Shush

PSG owe us for the awfully wrong handball penalty away in the CL. So please smash them up and injury their best players just enough to miss the Sundays final.

Are we being pinished fo daring to believe

He will be injured too if he plays more than 2 games Back to Burn at left back if my silly comment happens? Seriously gutted about Hall. He was so important to us, and his development has been meteoric. If Targett can get some redemption arc on the go and bring back that relegation battle form from when he joined we might be OK without Hall.

FFS

Also, the evolution and improvement of teams like Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham etc. has made it hyper competitive very quickly.

Still massively back and believe in Howe, but PSR has massively hindered us from elevating squad depth and replacing deadwood. I can pick faults in his lack of a plan B, but when his plan A is in form we can beat anyone. His ability to get better performances from poorer players has been excellent. Tactically he does adjust but it's generally smaller details than overall shape. Arsenal 2nd leg is only real one I can point to that was specifically different all game. I just think we are seeing the real desired outcome of PSR in effect. Our inability to invest quickly enough to ensure we have a squad that means we have game changing quality on the bench. We are one injury to Isak away from being a team that isn't top 8, let alone top 4. Bruno seems like he's finally hitting a slump in form, but he's been an ever present warrior since the start and never had a proper cover or chance to rotate and rest. Tonali is great and now can give that relief, but seems to come at a time where Willock is regressing fast and Joelinton blows hot and cold. Hopefully Miley is the answer, but we are missing a real pacey atheletic and natural number 6. I will never raise a doubt about Howe again after start of season like I did, as he not only fixed it, the streak he went on was incredible to turn us back to top 4 contenders. Still a chance for a cup win and European finish - we ain't at our best but trust Eddie to give it a great shot. It is squeaky bum time. Will the likes of Isak and Bruno want to go again if we can't improve the squad again for next year enough? It all hinges on if we make Europe. All I see is more and more ageing first team players which will cost a fortune to replace, let alone sorting out the depth issues. PSR forces you to either take a long term youth route which is no guarantees, or spend your wad on the key positions that you need to strengthen. We can't raise capital fast enough to do it unless our scouting is on point and we shop extremely well. It's frustrating as hell watching our own youth purchase score against us yesterday because of PSR when he and Murphy could have been rotating and competition for that spot.

We either impose ourselves and it works or we bang our heads against the wall repeating the same predictable and sussed out system. Love Howe, and he deserves a better bench and overall squad, but there's a worry his ceiling was that 4th season. Last season he had injuries, this season he could blame PSR... I'm happy to keep going with Howe and building but there's a looming feeling that Isak and Bruno will be off soon as their ambitions are beyond where he/our situation can take us fast enough.

Some of it isn't criticism, just observation and reality. I thought we had moments and spells, we just rarely turned it in quality final third moments. Liverpool have polar opposite - and absolutely in form and special forward line. They create or capitise on errors, and instantly are dangerous. They are where they are for being brilliant. We weren't awful, but we couldn't raise our game to theirs.

So we're as close to 17th as we are to Liverpool points wise.

You have to accept a far superior side punished us when it mattered. There was spells we could have, but we didn't have anything like their forward line quality tonight.

Halls gone from risk to start to making life hard to Salah and being one of the best players in our side. Incredible improvement so quickly.

The site of bringing on Longstaff.

Nonchalant behaviour in fouling to stop counters and break up play without getting a yellow seems to be skill/trait. May as well be a stat on FM.

Nobody has won it this year too.