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I think our inability to maintain pressure at the top end of the pitch is putting us under far more pressure defensively than our defensive unit itself.

Is he wasted at left back?

Brilliant last night. On reflection the most annoying aspect about that game is not the result but the knowledge that we are actually that good when our minds right. Massive shame we've not been able to be consistent but it should always be a reference point for what we can achieve. That wasn't a fluke performance.

4 years later and I still can't comprehend us actually being able to say this.

I wrongly assumed he'd slot right in and would change the dynamic of the team as a result of the type of player he is. Turns out you can't stretch backlines if you have less energy than a tortoise

I don't think he's underrated, he's just a player who's shown exactly how good he can be, but hasnt been consistently. He's a great player with a good players mentality.

That was my point, he's burdened more by the price tag than he is output.

Aye. I'm not his biggest fan but a 15 goal season in his first season of new, significantly harder league with new teamates, tactics and no pre season is an excellent foundation to build on tbf If Osula had been having this season there'd be far more positivity surrounding him than there is around Woltemade.

Guimareas and Thiaw have scored the same amount of PL goals as Woltemade, Barnes, Wissa and Elanga and only 5 less if you include Gordon and Murphy into that as well. 5 of the players in the latter list were "premier league ready".

Still need a right winger.

I mean if he asked for it, Im guessing he wanted it for a reason other than vanity. Again with the comparison to Shearer. I'm genuinly not sure what the parallel is with Shearer's role as talismanic goalscorer and Gordon's role as assigned penalty taker outside the title alone. If Gordon was on goal 20 at this point in the season, I'd understand a bit more. As things stand he's only really performed in the CL, which aligns to a deeper narrative about Gordon that bugs many fans, me included.

Been done in all of time. Lazy to call someone weak for sometimes needing a quick win to gain a bit of confidence - that goes for all scenarios in life.

He already had a hatrick? Woltemade has far far more pressure on him to score goals than Gordon does, especially in his debut season with a £69m price tag. You can see that just by the sort of recent media coverage he's started to get vs Gordon who for his own hype has been quite poor the past 2 years. 2 in 2 sounds much better for a player than 1 in 15 or whatever it is, Wolte is currently on. To me, that matters far more than getting personal niche records. Like, I say, if anyone can argue an advantage for the team for Gordon getting a 4th over Woltemade getting a consolation 1, then I'd get it, but all I'm reading is niche personal records and some quasi high performance clichés which prove absolutely nothing. Trippier seems to agree and he's arguably been one of the best captains we've ever had.

There was more to gain by allowing Wolte to have a free confidence booster than there was in Gordon grabbing a 4th. Shame the games been slightly marred by it, but probably a good reason why being a team player would have been the better option. Not sure how anyone can argue otherwise.

This is cruel

I'd love to see him bulk up over the summer. For someone as big as he is, he loses far too many physical duels with defenders when receiving the ball. A little incremental change like that could make a whole lot of difference to our team.

Never heard a crowd beg a striker to shoot

Good second half but he is not my cup of tea at all

Agreed with that, that's why I say it's symptomatic of our forwards not getting on the end of chances, but to add to that, none of them barring Barnes is scoring goals and both him and Muprhy were supposed to be our options off the bench. We shouldnt really been 4 years into our project citing Murphy's crossing as an example of where things are going right and no matter how good they chances are that are being created, theyre not scoring either and no top team can be successful without their forward players all contributing.

It's the front 3 that need focusing on. 3 of our 4 wingers aren't producing but that's also symptomatic of having forwards who either aren't finishing or getting on the end of chances that are being created. Our defence is depleted but performing well, our midfield doesnt look as balanced as it once was, but is still holding it's own although could possibly do with a touch of guile and creativity. It's our front 3 which don't look incisive or dynamic in any sense of the word - it's not like theyre starved of possession either. That's a +£250m problem to fix.

I always think Barca was a bit of a turning point for him and Howe's biggest mistake in terms of man management. I'd like to see him on the left some time and give him a fresh role to rejuvenate himself. Not given up hope on him yet but there's a long long way to go to justify this purchase.

Mad how we rivalled all the massive clubs for striker options and no one for our right winger.

Can we afford to risk another season without a top class right winger whilst we wait for him to adjust?

Can we afford to risk another season with no top class right winger whilst we wait for him to adjust?

Its clear Howe recognises his quality in midfidled because hes been allowed to take more central positions. Said it a while back but I'd love to give him a run in the centre, his ability to evade the press would dramatically improve our game.