Lush Vlad

I think it is because it’s been mentioned before about him leaving Chelsea because he was homesick. Might have a different outlook nowadays, of course.

Would have taken a draw if we beat West Ham. But we need a win now. Woke up feeling more positive about the game today. I think we’ll make a few necessary tweaks/changes and we’ll win. I’m not saying it is what I’d like to see him do. But with Liverpool coming up and after Howe’s comments about protecting Joelinton due to him being on 4 yellows. I wonder if he might start this one on the bench?

Plenty of players are back playing 9-12 months after an ACL, no? Mings seems an odd example. He took a long time to return. Wasn’t even back in matchday squads a full year after doing it. Whether Botman will be anywhere near his best is another matter. Some players seem to come back ok. Some take a while to get back to it. VVD, for example. Hard to tell when we have no idea what stage he is at with his training or how his recovery has gone. Has all sounded pretty positive so far.

The fact Miley played probably means Willock and Bruno are in the squad tomorrow then.

Because seemingly. Our midfield somehow revolves around Longstaff being really good out of possession. Tonali can’t do that as well or isn’t doing it as well, currently. Albeit a small sample size and he came out the side before we switched back to the Big Joe/Little Joe combo. We’ve hardly been dominant in the midfield all season with or without him. First hour against Brighton he was very good and so was the midfield, from memory. Forest away with Longstaff. Can’t think of many others.

Feel like Southampton have been robbed of 2 points there. The league showing yet again that nobody bar Liverpool seem to be anything close to consistent.

Weirdly. I think the lino put his flag up late. Hence Brighton fans cheering. More concerning than the, in my opinion, dodgy reason for disallowing the goal. Was the fact they took at least 4 minutes to confirm Archer was onside. How in the fuck is it taking that long?!

I get they are going by letter of the law and that Armstrong made a play for the ball. But fucking hell. He sort of wafted his heel at a ball neither he nor the defender were getting to. The defender is going to try and cut that cross out regardless and it’s not like Armstrong was pushing him or stopping him from playing the ball. More worrying that they took 4-5 minutes to get to that point. Just a farce all round. Looks like a massive grey area and perhaps a marginal call for Armstrong’s involvement.

Took them 5 minutes FFS. What the fuck were they doing? Is he onside or behind/inline with the ball? Yes or no. Did Armstrong make a move for the ball? Yes or no? I can’t stand this shite.

How has that offside decision taken so long and then to not give it. What an absolute farce.

The key is in your last paragraph. Like fuck could he do a job as a 10 in this league. Even if he did look lively playing behind Rondon with Perez. I might be wrong, but didn’t he play more as a second striker type for Atlanta? Can’t see him in a more technical role as a 10. His assist numbers are diabolical (12 in 216) playing in a front 3 where he can drift infield. His passing, vision, quickness of thought, touch. All massively lacking. Bit of a moot point. As it seems like Howe no longer fancies him in the side and the club have been trying to peddle him for a while.

Genuinely no idea who you’re referring to?!

Last man is irrelevant. He cuts it back and if Mepham misses him. He then has a touch and he is in on goal slap bang in the middle of the box. Clearly denying a goalscoring opportunity. 10 v 10 now. More brain dead defending.

Luke O’Nien was horrendous for the red card. Is he still loved by their fans? Yet another hatchet man, clogger that probably makes their best XI of the last 30 years or so

Switched over to the red and white stripes derby. Seen 3-4 awful tackles in less than 5 minutes like going back in time. A bit like going to sunderland.

Lovely goal from Brighton. Mitoma header from a Lamptey cross. Slack defending from Southampton as per usual.

If he’s actually back training with the first team and not just running about with them. I’d be very surprised if he is still another 3 months away.

I’d love to see Bruno further up. Mad that he did it when we had Shelvey. Who is even slower than Bruno. But it now feels like Howe wants athletes as his two ‘8’s’. Can cover wide, box to box with a lot of recovery runs like Joelinton and Longstaff make, able to consistently make those under/overlapping runs out wide. For all his slowness. Bruno actually has a great engine and does get around the pitch. I really would like to see him further forward now. It’s becoming a real problem our lack of creativity and he can definitely do a job there. I think he even sort of half complained about playing 6 (still should be 4 IMO) not long into his first full season and that he sees himself as an 8. We would lose something in our build up. But that has never been great, anyway. What with it seemingly reliant on just ‘get it to Bruno’. Despite how many players are marking him. If that fails. Then hit a cross field pass to Big Joe. Say Joelinton plays right again, Bruno plays RCM and Tino is at RB. That is more than solid enough down that side. The issue then is who plays deepest. As we only really have Tonali capable of playing there. Even then, he is very different to Bruno on the ball. But he would provide more legs and cover in that deep role. I think he started that position, too. Albeit in a slower league.

The 1-0 loss on Boxing Day and one of the worst attacking performances seen from us in the last 20 odd years? If so, I was right near you.

Got linked with a Bournemouth player by..*checks notes…. Kurt Leyland from Newcastle World. I’m embarrassed for him, too.

Is that right? I know plenty of Liverpool fans (who doesn't) and they've always said he's done really well when called upon. There was one spell where he had a couple of howlers close together that may have skewed opinion, from memory. But all keepers make howlers. Alisson is the best around, I think and even he has made some ricks the last couple of years.

If Hudson from Aliens was a football fan.

I was more disagreeing with you saying he's a far better finisher than anyone we have and vital to the team. I disagree with both points. Agree on Gordon. He never has been a good finisher. A lot of blocked shots and safe finishes where he just wants to hit the target. Not having that about Isak, mind. Even if he is going through a bit of a lean patch for us, with some big misses fresh in the memory. He is an elite level striker.

Far better at finishing than Isak? I know absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. But fucking hell Also. He hasn't been vital to the team for a long while as the fucker is never fit. Even ignoring injuries. He couldn't play up top on his own regularly in this current version of NUFC IMO. I know Isak has missed some big chances this season and I'm not sure he is ever going to be an automatic finisher like a Haaland, Kane or Lewandowski. But then how many players are? Plenty of big strikers miss say 1-2 chances a game, then get another and score. How many 'big' chances are we creating for Isak a game? I feel like his misses are being magnified because they look glaring in isolation and they're currently costing us points.

He was in the training pics. Not even sure he is/was injured. Looked more like a heavy impact injury and maybe just went a bit stiff at HT. He wasn't having a good game anyway and we needed a goal. So could have just been that. He does bring quite a few intangibles though and we do seem a more balanced team with him in it somehow. Bruno and Isak were not in the training photos, mind..............