Jaqen

We'll see him a lot more after the break I feel. Don't think he was ever in consideration to start any of these first four games as he's probably not drilled well enough yet defensively to play against that sort of opposition. A big reason we signed Gordon was for his versatility so I'm not sure why some are viewing him as only a LW option for us. He only had a brief spell on the right against Brighton but I think that's a sign of things to come.

At least he should be easy to shift only being on £350k p/w.

You can't have a defensive record as good as ours and a press like we've used without some very good coaching. Was actually amazing how quickly he implemented such a drastic change in play style and got it working so well considering his starting block was a negative, unfit and tactic -less mess of a side. Even in our 'poor' runs it was more often than not poor finishing that cost us. We'd have finished third if we didn't underperform our xG so much and pick up all those draws.

Brighton and City are two teams setup to bait the press. Against both we seemed to be stuck in some middle ground of not wanting to play into their hands but not wanting to do a Rafa job and sit completely off them. Thought we did fairly well against Liverpool 11v11 were just starting to get into of them and punish them until the sending off. After that again we seemed to be caught not knowing whether to stick or twist. I'm fairly certain we'll see a return of the intensity and pressing after the international break. It was only last week de Zerbi was getting called a fraud on here and Brighton had been sussed and will struggle this season. Today they battered us and it's Eddie who has been found out and need to change everything all of a sudden. Unless your City every team is going to have games like this.

He's definitely better with Willock in the side too but it's harsh to say he's never performed well at CM. He clearly had a lot of very good games there. Longstaff did a lot of the dirty work and covered for both Trippier bombing on and Bruno moving into that right side to link up with Almiron and Trippier. It seems we want Tonali to play a different role getting into the box and influencing play in the final third more. It seems thats at the expense of Tripper getting forward as much and it's kind of had a knock on effect for the rest of the midfield too. With the current options it seems it's probably best to get Longstaff back in that role and play Tonali on the left of the three.

We are a side that is ultimately lacking in quality and relies on being very well drilled and intensity opponents can't cope with. As soon as there's even a small drop off our weaknesses are exposed. The other top sides can afford to have games where they're maybe playing at 60/70% and get bailed out by their quality in attack. Fortunately we have a good run after the international break and a chance to build up some momentum. There's so much to learn from what went wrong in the last three games and I'm confident Eddie will be able to address it.

Would like to see this given a runout at some point: Wilson Barnes Isak Gordon Tonali Bruno

Are we off the inhalers now?

How have we made Billy Gilmour look like Xavi?

'Fluid' midfield 3 is not working really. Allowing too many runners in the gaps and when we get the ball we seem unsure which of them to offer the supporting runs. Defence is getting exposed and the attack isolated.

Neymar I'm guessing

Its a brutal draw but could see all three of those sides struggling against our playing style. Should be 6 class games either way.

Should add a bit of novelty to this and make Joe Cole bite through kinder eggs to get to the teams.

Worst case scenario would be getting them in the semis or final. At least this way we've either knocked the favourites out or got less fixtures to worry about.

There's also a case of what happens when Willock is back as the two Joe's seemed his first choice setup on that left hand side last season and worked really well. Probably get a much better idea after the International break when we have a much kinder run of fixtures. Could definitely see Barnes and Gordon starting together in some of those.

We sat off City more than other sides as they want to bait you into the press so they can play around it you or launch a long ball to Haaland who's isolated against one CB. They absolutely destroyed Arsenal doing that when they tried to play their usual game last season. In the end we lost to a wonder goal against the best side in Europe. The main dissapointment with that game was how sloppy we were when we had the ball. Lots of poor touches and passes, but you can't point the finger at Eddie for that.

The only thing he's guilty of is wearing a gilet to a nightclub.

Looks outside Mile Castle?

Man U, Spurs and Brighton at home last season were viewed as crucial showdown matches and we absolutely battered all 3 man Don't think some folk appreciate how much he's overachieving with that squad. Would love to see any of the other top managers he apparently keeps getting outclassed against try finish top 4 with the likes of Miggy, Burn and Longstaff starting every week.

Mad that Office quotes have been banned when opinions like that are allowed.

Top 8 would be considered a good finish for them regardless, no?

Brighton lost their two best midfielders to be fair, did win their first two as well. They'll be absolutely fine.

Top 4/5 looks wide open, like. Other than City nobody looks convincing so far.