Thumbheed

I hope we're still interested

Adam Wharton looks a top prospect at 20. He'd be absolutely perfect for us.

It also highlights how far away we are from the squad quality of the teams we're hoping to be competing with long term. We are still in the very early stages of our development. Incredible really.

Liverpool and Everton will haunt me the most.

Still can't quite process how we're in 6th having never been able to pick our strongest 11 at any single point in the season. I'll say it quitely but should we finish here it probably usurps what he achieved last year imo. Short of the Peps and Klopps, I think we have a genuinely elite manager.

I think our struggles this season have been from not being as affective winning the ball further up the pitch. I'd go for a CM first and foremost but I guess injuries take that out of our hands.

I mean even if that was true it was in an era of Ronaldo, Romario, Batistuta, Inzaghi, Del Piero, Vieri, Raul. I could go on.

To actually be in 6th after this shitshow of a season is fucking phenomenal.

Shameless self plug. Ffs

He's already been clear on where he stands on all this, so I doubt he'd lay his cards out like that without being crystal clear on the actual legality of it all.

4 points behind 6th place. If we could just hit that vein of form we know we have in us, then 6th would be ours.

The sooner the Wenger offside rule comes in the better. Never understood why we punish attackers for reacting quicker whilst still being behind the defender.

Inject it straight into my veins

He made a point about how Man City players were so good at working the ball in tight spaces so for me that's at least a great sign of him recognising the sort of qualities that make a team great. I'm hoping it's at the forefront of his recruitment strategy.

We qualified for the CL with the tactic 'you don't buy'.

Think it's more to do with tactics. Drop Burn and you can't push Trippier further up the pitch (where he's very influential) and have 3 sat at the back, which changes the entire dynamic of the team. Replace Longstaff with who? Miley? For how long? Is it the best way to manage a 17 year old?

I ultimately agree but I do still think there's questions to be asked though. Freak injuries aside,we have also had numerous muscular injuries you could attribute to training methods, like Trippier, Wilson (unfair to include him tbf), Longstaff, Isak, Willock, even Almiron - who as far as I'm remember has barely been injured in his entire time. There's precedent with this happening at Bournemouth, so it does set off alarm bells for me.

Doesn't take game time to understand you can no longer make cynical fouls like that with VAR around. He's still a professional footballer.

Legit bargain

"I have not written it off" *writes it off in the very next sentence*

Hmm didn't really get that sense. Schar was pinging through balls to him minutes before he was taken off but either way, he had far more composure and control witj the ball than Longstaff had today, so Id have kept him on.

Think taking Anderson off was a bit of a mistake

Those 2 and Barnes seem to have a decent connection down the left.

how did we sign this guy

Doucore doing a man marking job on Bruno by the looks of it.