Gallowgate Toon

I think this is more about complacency & struggling with the favourites tag than anything else Bullshit, man. We've lost 2 games out of 4 at home playing 1 striker. It absolutely doesn't work at this level. Pretty sure Burnley and Boro played 1 up top in most games last season... All I've heard today is how sloppy we've been. Passes consistently going out of play, crap touches, playing about in our own defensive third. Sounds like that's the main problem, not tactics.

Entirely pathetic. Poor from everyone involved. Really disappointed with the approach from the players - littany of poor passes and touches, and playing dangerously in stupid areas. Stinks of arrogance. Rafa should've reacted far quicker - this wouldn't be 2-0 if those changes had come 5 minutes earlier.

It doesn't sound like we've been at all defensive, and I don't think it's got anything to do with rotation. This is either an off day or complacency.

Sounds like an entirely careless performance, needed some rockets earlier. This squad still has a bit to go.

This is just all-out sloppy. Sounds like so many slack passes. Need Mitro on, ASAP, and go a bit more direct.

Yikes.

I'm actually fancying us for a cup run, this year Great squad depth, a good enough side to be in the Prem (not a very good Prem team, obvs) and a class cup manager. We should have the legs for it. Just love Rafa, man.

I actually feel slightly worried for this This team are still learning and I can't shake the thought out of my head that they're going to be a bit lax after QPR. 5-0.

He's just by far and away the highest quality CM in the league. It's just about confidence and consistency. Rafa said he's learning bit by bit, he can mould him into a good Prem midfielder.

Was hoping for Atsu and Lazaar to start but still a side good enough to win this. I think Perez will benefit from Mitro, like.

I know open palm was his most used one but I always associate him with the one the statue's based on, for some reason.

There's some on VillaTalk who think they're superior to us (inc. squad wise) and we're nothing to be afraid of. Hope we absolutely disgrace them. Nee offence, Brummie.

People will always find something to complain about Rafa has worked this out fine. We were more open in the first 2 games and looked really shaky. He knows we need points, confidence and momentum (which often starts with the defence) so has us playing more conservative to start building a platform. We're not a 'Rafa' team yet, but we are on the way.

I'd argue that Hayden and Colback is a very big drop off mind. Yeah, it is. Doesn't render the whole team shit though

Isn't that largely the side that beat Brighton? Colback aside, it's fine. Would like to see some newbies but international duty for some etc.

I think Ritchie/Diame as RW & AM really aren't much worse than Townsend/Sissoko. Ritchie just put in a more consistent Premier League season than Townsend ever has & Diame looks like he could be more equipped to play as a 10 than Moussa, IMO. Wijnaldum wasn't even a winger and he was flanked by Paul Dummett to give us offensive width I'd take Gayle any day over 15/16 Cisse. I feel as though we've upgraded the full back positions and Hayden is an improvement on both Tiote & Colback as a box-to-box centre mid. It's close but, crucially, we now have more balance. Current best XI would win. The squad is no contest, though. We're more equipped to deal with a PL campaign now than we were last season.

Some folks do seem to want to find reasons to not enjoy the current situation, like. It rubs because it sometimes comes across as some kind of intellectual superiority/looking down on people for being positive. Simply put; we've spent a good wedge on recruiting what's needed to achieve the task at hand, whilst building foundations for the future and getting rid of deadwood. There's still progress to be made but who was truly expecting everything to be solved in one window? We could've scrimped more. Far, far more.

He’s still a good player and I expect Koeman will get the best out of him. He’s someone that simply needs lots of direction in his play. He might think he should be a side’s fulcrum but he’s far better at having a specific role and sticking to it. If Everton get him in a midfield 3 with the main aim of opening up teams in the middle the pitch and creating more space for creative players in the final third then he’ll do great. If he’s required to have a more expansive job than that then he’ll generally be shit and will only perform in really open games. Koeman’s a very good manager, like, I think he’s too smart to not know how to use the bellend.

Holy shit

Got to admit, I’m pretty ecstatic with the window. We’ve bought good quality in relation to our current level, with a good proportion of those imports able to be part of an average (at least, I’d argue) Premier League squad. The fact that the new players are here for much more genuine reasons can’t be overstated either. There’s a few obvious fillers in there to get us through this year, yeah, but I have no issue with that at all – there needs to be an element of short-termism to this process. The likes of Clark (if Rafa doesn’t improve him) and Murphy can easily be cast off after this year, as it’s likely their stock will be ‘decent’ while we likely win the league. I know Hanley isn’t the most fashionable of defenders but he seemed to have a very decent season last year and I think he’s got enough to be a fine 4th choice CB in the Prem. Another winger and CM and it’d have been absolutely perfect. Best window we’ve had in how long? Thanks, Rafa

It's amazing to have 2 genuine senior wingers in the squad who have different styles and can actually swap positions mid-game

If he can stay fit, he'll hammer this division, IMO.

He had some promising appearances early on at Everton, iirc. Going by his performance levels at Vitesse, he should be fine here. Just needs to stay fit. Caught him playing for Malaga once and he looked decent.

More reserved in his role today than the last couple. Definitely think he's more than a DM; he loves a solid challenge, aye, but impressed with some of his bursts and passing.

Assuming this lad (and Murphy) have been doing their nufctv interviews tonight, judging by how late the post match videos have been