M1tche

4 minutes ago, 54 said:

He's probably got an 8 year contract in front of him TBF

He'll get a long contract on massive wages, but in footballing terms it's a short sighted move in my opinion.

Annoying to miss out on him, but if he's chosing Chelsea over us he's thinking short term instead of long term or just about money. 

Genuinely believe this is the last time they'll be ahead of us as a football team.

7 hours ago, arnonel said:

I know I will be in the minority here, but Everton are looking to offload Amadou Onana
I think he has all the tools to be a top player. Ticks the "not midget" category too

Like him

He'd be class in out team, but also think he'll be massive money in a position we're quite well covered. 

6 hours ago, Sibierski said:

If he’s one of the very few players that can bring in a fee, where they are not currently a major player.

 

I like Willock, but he’s had a whole season out which hasn’t been his fault, and the games he played he was terrible, but again was because he wasn’t over the injury. Everyone fit, I’m sure majority of people have Joe/Bruno/Tonali as the starting CMs, so in a season where we could play just 40 games, he may not feature as much, where his value in the 22/23 season is further from peoples minds.

 

So if the opportunity was to get a top CM that’s more useful in positions using the funds, then I would back such a transfer.

He didn't recover from the 2nd 1, but the Man U game away in the League Cup, he was exceptional. Literally, unplayable. In 1 of the strangest teams I've ever seen us put out. 

Mental that people want to sell him, I'm pretty sure his injury is one of the main reasons we've been terrible away this season. That Willock/Joelinton dovetail on the left was like having an extra player in both defence and attack.

Get him fit and he'll play a key role

.

I'd be more worried about Man U now than Chelsea, but if he choses either over us then so be it. Chelsea are a basketcase and Man U are on the decline regardless of the FA cup win. I genuinely see us above both regularly over the next 10 years 

Why is everyone thinking that will stop all business ?, him and Kelly if they were lined up will still sign

Hopefully that doesn't effect us signing him

That will probably affect us in regards to a few next signings, but doubt it'll make any difference to those already here. Next season is now massive for progression though. 

2 minutes ago, aussiemag said:

Surely if it’s 442 and Gordon is out we go: 

 

                       Pope

Trippier  Schar.      Burn.    Hall

Almiron.  Bruno.  Joelinton.  Barnes 

               Isak.     Wilson  

Can't see us going 4-4-2 with inverted wingers on both sides, maybe on 1 side. Would likely be Murphy over Almiron, or weirdly Barnes and Almiron on the opposite side

12 minutes ago, nufc123 said:

It wasnt meant as an attack on Miley, but after all the fatigue and way too many games it wasnt a beautiful watch anymore.

 

 

 

Yeah, having such a 1 paced midfield wasn't great. Hopefully, we wont go through the same again

8 minutes ago, nufc123 said:

Christ im tired of watching a midfield of Bruno with either Longstaff, Miley or Anderson around him for months now 

Was Miley ever really a problem?

I was always excited to see him in the team. Main problem was no Joelinton, Willock or Tonali

19 minutes ago, duo said:

Is it really a surprise?  Howe has this loyalty mentality.  Unless Callum wants to leave I can't see Eddie selling him.

Eddie might not, but if the right offer comes in then the club certainly will

Starting to feel confident about this one. Also, starting to love the idea of the Europa Conference. 

I just hope we dont try to play Anderson as Left 8 and Left wing back at the same time again. It worked against tottenham, but doesn't look even half as good since, 

50 minutes ago, Novocastrian said:

The only two players I worry about with the ball at their feet are Pope and Burn. Even Lascelles has improved a lot on the ball. Probably a bit unfair on Burn but when he’s at LB he’s more exposed and we’ve seen how much better Hall is at taking the ball and picking a pass.

Burn is solid cover at CB and LB, but will also be a trigger for the press when playing. Teams will always try to force the play to go through him, like they'll try and make us play into Longstaff in midfield. These smallish upgrades would make us so much harder to play against

47 minutes ago, PauloGeordio said:

Tosin, Botman and Schär can all pass out from the back pretty well. 

That's watt i was gettiing at, if we can line up with 2 of those, Tino (drives through the line rather than passes), Hall, and then a Gk that is capable of clipping a 30/40 yard pass into a full/CM. It would leave teams wondering when and how to press. Even better if it's Tonali in for Longstaff as well, so they cn't try to force the pass towards him.

If the club and Eddie think they can sell and bring in an improvment that im all for it.

He's been class  for us, but the way we play to have a keeper that can pass a bit would be pretty transformative and help us be so much harder to press. If we can sort that out and then have a back 4 that can all play a decent pass (would mean upgrading on burn), teams would then struggle to decide when to trigger the press against us.

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

10 minutes ago, Toon1892 said:

Did you miss the entire 2022/23 season? Just explaining why Howe persisted with it. Not saying it should be done going forward.

 

Many of those ‘Burn mistakes’ were due to Botman being in horrific form/ injured. If Botman was back to his original form many wouldn’t have happened.

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. 

12 hours ago, Toon1892 said:

I’ve said I wouldn’t play Burn at left back?

 

I just think it would be a risk playing with two small full backs. 
 

The top managers and top teams no longer do it.

 

Yes play Hall 100% but we’ll need to select the games and rotate.

 

Arteta and Guardiola have spent the last 5 years building teams of giants and they’re so far ahead of the rest of the league. Arsenal at set pieces this season have been scary. We couldn’t compete against them at their place in the air.

 

Most fans won’t like it but height is becoming more and more important.

 

I think you should tell Pep and Arteta it’s a mental take playing three cb’s in a back 4. Sounds like you know more than them? Hilarious you think it’s a mental take. Have you not watched the top teams over the last three years lol?

 

We’ve conceded 5 times as many goals from set pieces as Man City this season and almost double as many goals as arsenal have conceded from set pieces.

 

We have scored 6 goals less than arsenal this season. Although we have scored 7 less times from sept pieces. We need to bridge that gap eventually. Yes it will take time but playing Trippier and Hall together every match may not be the answer.

 

 

 

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. 

3 hours ago, Toon1892 said:

Not that I think Burn should be playing left back. He’s a CB but I can see why Howe (and every other top manager in the league) likes to play at least three CB’s in a back 4 often playing a CB at left back.

 

When we don’t we concede a lot from set pieces. See our games against Burnley and Arsenal for example.

 

I have faith that Hall will be class but I worry that set pieces decide so many games now. Look how tall Man City and Arsenals teams are now. I wouldn’t be confident defending a set piece against them with Trippier and Hall as full backs.

 

I do think a lot of our fans overlook this. Unfortunately top managers like height in defence and I can see why.

 

i just hope our fans are patient if Kelly for example gets a run in at the start of next season ahead of Hall.

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.

7 hours ago, Displayname said:

Havent seen us play good one time when the wings covered as a striker. One thing is that they arent really good at it, another is that we lose their effectiveness coming from the wing. Especially Gordon on the wing is such a massive part of our gameplay.

Most teams might not have a 3rd striker, but I think we are kinda in a unique situation with Wilson probably only having one year left with us. Getting in a young talented striker who would be ready to step up as number 2 the year after doesnt seem that stupid to me.

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

1 hour ago, Heron said:

Makes all warm and fuzzy inside this. I felt like it was aimed at Wor Flags (I know, farfetched but I don't care )

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