Lotus

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.

Agree about a Bergkamp. But then again, couldn’t everyone do with a Bergkamp ?

Think he could be a good option of the midfielder running beyond the striker if we play with Isak as Isak likes to drift wide or drop deep to help the continuity of play.

Think Spurs would’ve been a good shout and they are not competing for the title.

Not exonerating Gordon or any of midfielders for that matter but I think our lack of movement in the box is to the detriment of the other passers in the team. Yeah, Bruno can do it but I think others could offer more as well but it does need he forwards to make those little runs that just create a yard of space. Or wide players making out to in runs too. We don’t do enough of that. As others have pointed out, we’re a little too static. And against a well organised defence, it’s not helping us at all.

Hard lines tonight. It all changed a bit too quickly really. Do you still have faith in Klopp?

Some peoples lives have made them very pessimistic. It’s a defence mechanism I suppose. I wouldn’t let someone else’s misery detract from enjoying our season overall. Even if I have got the right jump over yesterday’s result.

Jokes aside, he was great in Germany. I’d love to see him rediscover that form for the final. Would be elated for us and him.

I’d like to get European football next season and I think we will. Probably as a result of Manu getting top 4 and beating us in the final. I think CL would be a step too far for everyone at this stage. I think a season or 2 with UEFA cup football as we mature into a side who can handle CL group games mid week coupled with high pressure PL games at the weekend will take a bit of time for everyone, players and coaches alike.

Or Michael Spinks comeback against Mike Tyson….on no, wait ?

I’ll preface this by, again stating I’m incredibly happy EH is our manager. Love the bloke. However……I am very curious to see how he faces and adapts to challenges we have coming for the rest of this season and the next. Our plan A is faltering. It’s clearly a trend, I think there were signs of it against Leicester (despite the victory). What’s wonderful is that we have a plan A. Even a plan A is a massive improvement over Bruce. We have had a clear tactical plan that had been effective. I have always been a suspicious of teams whose route to victory involves running harder than the opposition. Simply because it’s a limited way to improve. It has a ceiling. Ours hasn’t been solely down to that but it’s been a highly contributing factor. I’ll be curious to see if we persist with it, the high intensity plan. It hasn’t got much of a future coupled with Eddie’s tendency to not rotate. Of course, with a better squad, rotation may be something that Eddie finds more palatable. It’s that or a change of style. If we get European football next season our form fall off will happen quicker. EH has shown he can see our problems previously and then formulated an ideology to get us going forward. So he has a history of solving Newcastle’s issues. So, obviously I trust him to to it again.

It’s completely possible to be both very happy with the progress of the club over the past 15 months and critical of our form over the past couple of games. One doesn’t negate the other. If anyone can’t hold these 2 opposing appraisals, one of the long term project and the other of the current performances, it shows a incredible immaturity imo.

………..

I’m struggling to understand the reality of our tactics atm. We can all see that even the likes of Bournemouth can play around or over our high press. When they do it’s one ball that takes out most of our midfield. We’re then playing a high line with no real pace at the back and we’re not even getting consistent pressure on the ball. So our very one paced defence is exposed a bit too often. Against better players that’s gonna hurt. It will probably be worse against Manu unless we make some clear adjustments. We might well be working it differently in training but that’s the reality of what’s happening and has been for a few weeks.