Gallowgate Toon

One of the best things about him is that he'll be calm. That can be annoying when you see we were poor in the first half last weekend and you personally want a proactive change today (I didn't think we were bad against West Ham first half either, we just sat off for a bit after going 2 up with a game a few days away in mind) but consistency is a big factor in what has got us into this position so far. Even the best teams in the division can have very off days. Today will have been a combination, there's an overreliance on saying it's only tactical but that's also a battle he lost today.

Woof just seen the result. Sounds like we were resoundly humped. Big kick up the arse for next Sunday!

I think we'll just sneak the win here with our attacking bench options proving the marginal difference. 1-2 and it should be a great game.

If we get into any European competition, I think we'll see: - GK, Dubs & Karius leave and we bring an experienced head back in as a happy rotation option. Fraser Forster? - Bring in one 'prime' CB in who offers more pace as an option + a youngster if Lascelles leaves. - Had a hunch for a while that we might try and get Hickey in at some point, especially if we're priced out of Tierney. Targett is a very valuable squad member and absolutely should stay. - CM requires some big outlay with one starter and one younger squad option as a minimum. Thuram ticks a lot of boxes for the former - physical, technical quality that makes him decently press resistant, able to rotate in-game into multiple midfield positions to help free up Bruno etc. - Expect 2 wide players, maybe 3 if Maxi leaves (if he continues to struggle with fitness then we may look to move him on in the summer). Barnes + a younger player who can fill in out wide as well as through the middle. The more the season has gone on, the less I feel we're in the market for a true attacking mid - I'm pretty sure we won't go for Maddison now unless it's a fantastic deal. Wirtz would be the dream but someone like Alex Scott is more likely if we explore this route.

Willock isn't lazy at all but can look it at times because he can be passive. He's quite a strange player in that, at times, he can absolutely take over and is everywhere but then sometimes fade into the background of a game and not be seen for a chunk.

Miggy back in training is fantastic news. A great option for 20 mins off the bench for a few scenarios.

The manner of the result is what should be worrying for Arsenal. Up 2, cruising, and then struggled to string anything together for nigh on an hour.

Unbelievable match.

Bodes well for our Arsenal game. They've shown they can be rattled and struggle with the pressure of home crowds.

Been coming for some time. Great work from TAA.

This hasn't been good at all from Arsenal since the half-hour mark, like. Lost a lot of second balls.

Some of Arsenal's players are so likeable. Arteta and their fans are what makes them irritating.

Been over this before. Isak's goals to minutes ratio in La Liga was 1 in 2. He was a sub a lot in his first season which is understandable as he was 19 at the time. For 2 seasons, he was a 1 in 120 mins striker but had a final poor season. We marginally overpaid at the time but there were very evident signs past a single season that he had a lot of quality.

Pretty strong quotes about his ankle issues in the Chronicle. Says he twisted it in the warm up and it's been a persistent problem since January.

Brentford haven't lost at home since September. They're a dogfight of a team. We'll get more joy in general play. Villa are improved but their recent form has come against the bottom half.

Not sure he has a weakness. Ridiculous manager.

20 minute period where he just took over in that second half and it was enough.

Think he'd just picked up a knock. Thought he was generally fine and set up that good chance at the end.

Certainly looks back to his best. Some fantastic 50/50 fighting with physical defenders.

Interesting what happens in the summer with a new midfielder(s) to help unlock Bruno. I think we're seeing so much more positional fluidity that a specialist DM wouldn't fit in the majority of games, it'll be another who can do a bit of everything but is maybe more physically explosive than Bruno is.

While I'm pretty sure this'll be a draw, this current streak does feel like other Howe runs we've been on - it really wouldn't surprise me if we won the next 2 in decent fashion but then dropped points to Spurs.

You can easily flip that and say West Ham only had their 10 minutes of joy because we sat off after going 2-0 up. Even at HT, Bruno's stats were great. It's a bit weird to label Fernandez a top midfielder and then say Bruno isn't. So far, in the PL, Bruno is more successful at dribbling, duels, intercepting, gets dribbled past less, loses the ball less, and is more of a goal threat.

Paqueta lost the ball a lot, some really poor passes, and was ragdolled a couple of times, but he was a lot more persistent than I thought he'd be.

Watching that goal back and totally underappreciated him stopping the run dead to make it harder for Fabianski. I thought it might have just been pulling out of getting clattered but his movement seems way more purposeful than that.

1-1.