Lush Vlad

I fucking hope not. That would be terrible.

They've had a mini turn around in form. They don't seem to score many or concede many for a team down there. We are sort of similar with the goals for and against on that score. Which is why I think it will be 0-0 or 1-1.

The second goal was a clusterfuck of errors if I remember correctly? Not planning on re-watching it, as I want it expunged from my memory. But Bruno tried a stupid round the corner/over the head flick back to goal which then set them free when we had men up the pitch. We then did our customary backing off, I think Joelinton didn't track his runner, there was ball watching aplenty from defenders and midfielders as Wan Bissaka waltzed into the box. Then perhaps Pope should have got his angles better and/or gone with his usual big boot clearance. Although it was post and in, so perhaps a touch harsh.

But I feel it is a bit of both here. We are not regularly creating enough good chances IMO. Both games mentioned, Gordon and Isak should score, I agree. But time and again we get in good areas and are so wasteful. The passing and creativity around the edge of the box is so often lacking. We’re really static and don’t have that player to unlock defences. The skied chances and the Willock chance you reference are not really ones you expect to see go in I don’t think. They happen at both ends of the pitch every week. That feels like you’re now just listing shots that we’ve had to strengthen your argument. I get that it is fine margins and games are tight at the top level. But our gameplan is too dependent on your last point. We are too reliant on nicking a goal from somewhere and winning by the odd goal on the basis the opposition miss their chances. We rarely score early goals this season and all. Which really nullifies our gameplan. Especially if we concede first like last night. Bar Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth. We have also finished a lot of games tamely after running out of ideas. Weirdly those 3 were away games. We don’t create enough decent quality chances in games is the point I was originally making. Hence why our scoring record is so poor. I don’t think it is just purely down to us pinpointing say 2-3 good chances a week. Other teams fans would say the same every week, I’m sure. They’re not all going to go in and I don’t think I come away from games thinking we’ve been robbed or should have scored a lot more (less than 0 would be a good start)

I thought Bowen was a passenger first half. Totally different 2nd half. Even more so after we went 4-4-2.

Yep. Tino is outstanding 1 v 1 and at winning the ball back. Nearly as good as Joelinton on that score. But every time he gets near the box. He looks like he’s panicking and rushed or worse. He just doesn’t make a decision and carries on running with the ball, straight into an opposition player. Difficult balance with how strong he is defensively compared to Trippier vs the attacking output the latter brings. It is sort of a similar argument for Barnes starting on the left. As he would bring more goals/chances. But isn’t anywhere near as good at covering the left back as others.

Isak should have scored the left footed chance, granted. Gordon missed a snap shot that fell to him because a West Ham player decided to put it on a plate for him. Still should be scoring, but his finishing has been crap all season. We had 2 shots on target all night and outside of that and some decent early runs from Isak. We were wasteful and didn’t create decent chances. We’ve basically created one really good chance all night. The Isak half volley. We always look like that in the final third. All a bit slow and clueless. Probably why people are complaining as it isn’t like Fabianski has had a MOTM performance or we were regularly creating. It was the Brighton game all over again. Chances to score. But overall a big lack of quality in and around the box.

0-0 or 1-1. We’re one of the lowest scorers in the league for a reason and I have it in my mind we often struggle here. Expecting Burn back in and no other changes unless we have injuries. I’d start Tonali and possibly even Barnes, TBH. Has to be a trade off at some point from the high press and our solidity. We need goals on the pitch.

Modern football seems to be against crossing the ball. I think someone put stats up a while back showing we are one of the least frequent crossers since Howe has been here and all. That may have changed over time, of course. But we don’t seem like we cross it much or do it with any real success when we do.

Much like with Tonali. It is hard to form a proper opinion on him and if he should be starting. As we only ever see him for half an hour or so. Then when he does start, he is often hauled, sometimes rightly so. Sometimes it seems like it’s the easy choice. He’s never been afforded a run of games from the start. Not sure he really suits Howe’s high pressing style and he won’t cover the left back the same way Gordon or Joelinton/Willock do. But he does bring more FRET.

Nice one. Cheers. Not sure if he had it pre-game. But he looked even slower than usual. Still some of his usual quality moments on the ball, mind.

This. Risky. But as others have said. I’d like to see him take a punt and make a few changes Saturday. It’ll be another game where we will be afforded more of the ball and the usual team will struggle to create chances. Not all on Howe. Because he isn’t the only one scouting or asking for certain players. Plus we have PSR issues. But the fact that after 3 years. We still don’t have any decent technical passing quality high up the pitch, is a black mark against his name. 3 of our 4 best passers are defenders. One has only just become a regular and is 20 years old. One seems to be on the decline this season and his passing has been sloppy. Then we have Trippier. Who is always injured/wants away/doesn’t always start. Then Bruno plays deep and isn’t impacting games in the final third as much as he could be. Joelinton and Isak have great feet. But don’t really create or assist. The team is full of try hards and athletes outside of that. It has worked really well and still does up to a point. But a few games this season it has really magnified how poor we are on the ball. The build up and attempts to break teams down is often predictable and laborious.

Is he injured then or no word from Howe post-game on that?

Any word on his injury? Not on Twitter any more and fuck watching/reading match reports and comments from Howe after that

Same. Nothing still quite ruins my mood like a totally abject Toon performance and a loss. Slept like shit and our 6 month old decided to wake up 4-5 times as well. Feel like I’ve not been to bed. First half wasn’t really that bad save for that criminal defending off the corner. Just wasteful in good areas with our finishing, passing and crossing. Which has been a theme for quite a while. Second half was atrocious. 5 minutes of looking like we’d score. Then effectively game over after 53 minutes. Subs and the change to 4-4-2 before that even. Absolutely killed us. Felt a bit desperate when prior to that. We had actually had a lot of control over the game and Bowen was largely anonymous first half. Then ran the show in the second and we were lucky to only lose 2-0.

Same. Genuinely wouldn’t surprise me if we lost on Saturday and beat Liverpool after a great performance.

Might be some enforced changes if Willock and Bruno are crocked. Bruno is like Gordon and has mad recovery and seems to play all the while. Willock not so much….

Probably a preconceived opinion. But I’m convinced he sulks on the right and doesn’t seem interested. Despite his attributes arguably suiting that side just as well or better. He isn’t really offering an attacking threat from the left. Never gets down the line, his shots are often tame or blocked and he just hasn’t really got anywhere near the levels of last season yet. Probably reading too much into it. But just seems a bit off in himself and the way he is playing.

He was far from great. But we do somehow seem better when he starts games. Might be coincidental and more to do with the horrendous 4-4-2 we attempted. But they got fuck all out of us down that side first half. They seemed to be creating a chance every 5 minutes and scored down our left second half.

Didn’t think he was that bad first half. Massive error costing us a goal aside As for that second half. That was utterly pathetic. Terrible on the ball, passive, panicked and rushed everything. Woeful. I won’t be suggesting he plays ahead of Burn any time soon.

Who you are playing and expectation levels have such an impact on things. Could have got away with a spirited defeat to Arsenal, a draw at Forest and then a big win tonight and the mood would be better. Despite getting less points. As it is. We got 6 slightly unexpected points in the bag after two very good performances and results. But hen serve up one of the most pathetic second half showings I have seen in a long time. I suppose it feels more concerning because we’re not actually building momentum and we have seen that type of clueless performance when going behind a bit too often under Howe. The first half was actually pretty good. But then we just capitulated and completely ran out of ideas again. Proper cliched, Sunday League stuff. But once we went to 4-4-2. I lost count of the amount of 50/50’s, headers and 2nd balls we lost. They were first to everything and should have won by more in the end.

Proper Bruce/Pardew ball. Get as many attackers on as you can and go 4-4-2. Totally killing any chance of control over the game. They’ve bopped us that half from 50 onwards.

Kelly has been shit. But how are we pinning this all on Burn being missing? It’s been the usual shit in the final third. No quality and wasteful when it matters. Bruno, Gordon and Isak (albeit with not great service) have all been miles below their levels. Joelinton goes off and from the minute we went to 4-4-2 it’s been a mess. They should have scored more this half. Yet another game where we look good for 45-60 mins say. Then completely run out of steam.

True. But there’s a lot more wrong with this than just Kelly for Burn.

Feels like we’ve done the old ‘get as many attacking players on and see what happens’ tactic. Not really working too well. We love backing off and not closing down shots and all. Done it all season.