alexf

Felt like he was the only one who tried in the derby and again tonight he was head and shoulders above everyone else. Little reminders every now and then what an unbelievable player he is and what we would lose of he ever goes. It's a shame that sometimes when others are playing well he can have the odd off day. But he definitely leads by example when we need it sometimes.

Yeah clearly starting against Chelsea considering he was rested until 80 mins. Just don't have faith he can impact games anymore. Barnes just feels like the bigger threat even when he's not massively involved. Our only real consistent form of attack at the moment however seems to be to Bruno threading balls to Murphy to then cross. It's good but we need more strings to our bow.

Yeah thought that was one of his better showings to be honest. So if fans were on his back then that's kinda disappointing. However not all that surprising as in previous games it felt like he lost the ball nearly every time he got it. So if he is saying safe to keep possession that's probably an improvement on losing it or running out of play previously.

Brighter first half than we had seen previously. Seemed to have abit of purpose and wanted to get things moving. However so far he looks a really nothing average player than doesn't really add anything. Thought he was going to be abit like Willock from a few years back and use his speed and dribbling to open up the pitch and make things happen for us. But he doesn't look like he has that in his locker. Fairly neat and tidy in most things he does but he's lacking something. Maybe all the injuries he has took their toll like they did on Willock and this is the player we are now left with. Hope I'm wrong and he's just struggling to settle fully yet.

Been one of our best performers the last few weeks or so. Really growing as a player. Don't like that we are having to shove him into right back cover but needs must and it Howe thinks he's the best one to play there then so be it.

Looked fitter than I was expecting in his first start. Definitely more fox in the box than Woltemade and will score more goals because of those instincts and general sharpness around the penalty area. Tracked back well a few times aswell so showed the right attitude. Will likely take him a run of games to get match fit and fully sharp but can only help us to have a goalscorer in the side.

Ugh hope Hall is ok. Annoying all our injuries have hit the defense at the same time. Something must be up with Tonali though. Used to start pretty much every game when fit. Now he's coming off early and being rotated every other game. Clearly been something not right with him in his performances aswell.

The way this season is going, I can't see us beating Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City or even Palace over two legs so can't say I'd be devastated if we lost tonight as I don't have the same belief that we can win the whole thing again.

Feel like he loses the ball 9 out of 10 times he gets involved. I was stunned that he started. It didn't work at all and should have been hooked at half time along with Gordon. Our most productive wide players were both sat on the bench.

I don't know why Eddie keeps defaulting to Gordon on the left for "big" games. Barnes has proven himself and yet he's constantly relegated to the bench or right wing. Our best two wingers are Barnes left and Murphy right and they both started on the bench.

No major criticism of Ramsdale. However ever goal we have conceded with him so far, I feel like every time I see the replay I keep thinking..."could have done better". Not sure if it's true but that's been my instinctive reaction.

Kept saying we needed fresh legs before the equaliser. He just doesn't trust Ramsey or Willock in those moments which is having a knock on impact. Tonali and Tino were both running on empty.

Lads that started looked shattered towards the end. Especially Tonali in the build up to their equaliser. Doesn't bode well for the weekend. Felt inevitable we would concede late after those two big chances to go 1:3 up. Felt like we were really unlucky not to win that in the end but I suppose if the same thing keeps happening over and over then it becomes less about luck and something we need to fix.

Wow I thought people were doing a bit but this one seems like a genuine opinion. If you can't see the difference between a Bruce team and Howe then I'm lost for words.

Their back 5 is causing us major issues. It means in defensive they are rock solid and we haven't got the creativity to break them down and then in possession, the extra man means our press isn't working and they are escaping to counter time and again. Definitely a tactical issue rather than them having better players.

Been thinking for awhile that Joelinton shouldn't be first choice anymore, especially in Europe. We get nothing from him on the ball and we are clearly lacking creativity. Also Barnes right and Gordon left almost never works. Barnes is a better left winger than Gordon so the choice should be simple. Think Gordon will be getting hooked after that half anyways, especially the shamefully tracking back for that chance at the end.

Is it just me who always thinks commentators and pundits etc go a little over the top for a rabona? Always felt like it's a fairly easy skill to pull off that most players could do and normally it's more down to said player not wanting to use their weaker foot.

Completely forgot for a sec that the Saudis are our fucking owners. But yeah of course they will bail them out. They gave them £50-60m that no other fucker was gonna give them for Nunez so they had enough cashflow to sign Isak this summer so nothing is surprising.

This is all manufactured bullshit. It's gonna play out exactly as predicted. Liverpool want him gone, Salah wants to go and now they can try and justify a disgusting unrealistic fee because he signed a new deal. They got £40m for an old legs gone Fabinho like 2 and half years ago so god knows what they will get for Salah. Shouldn't be anymore than £20m max at his age and with his crazy wages.

Didn't see any of the game until just before Sunderland scored, but that audible groan in the stadium when he missed that header was great They are beginning to lose patience with him now.

If we are all being honest they we have to admit it's looking like it's going to be tough. Just taking in all the factors like our away form this season, the momentum they have been carrying, the home crowd will be really up for it etc. Just got to hope they get too hyped for it and some of our players play calmly. But hand on heart i'd probably take a draw at the moment.

Villa are on an absolute tear at the moment. What is that like 6 wins in a row? Wouldn't mind but find most of their fans so arrogant and cocky with no justification whatsoever so always irritates me when they are doing well. However disagree about being a worry for us for CL, mainly cus we are million miles off challenging for top 4 currently.

Was a period last night where he gave the ball away 4 times in a row. Still has a impact defensively but he doesn't seem to be contributing anything offensively this year. It's was abit odd that he didn't come off considering Willock has looked the best he has for a long time in his last few cameos and would have given us some energy in that final period.

Yeah we lack creativity and incisive passing when he's missing. Doesn't seem to be anyone else in the middle that can create. Likewise we lose defensive cover and athleticism when Tonali goes off. They are both really important to us. Was a cracking goal and a shame it didn't lead to a win.

Yeah Kudus or Madueke were the players I wanted for right wing last summer and the ended up going for the same cost as we paid for Elanga if not less. Felt at the time that he was just quick and occasionally put in the odd decent cross or shot but wasn't technical enough to take us forward. So far he's been worse than I expected but the Everton game showed he can have some form of impact. But it's been slim pickings so far.