Gallowgate Toon

I don't feel like Spurs have many chips are down players still, some of the mopey bottlers from past seasons are still there. They started last season well in terms of results (much worse performances) but when things didn't go their way then they really faltered.

The chasm between the top 9/10 and the rest feels fucking massive this year.

Have it on good authority that Maddison is an absolute twat. Shame as he's such a good player.

Villa are a bit weird in that they've consistently outperformed their underlying stats since Emery came in, although not by massive amounts. I expected they'd drop off a tad but it's just not happened yet bar the odd run - very impressive. Tricky Thursday game for them this week but I expect they'll still get a result on Sunday.

I think Burn's development so far this season has been the most impressive. Last year, he was very, very functional but he basically just formed the 3 CBs line most of the time but then started to make a few more runs up the touchline in the second half of the season. This campaign, he's popping up in lots of places while still being decent defensively. He's actually contributing to build up play far more than just some decoy runs. I'd love to see his attempts to whip in an early cross

WIlson is definitely better at pressing. His nous for when to trigger is really, really good, and he properly commits to it when he does it. Isak can be great at it but can also be a bit lacklustre/seems to gas out easier. I think it's fair to say Wilson is better at 'traditional' hold up play too but he's not a better link man when it's about balls into feet, imo, he's levels off Isak when it comes to that.

I do think he'll be a big miss for us should we progress in the CL. Imo, his experience would've been important to help us manage occasions better. Less of a problem in the PL with the emergence of Anderson as a legitimate CM option against at least 3/4 of sides in the division. Hopefully, we'll see Miley progress in the second half of the season too as a rotation option, especially if we don't bring anyone in in January.

Going to be a pleasure to watch Reus. He's getting on a bit but still seems a very good player. Fucking loved watching him in the CL over the years. Gordon reminds me of mid-20s him a bit, actually.

Gordon just fits us better than ASM because he's a more rounded attacking player. His movement off the ball is the biggest difference - ASM was rarely very good at this for anything other than counters. What's been so impressive with Gordon this season has been he's shown different qualities in different games. It'd be easy with his speed advantage to be a touchline merchant who waits for the ball to come to him to try and get 1v1, but he mixes it up depending and consistently to good effect. He's 22, man.

Feels like he's getting a lot more space at the moment but this won't be down to opposition no longer targeting him, I think we've constructed a few possession moves to free him up more.

Walk in the park performance. Looks right at it.

Every week, I can't get over how quick he is. Love watching him now.

The movement and rotation in this team during games is currently exceptional. Palace couldn't keep tabs and we unlocked them for fun for 45 minutes.

Everyone seems to talk about how unpredictable it is but it seems pretty easy to overcome, in all honesty. Like almost everything tactical in football, it's been seen before in some guise or another.

Isn't the current Brazil manager the guy that doesn't believe in positions (or positional football, at least)? Some video was linked to it and all the football hipsters call it 'relationism' (ffs). Sounds like it could either be class or absolutely shite.

Most of the lads in our squad will have probably tried to shut down their partner's/family members' accounts since this news broke rather than some type of emotional reaction

Iirc, Chelsea had to go over Enzo's release clause to be able to pay in installments. Or that could be total shite

Don't release clauses have to be paid in full? Or that's at least a very consistent condition? There are very few clubs who can do that with £100m.

His upgrade is already here. Second half of the season, we'll be talking about how much of a BALLER (the certified kind) Hall is.

Stoic Sandro proving to be a real man.

I love him as a character, like. Easily one of the most likeable players we've ever had and helps to preserve the DNA of the club.

Who is the current ultimate Eddie Howe player in world football, if money/FFP was no object?

He's finding himself in all sorts of positions at the moment. Mad as he was often very static for large periods of last season. A lot of it is decoy stuff, I'm sure, but he's down the touchline, in the 6-yard box, and even showing up in centre mid too.

Watching the extended highlights and Tonali seemed very involved. Definitely could've dived in more for the block but he was no more at fault for that goal than at least 2 other players.

Not sure how. Whenever I see his Instagram stories it's usually him drinking shitloads of wine and eating huge steaks