Mattoon

Bwahahaha

Tonali close

Oi oi Isaaaak

Was probably one of, if not our best performance so far this season. We hassled and harried them from the off and they dug in deep and made it difficult for us. We made some decent chances and played some good football at times but ultimately some good defending, good goalkeeping and sloppy finishing killed the game for us. We could have and should have got something out of today, we deserved it on the balance of play, but really Gordon and Isak need to be putting those chances away.

I'm sure it's been said plenty of times on here before but I really don't think it's the right time in Howe's career to be thinking about international football, he's too driven, too addicted to the day to day to go part time, it'd drive him mad.

I don't know how Rice keeps getting picked for England, he's a great player but doesn't offer what we need in the middle, a proper tempo setter with an eye for a pass.

Poundland ETH got found out tonight

Pathetic

Another poor, impotent 45 minutes by England 🥱

Why is Bellingham shooting from there??

This, plus we started from a much lower bar because of the Ashley era, so much dross left behind.

I don't think any supporter of sound mind wants us to do a "City" or "PSG" or even a "Chelsea". But neither do they want to see us tangled up in egregious red tape preventing organic growth. Where's the soul in buying the league? Invest wisely, build a strong, competitive squad and allow us to compete fairly, it shouldn't be too much to ask. We don't want to be selling off our promising youth to pay the piper or still have a vein of Ashley cast-offs running through the heart of the squad 3, 4 or 5 years down the line. Yes, there needs to be rules to stop hyper-capitalistic owners putting their clubs in danger, but the rules shouldn't create a divide between the haves and the have nots. No team should have more sway, more leeway, more margin for error than the others. You can't pull up the ladder on the other 14 and bury your head in the sand.

I celebrated that

We're so much better when we move the ball quickly, exasperating that we don't do it more often.

This type of game is perfect for us, bigger teams want to push forward against everyone else and it gives us the room to press their players and use our wings on the counter. But the mid and low level teams play a low block and suffocate us from deep. This was always going to be a better performance from us, having said that I was still delighted with the result, not many teams will take any points from City again this season.

Wolves, Palace and Everton would be quality

Ffs

How have we not equalised this second half?? So many chances man.

We'll win this 3-2

Our best midfield 3 is undoubtedly Bruno, Tonali and Willock, but we've got to treat him with kid gloves, Big Joe is an amicable stand in with Willock getting minutes when we need to up the tempo.

Schaaaaaaaar!!!

Seems Eddie does too, all 3 subs being made

I thought it was an improved performance by us and up until their goal we dominated, but they're parking the bus at home and looking to take us on the break, we need to be smarter, move the ball quicker and take our chances. It's obvious that the personnel on the pitch is preventing us from full tempo and accuracy. I'd like to see Barnes, Tonali and Willock get some minutes for Murphy, Longstaff and Joelinton.

Most excited to see Willock back on the bench, he's a game changer

I get that playing Gordon on the left is the best option but I'd still have Barnes on the right with a bit of freedom to go left than Murphy or Almiron. Tonali should also be starting now, he's just had a storming international break and must be match fit by now. Also, happy with the defence, Tino deserves to hold that RB slot down and Trippier can be an impact sub later on.