Gallowgate Toon

When Almiron is RW, Tonali is probably instructed to help provide width more than when Murphy starts. I thought he was growing into the game when he was taken off, we started to see more of the one-touch passing & moving.

I was sure he was going to go for the hybrid 3-5-2 that he's wheeled out a few times this year considering how much they love to find pockets. He went way more aggressive which I was surprised at. They had 2 really pressurised periods but I thought we were fairly controlled aside from that and competed OK. He's not infallible at all - I do think he should've switched Tonali and Bruno earlier on - but he's once again been let down by some really shite play from senior players.

Takes accountability and tries to force the issue. Also has some real quality to go with it.

Sadly, he's not currently looking like the 'keeper he was.

Seething. Gave it away.

Chelsea have been shit this half as well, in the main. Absolutely infuriating we gave up that pathetic goal.

Absolutely disgraceful half from Isak. He's not playing like a leader at all. I expected him to make the next step this season and he's gone the opposite way. Really disappointing.

It does feel like quite a weak reason, like. Players play through niggles and tightness all the time.

We actually picked up more points than Villa in the second half of last season. Emery is good, obviously, but the demands placed on squads is high. I expect they'll still be challenging for a European spot at the season's end though.

I'm not confident of a result but I do think we'll put in a good performance and actually score from open play. 2-2.

To be fair, Barnes has 2 goals in 4 starts this season, 1 from a sub appearance. He's also not had a run of more than 3 games starting for us ever, iirc. He's not really had a fair crack. He also assisted Gordon for his only open play goal this season (where he was playing RW). BIG hasn't really been given a chance to develop.

Watched it back and there was loads of good in there for the first hour, so frustrating we couldn't make one of the many opportunities count. I didn't realise the Tonali through ball to Isak was actually onside - he should've done a lot better there. The Willock sub definitely weakened us, we should've carried on with the original 3 for at least another 10 mins, imo. The legs looked good and there was a strong balance.

He's stretched his legs a few times since he came back and still looks a very powerful runner. He's missed a lot of football and was always a big confidence player. More sub appearances for him is just fine, for now.

I'm hoping that's the last of his managed minutes for a while. While he may not be a consistently super technical midfielder (although he has some fantastic passes in his locker imo), what I like about him most is that he picks & chooses moments in possession. He has more of a 'typical' midfielder's instinct for when to slow things down and when to speed things up compared to others we have. His speed across the middle was great at the weekend for nabbing second balls too.

To be fair, we played 4-4-2 for decent stretches on the weekend and I actually thought it worked really well for a period. Bruno and Tonali showed a really nice understanding when we were doing this, and it enabled Gordon to take some of the pressing load from Isak.

It is pretty bizarre at a time where we're looking impotent going forward that our sharpest shooter so far this season is getting benched.

I really do wonder what he offers when he's probably the 'worst' of the wingers. He can have very useful moments but he's ultimately limited in possession and not amazing at pressing or tracking. It feels like you could justify his inclusion if he was world class at one thing but he's nowhere near it, outside of having a canny early cross at times. I'd maybe understand it more against 'big teams' if he's good at following tactical instructions or something, but surely a weakened Brighton at home means you can go for it more from the off.

Aye, gets sort of a pass for the effort, but he's ultimately paid to be decisive in the final third and he wasn't.

Some absolutely fantastic passing. Really coming along so well.

For large periods, today wasn't really 4-3-3 either. It was basically 4-4-2 with Joelinton LM and Gordon playing like a LF.

Controlled the game well enough, lots of decent play towards the box, absolutely diabolical finishing.

I thought he had good, sometimes great, periods in pretty much every game he played, but he'd obviously gas out fairly badly after about an hour. Don't agree at all that he was ever invisible, I'd wager the stats don't show that either. Fairly involved in quite a few phases of the game.

We finished 4th while drawing with both Leicester and Leeds, 2 of the sides relegated that season.

Doesn't he have 2 goals in his 4 starts this season?

Personally, would've left a sub back for a striker to come on for the last portion of the game if you're still looking for a goal. Felt the Barnes sub hamstrung us a bit.