Gallowgate Toon

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.

Love that he's using his left more. What a cross.

Been an exemplary run of games from him, like. He's actually just lush to watch when on form, both on and off the ball.

Good pull back for Willock. Considering I think he's working his way back from injury, I think he's looking pretty good. Fantastic bench option at the very least.

Some of his turns in tight spaces are genuinely excellent.

What a man.

Did he meg Rice as well?

He's basically played 5-a-side today.

We've definitely not been outplayed but we are getting a bit outhustled at times. We've had more possession, played more passes, and we're winning Rice is doing what Rice does well - getting stuck in and driving forward. Don't think Paqueta has been much kop at all.

Feels like a very first gear performance so far. Howe fuming during that huddle about our lack of intensity to get more, I think. Seemed to sit right off after the second, probably with the Brentford game in mind.

Cursory look at Villa under Emery and they're slightly overperforming XG but have been lucky with XGA. Brighton are a legit side who have tough fixtures but will still pick up some points. Villa feel a bit more like a Fulham/Brentford streak from not too long back.

Maybe but there are frustrations around his managerial style that have hampered league campaigns in the past (but has been effective in cups).

Emery is a good manager but I'd be very surprised if he finishes higher than 7th next season unless there's extremely significant investment.

Bruno was a massive miss that game. He keeps the ball and build attacks so well - it really helps to contain opposition & force them into a deeper shape. Joe was a decent stand-in defensively but his passing IQ & movement into valuable spaces are levels below Bruno.

It seems a bit weird that this is taking so long, no? Feels a long, long time since the initial charges were brought forward.

He looks massively invested judging by some of his reactions yesterday to events (Willock flop, massive celebration etc.). He's such a cool character that I wasn't sure if he'd fully buy-in like, say, Bruno, but it absolutely looks that way at the moment.

He should already have 2 assists to his name, tbf. He was very close to playing a lovely ball in to set Isak through yesterday as well, similar to that Wilson chance he set up against West Ham, just an extra yard or two on it and it would've been perfect.

Think he's always had some talent but he seemed way too nice & meek for so long. He'd often look scared to take risks and end up doing nothing. It feels like he's really embraced a WUM character and it's almost given him the freedom to express himself.

Ten Hag trying to have a personality did seem to trip them up for this. I think he felt they had our number after the Cup Final and a few snipes would have us playing too emotionally. He's better at just being a (very good) robot coach.