Miercoles

I couldn't fucking believe it when I saw Ritchie ready to come in and left back. I've never been so happy to see Krafth lmao

This result is looking better and better man

He was fucking incredible today.

Agreed, he did really well defending but you could tell ASM was struggling without another threat nearby. Everyone knows Burn is not going to drive forward so they're free to double team Maxi.

Thought he should have come on today, the kind of game where anything that's just *different* could have made a big impact.

That clearance late, holy fuck. He made that look so casual, just juggle the ball off his hip and volley it clear, what in the fuck man. That's an own goal off the hip like that for most defenders, and he didn't seem fussed about it at all. Guy is just so damn smooth man.

Incredible sliding challenge in the six yard box to stop a sure chance late. Thought he had a good game all around, especially out of position, though it's hard to imagine him as a wing back

Had a bad game but still saved the day by clearing it off the line, it's a good sign when even your shit games are decent. Anyway this is the aberration, the whole team was misplacing their passes today, I don't think it's anything to do with Trips.

Pope was excellent today, two absolutely top quality saves.

How do you do a special one-off kit and STILL have it clash? Watching from home between the shadow and the kits it's not easy to tell who's who, definitely think that explains a few of the more egregious missed passes. Second half will be better.

Kluivert and Shearer in pro Evo, I forget which year but it was called "winning eleven 7" in the states, are what got me into NUFC in the first place, and football in general for that matter. That was such a fun team to play as because you weren't being a douchebag playing MU or Arse or Madrid, but you could absolutely beat those teams with shearer, kluivert, Robert, and I think Solano was on that team. Fun times just relentlessly hitting the bong and playing hours of pro Evo with your mates back in the day. It's a shame you can't recapture that as an adult but it's just not a thing any more. So yeah I have a soft spot for Kluivert too, even though I never even saw him in a match!

Etitike didn't sell me because he looked like another tall giraffe-type player that can't head the fucking ball. Absolutely exhausting to watch those guys you know. As for this lad my first take away is that the youtube video has a lot of balls not actually going into nets. Not great for me if the best clips you can find of a dude are a bunch of almost-assists. Tbf, I did not watch the whole thing.

Pulisic would be fun, it's always nice having a USA player in squad, it was cool when Yedlin was here even though he was never the best. He wasn't bad either for where we were at the time. As for Pulisic I'm not sure he's a massive upgrade, at least for the price he would probably command, he doesn't seem to have lived up to the promise he showed when he broke through a few years back. I mean he has to be better than Almiron and Fraser right? Or is he? Legitimately don't know any more, just because someone plays for Chelsea doesn't mean they're actually any good... What a shit post lol, just the ramblings of a USA fan in a boring meeting.

Did anybody else notice how much he was fucking with their goalkeeper? Hilarious. There was a moment in the first half where the keeper's trying to get some space to throw it and Wilson is all over him, keeper's going "what the fuck" and Wilson just shrugging at him like "what mate" - it was cracking me up.

Was thinking today about how much better this team is to watch right now. Just the pressing us such a huge difference to some of the absolute shit we have been served up over the last couple decades. Defend deep and hoof it field, hope something happens and then get back in your shell to defend deep again. Jesus Christ ten years of that shit like. Now as soon as we lose possession it looks like somebody kicked a hornets nest, it's just relentless until somebody on the opposition fucks up and kicks it out of bounds. One of my absolute favorite things to watch in this burgeoning Eddie Howe era is how many times the goalkeeper punts a backpass out of bounds under pressure. It's usually good for two or three a game!

Surprised this thread hasn't been bumped, this fella was immense today. Just so cool in the tight spots, he had a couple tricky 1v1 situations and both times he calmly dispossessed the attacker and recycled the ball, like "what were you worried about?" Really backed up Eddie's decision to start him in my opinion, was very good throughout.

Come on! He must have heard you lot.

I think Eddie has earned some trust after how he blooded in Bruno. We all want to see the shiny new toys but the manager probably has the best idea of all of us about how ready he is to do a full 90 minutes in the premier league.

Nah I'm not having that like, I'm a Miggy supporter and his goal versus palace was definitely goal of the season for me, but it's less of a sexy finish and more of a superb all around goal. The context, the pass, the run, the headed first touch, fending off the defender, and then yes a world class finish. But was it sexier than this one? No it was not. That's some sexy shit right there. Not saying it's a better goal, it's not, but it is a sexier finish.

Yeah Miggy is kind of the same story as Perez, a number 10 in a team that doesn't play a number 10. The obvious difference is that Miggy doesn't have the absolutely sexy finishing that Perez would show on occasion, but maybe he'll surprise us this season. Thinking back, such a classic example of the dark times under Ashley was the period we spent playing Ayoze Perez as a lone striker. What in the very real fuck was that.

The smaller goals thing is stupid, just look at the scorelines, they look like regular fucking football games. It's not 21-13 out there. England's 8-0 over Norway stands out, but that happens in the men's game occasionally too and has more to do with a Norwegian meltdown and England having a razor-sharp attack this year than anything else. Trying to solve a problem that isn't there tbh. Also, weaker wrists? For real? Jesus fucking christ. I mean, setting aside how ridiculous that is as a statement, even if you take it at face value it's not like their weak womanly wrists are out there being shattered by powerful righteous men's shooting. It's women's legs kicking the ball at women's intuitive sensitive wrists, so what in the flying fuck are you on about with that one? It's not a zero sum game guys, women's football rising in popularity doesn't mean men's will dissipate, so relax.

Oh shit, that was a banger too! How have we not won a world cup yet?

Dunno mate, that scarf with "Full Steam Ahead" on it is pretty fucking legit. Best slogan US Soccer has come up with since "I Believe That We Can Win"

Maybe we can bring some of the Ultras over from Atlanta for our first home game...

True, a natural scorer like him should probably play at center-forward, and we already have a ready-made backup striker in Wilson. Sorted.