alexf

Thought he was back to his usual self today. Some lovely first time accurate passes in that second half that we haven't seen for ages. Shame he will be physically fatigued now for the City game but then same can be said for all of them. But maybe just maybe his form was possibly linked to abit of stress anxiety about his kid being born.

Absolutely glued to his line. So many times where we have got used to Pope sweeping and then realise Ramsdale hasn't come. Botman obviously didn't cover himself in glory but I'll forgive him given it was 120mins into his return and he's slow as fuck anyways. Credit and redemption with the pens but shouldn't play another game if Pope is fit.

I really think we have to now. Certainly with the Schar and Tino injuries. We have just put Botman through 120mins on his return and expect him to go again in all those coming games. It will be a miracle if even came through today without a problem with his history. Even if he is fine it's gonna take him awhile to get back to the sharpness we need. Was poor for a few of their goals I thought. Need left back and CB cover minimum I would think.

Glad we are still in the cup. It felt inevitable we were going out after that awful later equaliser. But fuck me I hadn't truly appreciated our upcoming fixture list. This game has potentially truly fucked us for the coming weeks with our fatigue and now losing Tino aswell. Feels like it will be like the 23/24 season where every player is completely shattered. - City game where they will be fresh as daisies compared with us. - Then wolves away few days later just as they are coming into abit of form. - Then PSV a few days later in a must win CL game. - Then Villa at home a few days later. - Then PSG away a few days after that. -Then Liverpool away a few days after that. - Culminating then in Man City away in the cup to round off the two weeks. fixture computer was not kind to us.

Fuck man. We are buggered for Tuesday now. All the players we rested are now no longer rested and the players we didn't are doing 120mins. Silver lining if we can get through then atleast we are still in this even if we lose the league cup semi. Shame about Tino

Didn't mind that half. If we are gonna make changes I prefer when we try something different like this and see if it works. There were some nice bits. That Wissa chance was some lovely link up play between all the forward players. Obviously room for improvement but we have quite a few rusty players out there and some playing out of position like Willock so bound to be a little disjointed. Expect a couple of changes at halftime due to saving legs for Tuesday. Think Wissa will be rested and likely to start Tuesday. Although I'm not sure if I'm convinced about him just yet. Still looks off full sharpness.

I hear what you're saying. For me though i felt that a little earlier. It was that 2:0 over Arsenal at the end of the season before where I thought, ok these are meant to be top 4 and we are right up there with them. That first half against City was mega however. When Trippier put us 3:1 up. Saint Maximin was immense in that game aswell. Such a shame the injuries seemed to mess him up after that as I remember he got a bad hamstring injury the next game Vs wolves despite scoring the worldie.

I know it was only league two Shrewsbury but might be the wrong time for us to play Wolves next weekend. We will be putting everything into today and obviously Tuesday. Whereas they will have a week off and have been growing in confidence week to week and have picked up a couple of decent results in the league recently.

Even when Gordon on the bench, poor old Barnes likely still doesn't get to play left wing Murphy must be injured because he didn't play anywhere near as long as the other wingers and yet isn't in the squad Think it's likely we see alot of changes at halftime to keep the squad fresh for Tuesday

Tino is a strange one. On the ball and going forward he's generally abit awkward. His crossing is rarely any good and he can't shoot to save his life. But when he decides to burst forward occasionally he can be really dynamic. Ofcourse defensively he's a monster who can shut down pretty much any winger and gives us that recovery pace at the back that until Thiaw arrived we severely lacked. So he's really important to us but what I'm saying is, I can imagine if a City or Arsenal did sign him, I bet their fans are first would be like "we paid £80m+ for this guy, really?" Because his true value doesn't really show through on initial viewing.

Spurs 6-1 was Howes team at its best. Those 20mins 5-0 was something we'd never seen before. We were absolute flying and everything was just perfect. Psg probably next due to the level of opposition and spectacle of our return to CL. I prefer them to games like the other night. Yes the euphoria of winning with late goals is excellent and will probably look back at the game in years to come more fondly but for 90% of that game I imagine most of us were huffing and puffing at the mistakes we were making and chances we were giving up. Game could have gone either way but I will always prefer when we are dominant. Cup final obviously right up there and probably ultimately the winner due to what it gave us. But as a game and in terms of pure enjoyment watching I can't say it was top as I feel like I was a bundle of anxiety just expecting Liverpool to score at some point.

Can we really afford to risk Botman with all the other games coming up? If he breaks down then we're down to Murphy or Miley at CB for City. Whilist I have confidence in Miley playing well anywhere, it would still be an issue and also lose being able to use Miley in midfield.

Crikey that own goal against the Mackems must have really pissed a few of you off. No need to write the lad off after a few games. Was only a few weeks ago he was scoring two again Chelsea when we were whipping good service into him. Yes he's a work in progress but I feel everyone knew that when we signed him. We took a gamble when we were desperate and so far we have lucked out. He's done well in a team not set up to suit his style and without a more experienced striker in Wissa to share the load. There's been a few example of when we do play through him and get runners off him it looked really good. Union away in the CL springs to mind? Hope the club aren't as reactive as some on here and give the lad time.

This reminded me of thinking for years every time I saw Rashford, wondering what he was going for with his random wispy patches of side burns.

I dunno. Having had issues with ankles for years I think they can sometimes be more complicated than a straight leg break sometimes. But not an expert.

He's definitely lost a little something in mobility over the last few years. Like I can't imagine him playing wide left anymore like he was doing in 22/23. However he's got that fire and physicality back that he was lacking for a little while. He's one of those that plays with such passion that he gets every bit out of his ability. Him and Bruno really are the heartbeat of the club since the takeover. + Dan Burn.

Lewis-Skelly was so overrated last year. Glad he's getting found out now and Hall can take his rightful place in the England squad now. Really hope Arsenal don't win anything again. Just look at the depth of that squad. Ridiculous. This is no underdog story. Also Martinelli is a cunt. Probably best result for us. Keeps Liverpool within our scope and also means the title race isn't completely done already from a neutral perspective.

loves a CB signing does Arteta.

That story is obviously bollocks. But I do wonder how long it will be before an English team gets desperate enough to sign Greenwood. Always assumed it would be Man U once they felt the noise around him went quieter. But I remember last time they seemed to be pondering it, they quickly backtracked and loaned him out to push the can down the road. You know whoever does will try to play the "legally he has done nothing wrong" card.

Yeah backed off and allowed space way to much. One of which was the 3rd goal for them. But he will be rusty as hell at the moment so benefit of the doubt. Just hope he can get up to speed quickly and stay fit. Why is it always one in and one out for us with injuries or feels like every time. Remember it was always that way with Isak and Wilson if one came back the other got injured. Maybe it's because we keep hold of too many injury prone players

The footage isn't good. It's defo the ankle and the damage appears significant. DCL full weight comes down and pushes ankle against itself as it's caught in the grass. Fingers crossed for him.

It's a tricky one. Something's got to give as the squad can't cope with so many games. But we could be effectively out of both domestic cups in the space of a few days if not careful. But do you go all in on the fa cup with shit ton of rounds still to play or do you focus on the league cup again where we likely have to beat Man City twice and then probably Arsenal if we reach the final? Be lovely to do both but I suspect most the players that played tonight are knackered and I don't see a heavily rotated squad beating Bournemouth unless they rotate loads too.

Night and day compared to the other day. Added so much threat with his crossing.

Not his best game and needs to be stronger at protecting the ball sometimes. But still got a nice assist and is working hard. As we keep saying. Team isn't set up for him currently. Doesn't mean he can't still be useful.

It's was funny because nothing was coming off for him until then. It was his poor pass that lead to Miley having to chase to keep the ball in. But then when he got it back I said "have another go Bruno" Then he produced that. He remains our one true source of creativity. The whole attack seems to run through him, god knows what we would do without him honestly.