The Prophet

What we thinking line-up wise? Depending on fitness, I'd go: Pope Trippier Botman Burn Hall Tonali Miley Big Joe Osula Wilson Barnes

Aye, he would suit out style really well too. Shame we have bigger priorities and he'll have more attractive suitors.

As I recall, a minority of fans boycotted and protested to try and put pressure on Mike Ashley's ownership. They were largely sneered at and abused by others who were unwilling to sacrifice their ability to groan, sigh and generally get stuck into the lads every Saturday.

Depends on what kind of side you have. If you play highly technical football with a traditional defensive mid he's probably a C. Stick him I'm a side that thrives on transitions and physicality and he's a B.

Ah man, this isn't going to be a good watch if Anthony Taylor is ref. His games tend to become stop-start messes with loads of random cards.

I'd wager Pope will start on Sunday. I think it was last week Eddie suggested he needs game time before the final.

Can't see many upset in the FA Cup this weekend. Us and Man United are the favourites most at risk, but neither losing would really be an upset.

It's billed as an FPL podcast, but the main chaps (James) analysis of games and wider issues in football is really good, they often have dedicated shows to the latter. Not a huge fan of his co-podcaster (Suj), but it's still worth a listen.

I'll save if it for the politics thread, but capitalism eventually destroys anything it touches.

Listened to a great podcast earlier about home atmospheres being worse across the board. They covered the cost of tickets affecting young people, the increase in tourism, etc. Currently, excluding the COVID season, this season has had the lowest percentage of home wins. Also home goals are trending down and away goals are trending up. Nice to add a bit of balance that it's not just us.

Think he'll play at West Ham. Eddie has alluded to getting Pope, Botman and Joe match sharp in recent weeks. Don't think he'll want Isak sat out too long.

Aye, I'd rest Bruno and start Tonali.

Hard to tell how he'll get on post-injury, but beforehand he was operating as a capable, no thrills squad filler. By all accounts he's also superb as club captain. D.

I wonder if Botman and Joe are available.

All good points

We might not have laid a glove on them last night, but we certainly did at SJP.

It's not a hugely important point, but while it's not been a hard and fast pattern it feels like we've had blocks of form. Southampton to Fulham we looked incredibly disjointed, with many of our better players out of form. Thankfully we were incredibly clinical in front of goal and ended up with a points return we didn't particularly deserve. After the break, we looked much more like ourselves v City. The improvement continued against Everton, Brighton and Chelsea, but profligacy in front of goal cost us. Gordon and Isak being unusually wasteful. Wins v Forest and Arsenal felt like we'd finally turned the corner. Then came the horror show v West Ham. We looked lethargic and unorganised. A decent performance v Liverpool was bookmarked by similarly awful showings v Palace and Brentford. We them flick the switch and produce five excellent performances. The warning signs were there again v Wolves and we've been ropey every since. We start slowly, look lethargic and error prone. We've been pretty poor since, aside from a passable first half v Fulham and a ten minute blitz v Forest. Might just be me, but it certainty feels like we're incredibly streaky. Granted, either way you look at it we're frustratingly inconsistent.

West Ham have been so passive and they're still absolutely pissing it. Leicester are a disgrace.

Makes you think.

Pretty sure they'll have a good idea what they're doing by now.

Not watched West Ham under Potter yet. I'm guessing it'll take some time to drill his style into them.

We're not a one man team, but we're also a far lesser team without him. Largely due to the drop off in the quality of his replacement.

From Hope: "My information today is that, while there is every chance Isak will sit out Sunday’s visit of Brighton, there are no fears of the groin injury that saw him miss Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool being serious. Rather, if the tightness is linked to fatigue, the schedule allows for the Swede to have a period of rest before the trip to West Ham a week on Monday."

Again, agree and disagree. There have been instances such as Arsenal away (22/23) where they shredded our press in the first twenty. In response he switched to a midblock and comfortably saw out the game. However there's also been examples such as Wolves away (23/24) where our full backs were becoming isolated v their pacey wide men and he reacted way too slowly. I definitely think his in game tactics is an area he can develop and become more proactive, but I don't think it's as simple as saying he always reacts a certain way.