Lush Vlad

100%. The last 3 league games have been night and day from earlier in the season. Energy levels were there, we actually created a bit (still not enough), possession was a lot better, the press and aggressively winning the ball back once we lost it was there to clearly see. Just a bit shit that we have been, I believe the word I only ever see used in football terms is 'profligate'. As the performances have far exceeded what we saw earlier in the season. I think sometimes fans don't like to consider luck/variance. Win = good. Lose = bad. That is all there is to it, no nuance. It is hard to take emotion out of it and I am guilty of that myself. Football is a low scoring game so it is always going to play a massive part. See that Ted Talk by the Brentford geezer on the 5th placed season under Pardew for reference.

How have you watched our last two league games plus City and thought the press was still missing?

On the subject of Dutch centre backs and ACL injuries. It took Van Dijk a while to get back to form. But he has been back to his imperious best the last season or two, I think. He has been great to start this season and all.

I think he’s a bit like Lascelles. Not quick over short distances and can get done for agility and a turn of pace. But once they open up, they are pretty fast. It is understandable, TBF. They are both absolute units so will at times turn like a cruiseliner.

Doesn’t massively make sense, either. As isn’t he right footed? I thought Howe preferred inverted wingers? Murphy playing on the right seems at odds to what he’s gone with most of his time here. If Miggy comes on, Murphy goes to the left, for example. I don’t think he’s a a bad player and I actually think he could be very effective for us. But considering how long RW has been a position of need. It’s hardly transformative or a signing to get excited about.

You make it sound easy to just go and get Bruno 2.0? Seems a bit too easy of a fix to me. As for the point about him for £70-80m or Anderson and Minteh going. The second is by far the better deal. We’d be losing our talisman, heartbeat of our team and now captain. For a bloke that’d never kicked a ball in the Premier League and another young player who has seemingly turned onto De Bruyne since leaving based on comments in here. It is still shit and I’d rather we kept both of course in an ideal world. Or if we managed to get rid of some dead wood and that somehow sorted PSR. But that would require an over-inflated market (hasn’t been like that for a while) for crocks like Wilson and bang average players at best like Almiron and Murphy.

It was there the last two games, though? And at times against City.

Keeper has had a howler there. Forest above us as it stands

Matz Sels has been a lot better for Forest than he was for us

How many teams in world football could afford £100m? It’s a handful of clubs, surely? So the fact that 5-10 elite clubs in world football didn’t think it was a good deal or a position of need. That says what, exactly? How do we know there weren’t informal talks regarding a possible price and a PSR deal? The same way there apparently were with Gordon? It would need to be the right club for him and all. Not just a money move. As it sounds like he is on a wedge and is clearly ambitious and competitive. His next move might be his last to a club that will play consistently in the CL and challenge for trophies. Bruno is massive for us. As highlighted whenever he doesn’t play. We can’t string 5 passes together or build from the back and we create even less than we do currently. As for keeping Anderson over him. That is quite frankly an outlandish statement Anderson had about 3-4 decent games for us, was starting to look a bit position-less in our setup, was behind what, 5 midfielders in the pecking order? He’s done nothing to suggest he can get to Bruno levels IMO. Different type of player, anyway.

Yeah. I thought Anderson flattered to deceive most of his time here bar the odd game out wide. We don’t play with a 10, so that’s not really a fair comparison. Still shit that we had to sell him, mind. He has looked great for City. But so has Chris Wood FFS and there has been some revisionist nonsense about his time here and all. It was like having a statue up there most the time. He was terrible back to goal and holding the ball up for a big fella and on the ball he offered nothing. His goal return was poor and all. We were always taking that deal.

Could more money be invested in it? Pay them more? Better training? Not sure what the answer is. As it is a really tough job and think they get undeserved shit a lot of the time. But VAR hasn’t helped. I feel like they’re being undermined for grey area decisions. Plus they also seem to be reluctant to give certain decisions and then can’t wait to go overboard for others. It’s like the fact they have VAR there as a backup plays on their mind subconsciously. Can’t go back now. But I wish we could. I think we’d all accept these fag paper offsides, handball and borderline penalty/red card decisions a lot easier. I know I would.

Could have kept both if not for PSR. Just found it a really odd comparison and a bit out of left field. Different players and neither start in our strongest 11. He was instrumental in a lot of games in our 4th placed season. Plus that mad scoring run he went on under Cabbage head. A really unique player and I’m personally a big fan of his. Hoping his injuries might be behind him. As it all seemed to be linked last season and we did the usual thing of rushing a player back before he’s ready. He didn’t have a particularly bad injury record for us before that I don’t think? But it’s not looking promising at the minute, is it?

Bit harsh on Willock. Just because he’s been a sicknote for a while. He has had some massive games for us.

What a hit from Nketiah. Inches away from the postage stamp.

Two tap ins. Two outside the box. We did have late goals last season, though. Or games we came back late’ish. West Ham, Wolves, was Ritchie against Bournemouth last kick? Probably some others and all. Usually because we were often behind after a terrible period in the game and had to gung ho to get a result

Yeah. Great run from Anderson. The ref in this game is the polar opposite from a lot of what I saw this weekend. Think he’s ignored 4-5 what looked like fouls or ones that refs usually buy. I’d much rather that than the opposite.

The one where Jota is about to be clean through and they give a foul for Reece James’ delayed dive was nearly as bad as anything I saw in our game.

Wasn’t it Bruno that played him through for the one he missed not long before their goal. I think Tonali played him through and he took an age to get a shot off. I think from memory he just ran around with it until the flag went up. He was actually onside.

I do tend to agree with you in the way that we attack games. We do often seem like we have run out of steam late on a lot of the while. But this season alone, Isak against Spurs on 78 minutes to win us the match. Gordon at Bournemouth after 76 mins to rescue a point. Schar 75 and Barnes 80 at Wolves to nick all 3. Last season there were some late shows and all. Good and bad ones! We were getting results without playing well for long spells this season. Everyone said the energy levels were miles off and there was no intensity like a usual Howe team. The last two league games. I feel like that has been back in spades and it’s the best we’ve played all season. Yet we were a bit clueless and toothless late on and somehow come away with only 1 point. Deserved 6 I think. Yet we probably nicked points we didn’t fully deserve earlier in the season. Funny old game. Perhaps there is a balance to be found. Not going shit or bust early and then losing our way. But also not trudging along and being abject for 60 minutes or so. Allowing the other team loads of chances and territory whilst we mope around the pitch like zombies. Just sort of on the subject of previous games. The Bournemouth point actually looks good now. They played Chelsea off the park and somehow lost. They beat Arsenal, albeit against 10 men and they battered Southampton. They’ve looked good at home.

You obviously have a good setup. I know one of your scouts, ex-Ipswich. Said you got a lad from Luton recently who is already playing 2 years up. Think he even played in the CL youth game against Bayern the other week and in the paint trophy for the 23’s. Whatever that is called these days.

Do we love our players more than other club’s then or do we get too attached to them? Knowing players come and go? A massive hypothetical situation, along with some odd assumption about our fans being less accepting of players leaving. Villa have traded well and I don’t think we have, yet. But they did seem to have sellable assets early on like Grealish and then recently, Douglas Luiz. Where they had quality cover for the position. They have even moved academy players/done a PSR fiddle, as well, I think?

Anyone who pays to go to games and/or puts money into the club can choose to highlight how fucking ridiculous it is to boo a result like that. When everything is taken into consideration I am in agreement with Sima. Fuck those cunts.

They do. But they leave a shit load of space in behind. We’ve done well at times against City and Liverpool because of this and this Chelsea side are not at the level of those Pep and Klopp sides.

He has been great at crashing the box this game. Certainly taken his chance starting ahead of MacAllister today. He’s been great bar their offside goal.