Mattoon

Just have to wait out this tournament and we might get a manager in that actually picks players on form.

I'm obviously biased as he has a face I'd never tire of punching, that being said it seems there are 3 women now with claims of abuse and his interview he did in Brazil wasn't the PR win he was hoping for. That and the fact he's gone into hiding over "false" claims is a massive red flag. Be interested to see the evidence he feels he's got to the contrary though.

Just look at the Bruno thread, if he was given that role for us he could feed Isak all day with those line splitting passes, we really do need a new player to sit deep and free up Bruno.

Yes

This, he's held to a higher standard because he is a higher standard. He's not the worst on the pitch by far but he's our engine.

Love the guy and he's clearly one of, if not our best player but the back end of last season and the beginning of this one he just hasn't got going. There's been a few moments where he's looked his old self but there's far too many mistakes popping into his game. Now, it's not all down to him as sometimes the positioning of other players doesn't allow him an outball forcing him to turn over the play. I just hope he gets back to fitness again soon and starts showing the form he is capable of, he's still the same player that dragged us up by our boot straps and guided us to comfortable safety and the following season dragged us to the top end of the table.

I deleted twitter straight after the Liverpool game and I'm glad I did

Well Villa well and truly rolled over and dropped their keks for the scousers there didn't they? I know too many supporters and they need bringing down a peg, they're already talking about winning the league.

On the face of it we're only 1 point worse off from the same fixtures last season. Yes we've had the toughest start of any team in the league, however the manner in which the last 2 were lost has been insipid and toothless. It's fair to say that the game against Liverpool and tonight has shown reason to be concerned about the team. Not getting the basics right, gifting opponents, slow, laboured build up play and lack of movement, front line looking isolated and unprotected at the back, the midfield has been poor and our usual high intensity press; non-existent. The international break has probably come at a good time for us because if we don't come back all cylinders firing the season could be a write off very quickly. I'll reserve judgement until the last ball in the Burnley home game has been kicked but right now, this has been a tough pill to swallow watching what's been served up.

Was genuinely singling "Hello darkness my old friend" in my head at half time

All is not lost....

Well that's me done for today

Brighton playing more like us than us

Our passing is so slow and predictable we're making the press so easy for them, we're not going to keep the ball if our players aren't moving and passing quicker, this is not us at all.

Got to say it's a fair score line so far, we've not been at the races at all

That was horrific

Great

Feels like the City and Liverpool games have really taken the wind out of our sails, look like we're second guessing everything and playing with a bit of fear.

We look scared out there today, need to settle down

What in the Michael Owen is this now?

This is clearly a delaying tactic to bring him back into the fold when they think it's "died down". Pretty horrific tbh

Looking on their forum it looks like the QF stage clashes with the Club World Cup and they've either sold or loaned out most of their kids so they'll struggle to field 2 teams. They could just throw this game in favour of the CWC.

If you're gonna get City in a cup the best chance you have is their first round and you're at home. However unlikely it's probably our best chance of beating them.

One of the things I hated about him at Everton was how easy he used to go to ground to try and win free kicks all the time. At the end of last season he struggled to bed himself in with the squad but during the summer break he's clearly been coached well and now seems to be one of our best players.

Still bruised today, I've banned football talk at work and deleted twitter All I've got to say to the Liverpool supporters is "Who do you think you'll draw in the Champions League on Thursday.....ohhhh, awkward". Ultimately, we just need to bounce back from this, go on a run of results and finish above them again, they beat us twice last year and still weren't good enough to finish above us so screw them.