Gallowgate Toon

It could be a sign that he has big plans to play him during the second half of the season...

This sounds bad on the surface but you're talking about a 1/2 minute variance at most. La Liga is the worst of all leagues for in-play time, iirc, at about 51 mins when you'd think it'd be the best considering the possession approach. It's not abnormal in football.

Yeah, they're often wrong too - bet the 43 minutes is a load of shite. Last time this stat was rolled out was against Liverpool and it was wrong. Average in-play PL time is 55 mins which is one of the best in the world.

I think Howe said this fixture would be an examination of how far we've come. Basically, we're bloody immense defensively when we get set, but we have a lot to work on going forward still. For me, the midfield balance against these sorts of teams still doesn't feel consistently right and that sets the tone going forward. I thought Longstaff was anonymous going forward & back, Bruno had moments but struggled to find space while having to sit deeper, Willock improved but his best moments came when drifting out wide rather than making things happen through the middle.

Isak coming back is potentially huge for us. Get some minutes under his belt over the cup games to prep for assaulting Fulham.

Thought he was absolutely wank in the first half but much better second half. Great outlet when he gets going, just feels like he plays within himself sometimes.

22. Bonkers.

Class. Think we could've done so much more on the ball but we're a work in progress with some limited squad resources. Arteta can fuck off. What a fanny.

We can do better than this. Need to sort that midfield at half-time because it's not doing enough.

Feels like I'm being harsh but Willock is annoying me. Seems to be ambling about when he should be physically dominant.

Miggy vs. Zinchenko could be a good way in for us. He's a good player but has never struck me as a great defender.

Midfield is a key battle, I hope Longstaff & Joe/Jo give Bruno the support he needs to be able to get on the ball in more space and get things going for us. Head says a 2-1 loss, heart says a 2-1 win.

Fucking yessssss.

I'm not expecting top 4 still, tbh, it requires lots of things going in our favour. However, the home games left against the 'big 6' gives me a lot of hope, as well as our class defence. Really hope we go bold this window.

This one stings more today. Thought our left flank was exposed a bit yesterday. Willock had one or two moments but was just way too passive in the main. We can't get those neat triangle interchanges going like we can on the right, due to personnel and balance. I actually thought subs disrupted us a bit for 10 mins and then we found a groove with Maxi again. This is also the game, imo, where you want to be able to change up the midfield by pushing Bruno up as we look for a winner.

I feel like I should be excited by Tielemans links but I'm just not. I feel like Bruno brings a lot of Tielemans' strengths to the CM role, plus his own abilities, and he's also defensively much sounder. Should be going for Kone or someone similar for a midfield position. Maddison would be class. Yeah, he's a bit of an awkward fit with our style and shape, but he's so talented. Howe would make it work.

The Perrone one is annoying because the release clause is low, but perhaps we talked to him and didn't get a good vibe/he wanted City after they made their interest known. Or our plans have changed since Shelvey got injured - the noises since have been about more established players since that came out.

Feels like we're way more likely to go for Perrone for a tenth of the price.

I know a couple of fans who still think Shelvey is our best passer. Aye, he can ping a 40 yarder but his short passing range and general consistency of accuracy just isn't the same at all. Bruno's pass to Willock yesterday was the best of the match. Ridiculous.

I just don't get the feel Paqueta wanted to go there at all and his bad start has just continued as their form has been patchy. He was very clearly presented to a lot of clubs and only one wanted to take the punt - can't have been too great for his confidence.

Some utterly filthy midfield play in that game.

Also, Leicester's resurgence has seemingly been down to a change of shape too, from having a read elsewhere. Howe has had a lot of time to study this and should have a decent plan.

The boon for us is that Maddison didn't play last night so could be very rusty if he gets a look in at the weekend/run out of steam. They have other good players but he's such a difference maker in the final third. Would take a draw.

Felt so good to be back, even if the game and crowd was a bit meh. We do some brilliant things as a team but you could see we were just a bit off in places after trying to fly out of the traps. Another good result though. I love watching Bruno play football.

Christ, I've missed going to SJP. Edgy 2-1 win.