alexf

Looking forward to seeing how Eddie approaches that Barca high line. Could be an upset there if we defend well and then hit the likes of Gordon and Elanga on the counter.

This is exactly what I hoped would happen. A more exciting lesser known quantity with a higher ceiling from out of nowhere. Just didn't get that excitement from Strand-Larsen. But you can see from Woltemade why he's highly rated. He has a unique quality and his goals are all nicely taken. Plus he looks to have Isak-like close control and hold up. I'm pleased about this. More so out of relief that we're not getting noone but also not overpaying for JSL. This guy might flop but I'd rather take that risk than play it safe with someone that will never likely hit the heights.

Probably 50% of our transfer committee have probably gone to this when they need to be working away on a striker signing

I thought they were crap against Everton aswell. They played fast but lacked quality. The game was like pinball, literally every few passes someone gave it away, it was a really poor game settled by lucky penalty decision. However with all the players we have missing and Osula likely the only striker option. I think a draw would be par and a win would be excellent given the circumstance. Sure thiaw and Ramsey etc can come into the side and should be good enough to do the job but they will both be unfamiliar with their teammates still so patterns of play will feel a little disjointed for us.

Yeah the pressure of being their main striker is probably heavier than for us. Granted there is going to be a little extra than normal on whoever we sign to replace Isak in the short term. But feel the media and fans would be far more patient here. Man U is a different level to us in terms of scrutiny and this wasn't an ideal start for him. He'll need a performance fairly quickly to avoid being coined Hoijlund mkII. But above all else, joining a team like us you would have been joining an Eddie Howe team who will protect you, phase you in slowly and ultimately get the best performance from you. You could argue the opposite has been happening at Man U for a few years.

Oh yeah I enjoyed the hell out of last night. I was more refering to the people saying we've moved past them and that they aren't rivals etc. I think finishing ahead of them for two seasons is abit early to be going with that talk.

That Christos Tzolis for Club Brugge last night looked really good. There's plenty of talent out there in Europe for far less than £70m. I'd imagine they just probably haven't been scouted properly so the club aren't willing to take the risks.

I wouldn't be gloating too much. We are still on for a difficult season too if we don't resolve our striker problem. Also I fear they would definitely come for Eddie this time if they sack Amorim. I like to think Eddie would say no but after the way our owners have left him short for a few seasons now, he may see the money and the investment and atleast 3 players he wanted to sign for us all there and be tempted to jump. Btw, do they still have Antony, Sancho and Garnacho sat in the bomb squad? That's a hell of a lot of wages I imagine sat doing nothing.

They only just unveiled their kit? Isn't the season underway yet in Germany?

Agreed .... If he plays Was thinking the whole time we were in for him that he wasn't worth anywhere near what was being asked. Get the same feeling about Strand-Larsen aswell but not as bad.

Bad enough losing to league 2 team in any scenario but that was their full first team and they had a perfectly good goal against them ruled out. Hilarious. Repeat though. Please don't sack Amorim. Don't want them trying to tempt Eddie.

Only wanted Man U.

Please don't come for Howe

Was definitely onside for me. Grimsby were robbed.

picture is perfect

I tell you what though. Another who outed themselves as a cunt was that Gravenberch. Game was over and Bruno was clearly angry and disappointed and you can see this guy clearly said something to wind Bruno up and try to get him to react and get sent off and then was just laughing in his face. Fucking scummy behaviour.

With a calmer head now I would reflect back and say we won a fair few games at the start of last season despite not deserving to/playing poorly. So it can happen in our favour also. However if it wasn't for the recent cup final I'd have said we are cursed against Liverpool. Certainly feels that way in the league. Think we have played well in loads of recent games against them and almost always get screwed somehow. Feels like ever shot they have against us goes in pretty much.

Yeah considering that intensity contributed potentially to missing 4 first team players now for future games. Probably unsustainable

That's fine if your disregarding it but I wasn't and I never said hall was as good as Tino defensively. But I specifically talked about there being two times Hall has done ok against Salah and I was talking about Monday and in that last away game. Which were the last two times he faced him. Tino is clearly the better defender primarily thanks to his pace. Hall doesn't have that attribute but has improved remarkable from where he was. Most notably that home game against Arsenal last year in the league. However Hall does have more positive attacking traits. Namely his crossing and shooting which is a slight weakness of Tino.

Are you on the wind up? Dan Burn was closest to Salah for that one. Hall had to go out to press the pass before that. Even then I'm not blaming any of the back 4. It was the midfield 3 that all took themselves out the game on the phase before it even reached Salah and he passed it first time before anyone could cut it out. Crazy to blame hall or Tino not being at lb for that one. Also check back that away game at liverpool the 2:0. I distinctly remember despite the poor performance from the team that night that Hall could hold his head up high for playing well up against Salah.

That's twice now Hall has had a good showing against Salah also. Albeit for a short spell Monday but seemed to hold his own when he had a battle with him and came away with the ball. Also played really well if I remember in that away game against them before he got injured last season. Excited to have him back in the team fully fit soon. Gives us a lot offensively aswell. Wait and see if Tino can be as effective again when he switches back to the right because he's been amazing at left back during Hall's injury.

They can't all play at the same time and individually they don't push us higher than we are, just hopefully stop us slipping back too far. Guys a Liverpool fan and is being used to continue the pressure to push us into selling Isak.

Is Akanji really going to Palace? It's a shame our priorities have moved on because, apart from having a suspect season last year, I used to think he was a dream CB signing for us about a year ago. Whenever we played them I used to be so impressed by his strength and speed. Just seemed a machine and also decent on the ball. Not paid enough attention but I guess he's fallen out of favour there.

He won't be able to press from the front as aggressively as we like and won't have the speed to keep up with the likes of Elanga and Gordon on the counter attacks, that maybe a Wissa would. For that reason I think he wouldn't be the best fit. But if we changed the way we play to accommodate for more of a target man type, with runners off him and obviously we do get good delivery into the box with the likes of Elanga/Murphy, Barnes, Trippier. So he could fit in ok. The main negative is just the feel and how much that could hinder us in the long-term rather than the short. But when the argument is him or no one it's hard to argue against it.