Lotus

Thought it was a perculiar and poor performance from us pretty much until the game was so late Fulham knew they couldn’t get back in it. Then we had a bit more space and time in midfield. If we’ve been working on the training ground it didn’t show. Was like a flukey Pardew result tbh. When where you know the score line looks good but the general play was predicated on the opposition fluffing their lines. Also, what is it with EH and substitutions? If you don’t rotate, even for 15/20 mins here and there then players will never have any match sharpness at all. If they don’t then you’re always forced to start the same 11 pretty much. Result: injuries/fatigue.

If we need to sell players to improve the squad and those players need to be of a certain standard and value in order for the fee received to be significant, JL would be my 1st choice. He’s very good but I think there are better ball players and better positional sense out there.

please tell me it was Saracens…..

Would be surprised if we ever actually managed to replace Bruno. It’s not just his skill it’s his ‘all in’ attitude and commitment combined with his skills and vision that make him the player he is for us. He’s totally bought in on the idea of being The Man. He also rarely misses a game. Chances of finding that combination in one player again for us will have very long odds.

TTA. Think he is a very rare talent with the ball. Has decent pace and strength too. Can’t understand why he isn’t a better defender. Must all be in the top 2 inches.

Moukoko. Never really managed to hold down a place in Dortmund’s 1st team.

That particular scenario would be nailed on tbh….

I think we need a midfielder who does his defensive work actually facing the opposition. Too often all but the back 4 do their best defensive work facing their own goal, running back, surprising, disrupting or nicking the ball as the opponents run towards our goal. Just to have someone who could actually be facing the play from midfield when we lose the ball and get caught in transition would help immensely. Their skill set should in no way be limited to tackling or intercepting and then laying the ball off but having the situational and positional awareness to drop back 10 yards facing play when we could look vulnerable would be massive. If they can play make from a deep position too then we’ve got a winner.

I love JL’s attitude and physicality. I think he lacks a degree of finesse in midfield. His progressive passes stats are pretty low. He’s more of a runner than passer. He’s scoring stats are good but assists are low. I think Ederson is an upgrade tbh.

What if it was Ederson in and Joelinton out (in the summer)?

I agree. That’s a step too far ? I apologise!

I have a real respect, admiration and genuine affection for Eddie Howe. I am, however a fan of NUFC. It’s the club that matters above all. That some of you won’t even entertain a discussion is bordering on Ghoeber Xing.

He runs like he grew 6 inches last summer….

Surprised again not to see him. Don't know what the issue but there definitely is one. If he can't come on for 20 mins when we're 0-2 up against a mid table Champ side he's place in the squad seems purely ornamental. Leave him out of the squad and put Alex Murphy in his place. Something!

Ali Dia

Iker Muniain

It helps to make a clear distinction between players we are linked with by the media and players we actually sign.

Thought Antony looked a decent player and a better prospect at Ajax. For whatever reason he hasn’t developed at ManU. If he’s clever with his next move I still think he could be a good player.

I’d like to see us develop some effective tactical flexibility. Successful teams can do this. However, those kind of adjustments must be forged on the training pitch and if we can’t get out there to do them we’ll have to wait until the schedule and injury list make it possible. In game tactical changes don’t really seem considered to much as an option. I'm sure EH has reasoning for this but I’d like to know as I’m nosy.

My post wasn’t aimed at you fwiw.

I think Gallagher is similar to Longstaff but he has better technical ability. He would be an upgrade imo but I’m not sure he’s one we need to make atm. Other priorities.

It’s a fan forum, it’s an emotional dumping ground. It’s a place where folks can be reasonable but they might also just use it to vent and wildly extrapolate to either unlikely optimistic or pessimistic scenarios. Surely no one believes someone posts on here in a fit of rage or unadulterated glee and then actively seeks the player in the real world to impress upon the full force of their feelings? We can’t support the players from a forum but we can support each other from time to time and if someone is extremely annoyed at Tonali and the way it’s played out I doubt it’s beyond any of us to understand why.

Do we even know if Ashworth is involved in the scouting and the contracts? We have a head of scouting and we have a legal team. I thought Ashworth is the person these depts report to, not the person doing those actual jobs.

Playing like he’s got an injury he’s very weary of exacerbating.

It was odd because it was obvious that the way to get at us was down the flanks. We have 2 slow FBs. They did exactly that. We didn’t adjust or make any changes to protect ourselves. We just did what we did harder and that left more gaps. Trips positioning has been suspect for a while. He’s often too far up the pitch and when we lose the ball he can’t recover his position. Burn is just so slow. Was caught out easily. Later our midfield shape disintegrated and NF just played through the middle of us without anyone within 10 yards of a player receiving the ball. This wasn’t a bad day at the office. This is a systemic problem. Love EH but he’s too loyal to the older players. If Hall had had a 1st half like Burn’s he’d have been hooked double quick. Trips really needs some time away. At the moment our identity is being tactically inflexible and pressing in a way that leaves bus lanes all over the pitch for the opposition to trundle down. I don’t think we’ve reached our nadir yet either. I expect us to pick up form at some point. I also think EH should not fear for his job. Fresh look at the situation in the summer.