting a foot in, is strong and has a good engine so it must be his positioning and anticipation of tracking the late runners. That's the defensive end of the pitch. As for the other end, I don't think he carries the ball well enough, nor dribble effectively and he doesn't he play regular defence splitting passes/assists. He doesn't arrive late in the box and score either. He's good bang in the middle, throwing himself about and disrupting the opposition and then laying the ball off if he gets it. I like him, I love his effort and everyone loves a redemption story but I don't see him as a Makele or Pirlo and at the other end he's not a Kaka or Rui Costa. I think ultimately he will have to consistently produce in one of those roles if he stays a CM. Personally I think from a tactical POV, he's most at risk from Bruno's arrival. I

Would like Moussa Diaby from Leverkusen. Speedy winger. Scoring goals this season too as well as assists. So far in 20 starts he has 10 goals and 6 assists. He was from the PSG academy I think. Stick him on the right or left, he's great.

Of the 3 'roaming' midfielders you mention, I reckon only 1 of them has there nous and tool set to play the holding role though. And that's Bruno. May not be the best utilisation of his full talents but I reckon he could do it. Not advocating it just saying I reckon he could do it. Might need to time to acclimatise which I'm sure is what EH is doing right now with him.

The very fact he’s on the bench is making our other midfield 3 raise their game. He’s had that galvanising affect too. Competition for your place from a top rated Brazilian will certainly bring more focus to your efforts!