M1tche

I think we're safe, Big Joe would ripped his head off if he left.

Im positive he's not leaving. So, it shouldn't, but it really annoys me see the links away and the fees mentioned. Has Arsenal fan telling me 80mil might tempt us, until I informed them we played 60/65mil, and that we would want to at least double that. For some reason people think we paid 30/35 mil for him

I don't think Chelsea's run in is as easy as a few seems to be making out, Forest and Brighton (A) are difficuly games. The only 1 i'd say they big favourites for is Bournemouth (H). Fair enough we have the toughest looking game on paper Man U (A), but I think the way we play makes that a bit easier than it looks, especially if they have no CBs against Isak

Did miss any of it, and you rightly say it worked because Botman was unreal, that's correct. Also, that's means that the cracks were being papered over by someone doing extra work, which isn't the case for other teams that play that way, and it shouldn't be for us. A defensive full back shouldn't need that level of cover.

The mental take part comes from Burn being the CB at LB. I know you said you don't think he should play there, but I can't can't even see why Howe would consider that even comparable to Man C and Arsenal. Our version would have been Schar at RB or Botman at LB. The players those 2 teams are playing there are great ball players that happen to be tall CBs, rather than being tall 1st (if that makes sense). Those 2 have gone that way in recent years, and its worked great for Man C overall and nearly as well for Arsenal in the league, and I fully understand the positives behind it, but it's not a setup that suits us positively in my mind. We look miles better with the ball playing full backs. By the time we get to a point where having the right personnel for that set up, football will have likely moved on again.

This is a mental take in my opinion, we've lost just as many goals because of Burn at LB than it has saved from set pieces. what would be the point of signing him if we dont want to play him because of his height? Once we're back to full strength, there is no reason we can play both Trippier and Hall. Only them 2 and Bruno are actually short in our team.

I think thats more because we didnt have anyone to fill the gap that was left on the wing when Gordon moved inside. If we had a fully fit Barnes and then Murphy/Almiron on the right, then it would work, but even type that out makes me realise how much we need up upgrade RWF

I genuinely believe it was a "you fly my flag and I'll fly your flag moment"

That left footed cross field against villa was the moment I knew we had a special player on our hands

No chance Chelsea for 5 for 5, thier run in isn't any easier than ours and they're in worse form.

Pay him as much as we possibly can, with the highest release clause possble (one of those spanish style ones at like £1 billion). One of the only irreplaceable players I've known us to have

Surprised so many are being so harsh on him. Yes, he was poor yesterday, but this is a 21 yr old in his breakout season for us, who has also has a lengthly layoff in the middle of it. Hej hasn't fully nailed down a potion yet, but he brings some good attributes to the team, just needs to tweak a few things to go to the next level

That Arblaster looked decent in spells as well, haven't seen or heard much of him this season, but that 1st 20 had me thinking he'd been a decent back up to Bruno.

I think it's a 4-2-3-1, but the front 4 are very fluid and playing very high up.

Lacking quality all across the middle, Gordon also needs to use that overlap more, it's too predictable so far

I agree with this to a point, but Isak is unique in the fact that he is world class. We have to play him that level of wages, Levy has that approach to players he does feel deserve the pay increase, but the top top players get the ones they deserve

I just cant see where he would go, maybe i'm being naive. Real have one of the best sets of young midfielders ever assembled. PSG doesn't feel like a Bruno type of club, and with Mbappe leaving surely that sets them back a few years. Barca are broke? City are 1/2 years away from potentially not even being a premier league club Man U is genuinely a sideways step atm Arsenal cant spend another 100mil on 1 player in a postion they're pretty well stacked Liverpool same as above, just not as stacked.

My biggest issue with tonight is, we had 10 days to come up with a plan to beat Palace, and though "Nah, let's just use the one that worked against Tottenham" who play a completely different type of football. We then followed that up by not changing it for 60 mins.

Gallagher would be a good signing, if Tonali wasn't returning very early next season and also if Miley and Anderson didnt show the signs of being able to become a top level players. Even if Lonstaff left, we the only type of CM we should be looking at is someone who can play in the middle of our 3 when needed.

If he's not a complete crock these days, i'd be looking at someone like Andre Gomez as a cheap back up for the 6 role. He wouldn't demand to play and is very good on the ball. It's just a question of if his body would stay together long enough to be able to work in the way we play. Still a little worried that if Bruno is injured/suspended/in need of a rest that we have no-one other than Schar* that can play the role *

Biggest compliment I can give to him is that since his return, he's plugged most of the big Joelinton shaped hole we had in our midfield

I'd still say all parties took a risk. If all the medical people said he needed an op, the club would have pushed him harder, because of the mixed information I think the club did all they could in this case.

Some advised surgery, some said he'd be OK to play through, player made a choice to play through. Don't see why it's such a big issue. Sometime Drs advise to turn off life support, family refuse and the patient recovers. I know Drs are highly qualified, but they're not always right. He and we took a risk, it didn't work out. It's s a shame, but it's not a reason to overly criticise anyone. If he had had the surgery initially we would have had times where we could have had 1 of our 1st choice back 5 playing as well

I think there's a lot of worrying going on for no reason here tbh, he came in when were was looking like relegation fodder, we've progressed massively since, he and his family love the club/city. It's been a disappointing and underwhelming season in the main, but I can't see anything that would make him push for a move. If he leaves, we've received an ridiculous offer that makes the club accept because they believe it'll help us develop better going forward (which I alsodont see happening, because i dont think anyone has that type of money atm)

For me we definitely need a LB and an upgraded RW. If everyone if fit and available the Midfield is fine for next season. After that a younger RCB and then a Striker are the next 2 on the list. I've seen 4-2-3-1 mentioned and I'd love to see it tried, but not sure how well it would work in practice. Pope* Tino New CB Schar New LB Tonali Bruno Isak/Willock Gordon Isak/New CF Barnes *Schar is LCB because Botman won't make 1st few months of the season As we likely won't see a new formation I think we'll see something like this once Tonali finishes his ban Pope* Tino. New CB Schar Hall Tonali Bruno Willock Gordon Isak Joelinton *I think we'll make at least 4 1st team signings, but they won't all be straight in