Lotus

When I first saw Gordon I said I thought he looked impressive for his age. I liked his attitude, he wasn’t overwhelmed at all. Thought he had pretty good close control. Worked hard off the ball. Watching the videos now, he’s actually quicker than I thought. He’s got a lot going for him. In the age of ‘wunderkids’ 21 and not a global star seems like he’s gonna be bang average. I think that’s unfair. Players do develop at differentiation rates. I think the episode with Trippier has tainted him a bit

It’s a fair point tbh. We all love what we’re doing without the ball. It’s the other side of the game that needs improvement. I’ve no doubt there’s a plan for that and perhaps some of us are a little impatient to see the progress. Perhaps it will be with careful coaching which may take a bit of time. Perhaps it will be new signings. The signings we need are more likely to be available in the Summer. Maybe we’re just going for BPA in January.

Yeah, he’s a bit moody sometimes but, so am I!

Dunno what they base it on. Seemed to me the other players like him.

Do you mean from within the club or just posters speculating on here?

Do they? I mean, he’s in the dressing room and the atmosphere around the club seems great!

If he signs, you’ll have to judge him based on his performances in a Toon shirt.

Was concerned about BDB a few times last night. He put us in trouble more than once. Hope it was just an off day. Our intensity is definitely waning. Not much, not much at all but just enough for a team with a bit of bravery to play around. We need fresh leg options in the centre. Players running around dead on their feet. It’s. No surprise the way we play. Can’t keep that up for a season.

Ah! Didn't know.

Our ‘leaked’ interest in Gordon might be a way of motivating Leicester to sell us Maddison before the window closes and they lose him for nowt in the summer. Maybe Leicester have set an unrealistic price. If they see us trying for Gordon for £10-15M less they might cave.

Hoping Southampton want to win this leg. Would leave a bit of space for us to get at them. ATM we need the other team to actually want to win the game to open the door for us.

We got a lot of joy by surprising teams and winning the ball very high up. Getting a transition in or near the opponents box is golden and we were doing it well. Either our intensity has dialled down just a fraction (would be understandable with our small pool of decent players) and/or teams have figured out a way to get the ball to the half way line where, if they lose it there, it’s less dangerous. On top of that, teams like Palace would’ve treated us like equals at best early in the season. Now mid or lower table teams sit lower and are more compact. For them, a draw is not a bad result.

The ball moves faster than anyone. So if ASM gains a reputation as an astute and incisive passer of the ball he will be magnificent. He’d have the space to do it too as defenders don’t like to dive in when squared up by someone who can dribble. It would give him half a yard extra to get his head up.

Agree with this. He could do with the other forwards or front midfielder being closer to him when gets the ball. As it is, he’s needing about 3 touches to get it to a teammate. That’s too many. He needs closer support.

His reading and anticipation is top drawer.

We have to find a way to exploit the space when teams double up on ASM. Whether that means Trippier moves more to a DM position to allow Bruno to push to the 10 or whatever. It’s a prime advantage of having someone who can win one to one’s. If he hasn’t isolated the defender there has to be space elsewhere.

Seen that too.

I did like Bramble as a player and really wanted him to just become those crucial few % better. Watching him frustrate the fuck out of Henry was glorious. But…..

Tbh, unless I’m remembering it with nettle tinted spectacles, I recall Bramble having a ‘moment’ every game. It’s just the opposition wasn’t always good enough to capitalise. When they weren’t half bad, his lapses would be very costly. Unfortunately you can’t build anything with unreliability like that. 6 foot of him was great. The top 2 inches were just fallible enough.

Thought he was the best CB on the pitch yesterday. Absolutely excellent.

We’ve signed 3 real difference makers (outfield). Botman, Bruno and Isak have and will make us a very different team. We need 3 more, another top defender, another midfielder and another forward. All of similar quality. Add those and we’ll be purring. Tripps is a bit different. He needs an understudy.

Wilson can play with his back to goal. So far, Isak can’t. He might be able to in time but right now, no.

Don’t really believe these Gordon links are based on anything real but, for arguments sake. If he was on the bench against Palace, does anyone think him coming on would’ve changed the game significantly for us? We need players who offer something different from what we have. Not more of the same.