Gallowgate Toon

I think our attacking ability is now on the verge of being a bit underrated, like we outscored other good teams last year like Wolves and Brighton, contenders for our top half aim, and that was with some pretty big mitigating factors for the season. We're not wholly useless. I don't think it's a stretch to say that with another year of Howe coaching we could reach the 50 goal mark without any further additions (as long as we keep certain players fit) while retaining our defensive balance. That said, we should still be looking to strengthen, obviously. If we want to compete for 6th then we should feel comfortable in the ability to score ~60.

Brighton have done the exact same to top 6 sides at home as they did against us, like. It's really not going to be the barometer of our season. E.g. when they played Arsenal last season at the amex, they had 60% possession and 20-something shots etc.

The performance wasn't a wake up call at all at this point. We didn't have Wilson or Bruno for games last season and still won. It's the second match of the season, plenty of teams put in inconsistent performances in the opening ~6 games are so. We've played better against better. You could easily say that 15/16 teams in the league would be much worse off if their star players aren't performing/available.

Didn't mind City pre-Barca as a footballing outfit but find them incredibly boring under Guardiola. It'll be a shit game where we have about 30% of the ball and lose by a few goals. Don't care about the score, in a way, just want us to have a go and have proper spells of pressure.

One of the reasons Brighton are so good at keeping the ball but score little is because they're largely a team of midfielders who pack the pitch well and hold possession. I can't say that it looked like Bruno was too flustered bar the odd moment or two. What was weirder was that so little play ran through him when it looked like there were plenty of opportunities to get him on the ball. Seemed to spend a lot of time cycling possession rather than trying to progess like he normally does.

He was out for a while, tbf, he's only played a few proper games since he got back to full fitness.

I've got some concerns about Bruno as the deeper lying midfielder against certain sides, like. When we're struggling to keep the ball in the opposition's half, I'd much rather he had the ability to get on the ball higher up and allow us to build pressure.

Yup. Easy to get lost in a crap performance but it's not like we've not played well against better sides under Howe. The XI today is much more capable than they showed. Not a good one, sometimes it happens.

It's game #2 and it feels like Brighton always start seasons well so not going to get too wound up about it but this has been a really disappointing midfield performance. Sloppy, no intensity, poor effort to get a grip on the game. In tight matches like this, you at least want your physical players like Joelinton and Willock to make it hard and get in faces. Utterly passive.

Easy to forget this is the second game of the season, we're not going to be fully up-to-speed yet. We definitely look a bit energy-less in the middle. Very odd.

Benfica fans don't seem very happy at the prospect of him leaving. I'm in.

This may be Lyon trying to start a bidding war, like; Aulas is usually a canny operator. But then he also let Bruno go for not much more.

That is an absolutely incredible price, if true. Absolutely well worth the risk rather than Maddison for that.

I'd 100% take Gallagher. His form fell off for the last third of the season but he's only 22. Obvious talent and a very logical deal for us (even if it's a loan) now that we're another CM down.

Maybe it's just because he's making points that we now disagree with but feels like his general tone has shifted a bit towards being a bit more antagonistic over the summer. Ultimately, he writes for the Daily Mail...

Miggy got some stick on Saturday but, on reflection, I actually thought he provided a fair final ball on a few occasions (not all on his left foot either, I think they've been working on that a bit). It's curious that Bruno's chemistry is so good in terms of picking out Miggy's runs but there's been very little evidence of any kind of similar relationship with ASM. Feels like Maxi only ever makes dashes behind the backline when we're on the counter with loads of space.

This'll be a good match, they're very well organised & are tactically flexible. I'd take a draw. A bit crackers that we won the game in March with no Bruno starting and a front 3 of Wood, Murphy & Fraser. I thought their midfield was really good when we played them but we've gone up a gear since then so it'll be a test of our progression. I think Howe will revert our style back here to more counter-based. Head says 1-1, heart says 2-1 with goals from Wilson & Miggy.

It's also the first game of the season and there's some inevitable lack of sharpness.

Also, Sven is huge. We seem to be collecting a few monsters. Pope looks like a physical freak too.

Love the Mig and think this is going to be his best season for us by far, but I was thinking today that Werner on loan is potentially an excellent fit for the right hand forward role.

As much as I like Burn, he has his moments when up against the better sides. Only a matter of time before he rushes in and makes a mistake that leads to a goal. Once that happens, Big Sven is in the mixa.

He's got the potential to be an England player, tbh. So many potential elements to his game that just need refining.

Some really nice passing today on top of his usual ragdolling.

He's a very underrated footballer. I always thought he was more of a poacher. Tough conditions for him today playing against 3 CBs and with a very congested box. Class came out on top in the end.

Fucking class performance. Loved that they played Nina Simone as well, tbh - had actual goosebumps.