alexf

I get the theory of setting up with Joelinton wide left but in reality, against a team like Everton that was not the way to go. Gordon upfront was also highly unlikely to give us anything as they sit in deep with everyone behind the ball and don't give any space in behind. Literally every player who played in the 9 position today disappeared from the game due to their big old school CB's. Unfortunate with Ramsey going off ill. Surprised he didn't just give him a minute but I suppose if he is ill then he's ill. But apart from that it had all the hallmarks of our other disappointing home losses to team's we should hope to beat: - Lack of any energy or urgency early on. - Moving the ball too slowly around a low block. - Losing aerial duels against Beto almost every time and then either getting countered on or giving away a soft free-kick (thought the ref was atrocious mind) - Most concerning is the constant conceding straight after scoring. That is unforgivable really. For it to happen twice after all the 2nd half effort to get back level was unbelievable.

Yep losing him and then having only Joelinton and Willock to build moves 2nd half really didn't help. Neither have any technical ability with their passing. WIll give Joe credit for faking the cross that led to Murphy's goal but we missed Ramsey when he went off. Weird how he was so good first half then came out ill as fuck after half time.

That's a big impacted result on our season. If we wanted any hope of finishing in and around top 8 we had to win that. Now with a tough next run of games we are looking at battling out Spurs for 15th. It was everything we struggle against. Can't break down teams for shit and can't defend against anyone with pace and power. The attack is frustrating but it's been happening a long time, but the defending is the worst part to concede three soft goals like that is pathetic. So sick of Pope now, it's happening too often and the mentality of the team to not recognise that we keep conceeding straight from the kick off aswell and to allow that third to happen. This one is hard to shake off.

How do we concede so many direct from scoring it's been a massive problem all season. Where the fuck were the black and white shirts on the 3rd. Concerning three goals at home to fucking Everton. Awful.

Happening exactly as beforeand exactly how predicted. Beto holding the ball up well and too physical for our defenders nN'Diaye too quick and nibble. Blue bodies behind the ball making it difficult and is unable to break down low blocks easily. So sick of soft goal keeping errors this season also.

Like any serious hamstring injury, he will struggle to get back quickly and even when he does he's probably gonna be susceptible to more injuries. If we get any use out of him this season again then it would be a major bonus. Gutted though, he's such a miss in those big games we have coming up.

It's like Botman in the past. Be surprised if we see him back at all this season at this rate.

Agree on that. If anything the Barca high line is more suited to us.

You think Madrid are getting to the final?

Depends if we can lure them out and hit them on the counter. Seeing Tarkovski in a foot race with Sesko gives me hope if we can get Gordon isolated against him. But they likely will sit deep and let us have the ball and that is generally been our biggest downfall this season. Especially without Bruno we really struggle to unlock stubborn defenses and only looks dangerous when the game is chaotic and we win the ball high up and attack quickly.

Likewise when some are quoting stats of modern players vs. some of the best from the past. As we have seen ourselves, the standard across europe has decreased dramatically and there are also more games against these weaker sides, so players can stat pad so easily.

Just for the fact that we would have to throw that league game in-between as a way to protect tactics for the 2nd leg like we did against Liverpool pre-league cup final is reason enough for not wanted to play Chelsea. That run of fixtures looks tough however just massive game after massive game non stop again with no time to rest. Man U at home, Man City Fa cup, Che/Bar home, Chelsea away, Che/Bar away, Sunderland Home. All in the space of about 3 weeks.

Didn't realise the games were coming up so quickly. Shame we still won't have Bruno back. For some reason I still have a sneaky feeling the Barca high line could suit us better if we get it right and use our pace upfront successfully and don't get done by a worldie from Rashford this time. On the flip side their midfield taught ours a lesson last time and they also didn't have Yamal either. But I can stomach losing to Barca far better than Chelsea. Especially as we likely lose that away League game aswell which would make a grim week.

Yeah, there were three, currently irreplaceable players that I felt needed to be protected,that's Tonali, Trippier and Hall. Mainly as there is no direct replacements for them without playing academy players. So was weird to see Trippier play for 60 mins, Hall come on and for Tonali to play full 90. It was asking for an innocuous injury. Every time he was sprinting around I kept thinking "calm the fuck down Tonali were 6 goals up, save your legs".

Eh? I'll give you last night sure but poor for awhile? He's been consistently excellent at CB for a long time and his return to the team coincided with our return to form. Did you miss him battling against arguably the best striker in the world just a few days ago and by most people's accounts holding his own?

He's so stubborn sometimes Absolutely zero reason to leave Tonali and Trippier on there.

3 goal keepers again. Can we not call up any other young players or do they need to be registered. Surely the likes of Seung-soo could have been on the bench etc?

Annoys me that sky continue to push this "big 6" agenda. Like even subtle things like if you see when they have 'fan debates'etc. They always have the same 6 clubs represented with the same people and maybe a token one from another team that rotates out. Just keeps that theme going that the only 6 teams that matter are those and the rest are irrelevant.

I imagine his rate accelerated considerably once he stopped played striker and turned into a radge.

If a 90 year old Benzema is getting in ahead of you then that tells a story too.

Was a much better showing away at City. Same result but atleast we were in the game right to the last kick for a change. With abit more quality we would have gotten something tonight, hell even with just a few more first teamers available like Bruno, Tino or Miley. Gives me hope atleast for the cup game that we can go toe to toe with them that little better and with home advantage and possibly with them more focussed on other competitions, I hope we can get the result.

So frustrating. How are you not playing that easy pass to Gordon.

Was excellent. Playing on a yellow all game as well for that ridiculous yellow at the beginning and also getting the majority of 50/50 given against him. Was a good old fashioned battle between him and Haaland. He can be very proud of his performance despite the unfortunate team defeat.

Burn goal was really unlucky. Not enough for a foul but probably would have been onside and still got on the end of that of he hadn't been. There's chances in this for us but as I was saying before the game, we look so vulnerable at the back even against the shit teams so as soon as we go up against anyone decent we leak like a sieve. Trippier a weak link at the back once again. Either Tino or Miley on there tonight and we would have been far stronger. Hall getting beaten in the duels against Semenyo aswell. Thiaw made a few mistakes I feel. Should have got across sooner on the first and goes to the wrong man and leaves the guy behind him free on the 2nd.

Was thinking it's been awhile since I've seen us have that defensive steel. Where if we get men behind the ball we're really hard to break down and just nasty all over the pitch. Was probably the 22/23 season last time I truly felt confident we could see out games of we needed to. Suppose not having likes of Tino, Bruno and Big Joe contributes a lot to that.