Kid Icarus

An error-less performance. Very good to see.

He's been consistently very good since PSG away imo. Another very good performance.

Ramsdale: 7 Livramento: 7 Thiaw: 7.5 Botman: 7.5 Hall: 7.5 Willock: 8 Ramsey: 7.5 Woltemade: 7.5 Murphy: 7 Gordon: 8.5 Barnes: 7

Rest the lads, throw the game? How about rest the lads, win the game yeah?

They're calling it the best midfield lineup in the league.

Brilliant. Proper textbook defensive performance from us that I was beginning to think wasn't in our locker anymore. Yes!!!!

Nothing daft please lads.

More surprised at the lack of equaliser than the scoreline. Very good half that.

Freaks and weirdos

Yes.

Hold on a second, I thought you all wanted us to rest players for Barcelona?

It just doesn't sound at all plausible for a player to be both the fittest they've ever been while they've been here then consciously think ah that'll do, I'll not bother now I'm on the pitch. Howe's said he needs to perform, taking from that that there's an issue with laziness is a bit of an assumption. He's said the same thing publicly about them performing before before "I have to ask them to be really honest and look at their best levels, and judge them against that now in this current moment. I don't think there are too many who can say they are playing their best. That then gives us growth to improve." and apparently said similar to them last season in private when certain players (Gordon and Isak were insinuated) weren't hitting the heights. It could be an accusation of laziness from Howe, but I think that's a bit of confirmation bias based on his performances tbh, he's said it before.

What's the theory? That he's put all of the effort into getting fit then can't be arsed once he's on the field?

Burnley 1-2 Bournemouth Sunderland 1-1 Brighton Arsenal 2-0 Everton Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle West Ham 1-3 Man City Palace 1-1 Leeds Man United 2-1 Villa Forest 2-1 Fulham Liverpool 3-0 Spurs Brentford 2-1 Wolves

We had a very successful one of those for a few years tbf.

If he's fitter than he's ever been since joining us, that doesn't really line up with the problem with his performances being through lack of effort does it?

@Ashley17's videos deserve their own thread. He's approaching FionaNUFC legendary status here.

He was so fucking good. Cameraman's nightmare with the amount of feints, Cruyff turns and dummies he did like.

Interesting perspective about us at 33 minutes. TLDR

Imo it's because people see players playing in a certain way and jump to reasonable but premature conclusions about why they're playing that way. Wissa plays like someone who looks like he's not putting the graft in, is slow, and doesn't look fit (while also playing poorly) so the assumption is that he's not putting the graft in, is past it, is out of shape, isn't starting so it's damning of him etc - and all of that is seen as external to him having no pre-season and a serious injury (imo wrongly) Whereas Elanga has been poor in plenty of ways, but lack of effort (that Wissa is perceived as having) isn't one of them.

Alternatively it could just be another example of why you shouldn't give up on players willy nilly.

This is exactly it. I was happy for us to go for Calvert-Lewin and with hindsight both him or Wilson for a year would have been good decisions, but the people whinging now would have been apoplectic about those choices, because they were over the prospect of them at the time. The only plausible alternative to Woltemade at the time was Stand-Larsen, and it was clear that Wolves weren't going to let it happen. Us getting Woltemade at the time was seen as us somehow landing on our feet. Some people want to have the cake of reviewing signings before and as they happen, and then eat it by reviewing it again later in the season.

I should just say as well that I really like him as a player, I really want it to work. I just don't know how it will.

The gains made by going 2-0 up in the tie would have been far greater than what we lost going from 1-0 to 1-1 imo.