Stottie

Yeah, that about sums it up. A lot of good, but the little bad there was was enough to cancel it out. We need to come back and win it now though. We've not be resilient enough this season, losing points from winning positions and falling behind and staying there.

curse of the former player

A soft penna but hey, we need some luck. He waited to see the keeper go one way, so his movement in the other direction would then be very limited.

Strong team, options from the bench too. I feel quite confident now.

Getting knocked out of Europe and the Carabao has at least solved one of our problems, which was fixture congestion. Obviously its the busy festive period that we first have to navigate, but the lads will have more time to prepare for games in the second half of the season. Fate kicking us in the knackers again this season means these fixtures begin with City, Liverpool, and Villa, along with a must-not-lose on Wearyside. However, the cup runs ending does mean things will get easier. I suppose the concern is that our down-to-the-bones team will put us so far behind that we won't be able to catch up. We beat Arsenal, so we're not mugs. Our team is really really good when it is firing. Remember that and a Merry Christmas to you all.

Going back to the draw at Wolves, 9 games ago, we've underperformed xG by over five goals. Our record in those games has been P9 W4 D1 L4. Fourth top in xG, but bottom half in goals scored. Isak himself hasn't played so much in these fixtures so it's not so much him, but our problems with fitness and energy levels have been compounded by missing chances. We had very clear chances to take the lead in several of the games, yesterday and at Spurs for certain. Taking the lead changes the game state and how the opponent likely plays. fwiw, in the 9 games before Wolves, we lead the league in xG and overperformed it by 1.5. We were also top scorers, one ahead of Villa. xG is not everything, just failing to meet a cross with the goal gaping is 0 xG, but its a rough guide to chance creation.

Very disappointing again. Intensity is way way off. Lots of players look knackered. Dunno what the Miley thing was. I thought he was tidy enough and looked okay. Need more fit bodies not called Matt Ritchie.

Could easily have been two or three. C'mon lads!

Meh, shit happens. Lots of time left. Howay the Lads!

Great finish but weak defending.

That newspaper licks Liverpool's arse so badly. Mac Allister and Szobo better than Bruno G? Aye, if you're as blind as a bat.

Not going to happen, but when one team has way more injuries than the other, could referees be a little bit stricter? If not, the team with the much better bench can just kick the other one off the park, knowing they have no fresh players to bring on.

I was amazed Bruno scored after that runup. Horrible memories of the last time. Just on 10 man Liverpool, but so long as Salah is on the pitch, they have a fast-break cheat code. You cannot commit fully forward against them. Salah is why they rarely get beat with 10 men (or 11). It took an own goal to beat them when they were down to 9 at Spurs. I would dwell on that as a failing. Still gutted about the result. We got gifted our goal but defended it resolutely until that blunder. We'd coped with their pressure and possession admirably.

He made errors last season too, or got done for pace, but this is a weirdly obvious drop in form, suggesting an injury or possibly some off-field thing affecting him mentally. He was sent home from England, after all. He's hit something like 400 crosses since August 2022, 150 than anyone else in the Premier League. With only Almiron available, he pretty much has to play. Thanks to the emergence of Miley, maybe against soft touch teams, we could play Joelinton LW and switch Gordon to the right. I can't see our right side being effective with Miggy but no Trippier. Murphy can get to the line and would place less creative responsibility on our RB, but he's not available.

Gutted! So near! That's football I suppose.

Easy come, easy go. If he has links with Ineos/Sky, Brailsford etc., then it can't be helped. He was appointed at NUFC by non-clowns, who are likely to employ another competent person. Just be happy we got Gordon and Livramento during his tenure.

If Juventus actually want Kalvin Phillips, that's a vote of confidence. My association with Italian midfielders is technically competent, good engine, and a bit radgie.

Gerrard's assistant at Villa? Nice one Kyril, nice one son.

I've just watched the draw. A guy that looks like Claudio Ranieri, "dilly ding! dilly dong!" and John Terry, sadly not in full-kit wanker mode. Yeah, Sociedad, I think we could have had them.

The big question is January. If Spurs or Man U buy Ivan Toney, I think that would a hammer blow to us finishing top five. Arsenal should buy him because the league is there to be won this year.

Liverpool looking like a team that needed dodgy decisions to beat Palace, Sheff Utd, and Fulham. According to Carra, today was "very high quality" players making "very poor decisions", a statement that brings back memories of Titus Bramble being a brilliant defender except for the glaring howlers. Good result for Man U, who did finish above Liverpool last season. Apparently they were supposed to lose this game at least 5-0. Oliver generally did well before a complete brainfart to send off Dalot. Maybe the overall shiteness on display infected him.

You could give five of them every game!

Vs. NUFC Nunez is three goals off about 0.8 xG. Last season included. Against everyone else this season he is 2 goals off something like 8.5 xG.

Clear foul throw before the Diaz chance.

End to end now, and that favours Liverpool. Do not give Salah space to run into, its what he thrives on. Good save Onana.