Gallowgate Toon

He absolutely needs consistent playing time now; whether as a striker, wide forward, or #10. I think we can get away with him & Wilson as a pairing against a lot of teams, tbh. Probs not against the best possession sides but that's where you can play him as the striker or move him to a wider role.

Guna be fuming if he's out again for a short while. What deal do we have to make to see him & our best attackers start together for a run of games.

Cracking run from Rashford for their second, like. Lucky with the finish, yes, but as soon as that break started, he knew where he wanted to go. That's the type of stuff you desperately want someone like Maxi to learn.

Joelinton is the best aerial threat we have - proper meets headers. Everyone else who's tall is a good 'defensive' header.

It's gotten to the point that I'm just fucked off with Burn Feels like he's missed (not even forced a save) about 5 relatively point blank headers this season.

It's time to evolve... not revolve. I think he'll be really relieved that this weekend is done now. I feel like we've been walking a tightrope the last few weeks in terms of team selection & squad management. This is a big test for Howe now, a bit of a sticky patch and we'll see how ready he is to be ruthless - this is bigger club management decision-making time. I'm a bit worried for him with Wilson, feels like he's been trying to back him in spite of form which is against his entire managerial ethos of playing based on merit, competition in the squad etc. You can carry a striker in crap form for a while when you're vying for midtable but not when you want to be towards the top, especially when there aren't plenty of goals elsewhere. He has to turn this disappointment around for the rest of the season and start building our next phase. For me, the rest of this campaign should be about getting our attacking mojo in order and preparing for next year. It'll likely lead to more losses than the first half of the season but it's something we have to go through. That, or we revert to more of a counter attacking team and re-style next campaign. Options are to go for it with Isak and Wilson, but that may mean sacrificing ASM for Willock or Gordon to try and preserve defensive stability. Or he tries ASM off Isak and Gordon on the left. Maybe put Isak, Wilson & ASM together as a 3 somehow if we want to keep 4-3-3. I don't buy that we don't have goals in the squad, we can have a decent attack to see us through with some tinkering and perseverance.

I thought he was good & made some nice runs but his limitations in terms of final ball were definitely on show. Same can be said for a few others, like.

Atmosphere was great up in the gods until scraps about standing/sitting. Things got embarrassing at that point for all involved and meant stewards were in the fucking way of loads of us trying to sort stuff out for about 10 minutes.

I feel for him because we have wingers who never get an early ball in. Almiron and ASM always check back and then spaces get clogged up. However, I also feel he's just not helping himself at the minute either. He's not really engaging in those little battles etc. Something is up - it's either give him a partner or bench him.

Warrior and so talented. He looked at their level, many others didn't.

It's definitely time for change. Wilson is just annoying at this stage and is a hindrance. Play them together or play Isak.

Funny old game. I thought he gave us a good injection the first 20 of the half and then we shifted him out left for a bit which and they shored up the mid.

Disappointed we didn't score. I thought Isak was very lovely when he came on.

Awesome read. I wonder if that was basically his presentation to the team he gave a while back.

While Howe & Fraser said they'd made up & moved on from the Bournemouth incident, I think that's something that could easily bubble to the surface again in the right/wrong circumstances & something stupid gets said. Banished to the u21s is a pretty strong course of action.

Rashford has scored 16 from an xg of 8.5 or something, apparently. Crazy compared to how poor he looked last year. I remember when they came up here - apart from one shot, he was misplacing simple passes etc.

There's still a lot to be optimistic about this season and we're definitely not out of the race at all. Even still, finishing top 6 would be a great achievement. It's been a weird period since New Year; we've had a niggly injury to Bruno, illnesses, a concussion, suspensions etc. Couple that with a real smashing of matches with the cups and it's not a total surprise we're a little out of sorts. If we can keep a relatively clean bill of health and have relatively consistent squads each week then I think we can finish really strongly with our sole focus on the league. We've been on a pretty shoddy run but are still within a whisker of 4th. Our performances have been decent, in the main. There's been a definite drop in our level of game control without Bruno but it's only Liverpool that was a real eye-opener. As fans, we just need to focus on us and not start fretting over the table until about April.

I think the biggest compromise Howe is going to have to make for the rest of the season is some potential sacrifice of some off-the-ball intensity for attacking intent. ASM & Isak are our most talented forwards but they're probably the most inconsistent for the 'intensity' mantra (albeit do parts of it well/aren't 'bad'). However, even top teams do carry some passengers sometimes, but it feels like we're so used to a side now where everyone is flying about 100% that it feels alien to think about starting players that aren't like that. As a Plan A, 4-3-3 probably still provides the best base to free up less intense attackers with a trio of Bruno/Joelinton/Longstaff as the latter 2 are great at covering wingers caught upfield. The biggest worry there is probably lack of goal support & creativity outside of Bruno. Willock is a bit more threatening if you take him out for Longstaff but he's hardly prolific these days, he can be quite passive for stretches in matches, and I'd say he has a bit less edge defensively.

He does have some options returning now and big calls to make. We likely keep the 4-3-3 as the primary shape but, cup final aside perhaps, we shouldn't be going back to Joelinton on the wing. We need to keep building up attacking relationships for our most talented attackers and finding a team balance. Options in-game to freshen up the 4-3-3 or go to a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2.

They're currently a very good team so playing them off the park isn't going to be very easy, like. We can be a very good counter side and ASM is one of the best around with space to drive into, so I expect us to largely sit in a mid-block and egg them on, but we'll trigger some pressing higher up on occasion. Expecting Isak (would rather Wilson) and Willock to start on the bench who are both pretty handy options to come on. The pressure does feel off a lot more which is way more enjoyable for the build-up.

It was a wank finish and I'd keep him on the bench for now too. Isak is a better overall footballer and needs gametime - he's part of our long-term future and Wilson isn't.

Goes without saying but you can tell we lack a lot more control in the middle without him. Him being back doesn't solve all of our problems but he gives us a much better platform to work from to build play. His offensive work is what catches the eye but his defensive work is just so brilliant, especially how he covers space despite not being the quickest. Big Jo has tried to cover this and has played well but it's a step too far to do it all. They're such a good combo in the middle.

Will kop flack for the goals but the first goal is just bad team play. ASM/Anderson left space for TAA to drift into under no pressure, followed up by bad communication and positioning between Tripps and Schar. Second goal was kinda similar. ASM drops off Salah, lack of communication in the backline. What a ball by Salah though.

Liked his #10 position understanding, made good passing decisions.

Lots to play for and we're still in a good position. Final out the way, Bruno back, opportunity to tweak the attack of what has been a successful system for most of the season. We'll sort it.