Holmesy

He didn’t have anyone showing for the ball at all! Still shit but he had no help

He looks a shadow of last season’s version. I’d rather we went back to 4-3-3 with Barnes on the left and Gordon on the bench tbh

I think you have to give some credit to Everton for denying us space in their half but we still look fucking shite. I’m not sure this formation is doing us any good.

Happy Birthday dude. Let's hope you're celebrating more than one big milestone later.

Jobe Bellingham could be a nice squad addition. Shame he's a Mackem, but I reckon he'd come on massively under Eddie

Because being brutally honest, he's no good to us. He hasn't ever had end product and he's not going to develop it now. He has undoubted ability but we need all of our midfielder to contribute more than just work rate and carrying the ball forward. If he's in an advanced position in the squad, he needs to contribute goal involvements and he's shown time and again that he isn't capable of that. If we can get £25m for him and replace him with a younger player with end product, it's unfortunately a no-brainer. The acid test is would he get in the the first team of the other clubs around us - Arsenal, Villa, City, even Forest? He just wouldn't. Palace, Brentford, Fulham, West Ham is his level. We need to level up from the likes of him and Lascelles, Longstaff, Wilson etc.

I don’t get it. He’s a spent force and hasn’t had a decent appearance all season. Meanwhile Osula, who has looked dangerous in the limited minutes he’s played continues to warm the bench.

I'm not suggesting it's not important. It's super important! It's just not exciting. Haten Ben Arfa was exciting, Isak was exciting, Tonali was exciting, Arda Guler would be exciting. Goalies? Meh

100%. I totally appreciate the difference a top keeper would make. But it doesn't give you the same buzz as a sexy new right winger or a top class up-and-coming striker

Anyone else not get excited by goalkeeper signings? Honestly, we could be signing Allison and I wouldn't be too bothered. I'm all about outfield players, not goalies.

Gordon did do anything to warrant taking his starting place unfortunately. Neither are firing at the moment

If we concede here, we only have ourselves to blame. Ragged football

Clearly been instructed to sit deep, which we’ve proven time and again we’re not very good at. We dominated them in the first half, why change it?!

He'd be a good fit for Villa but if they sign Rashford permanently, he'd be back in the same position he's in here. If he's their alternative to signing Rashford, it would make a lot of sense. Still not sure we should sell him though

Arsenal have apparently made an approach for Delap according to Talkshite

Red cartel doing the blue cartel a favour. Liverpool are playing in 3rd gear here

He just did what he normally does - loads of energy, loads of endeavour, no end product. That run where he went too far and ran the ball out of play is basically Joe Willock summed up in one move.

Miley looks more impressive every time I see him. That run he had in the team at the age of 17, he played it safe, kept it neat but didn't really show anything exceptional. Right now he looks twice the player Longstaff is and has end product to his game, which is something Willock sadly doesn't. He should be getting more minutes.

I think he's the perfect fit for us but I think you're being optimistic when you say he wouldn't cost a fortune. He also seems very 'London'. Not sure he'd fancy a move up north

Very Isak-esque actually. Great shout

It's not that he has it wrong - he's just using the tools he has at his disposal. I'm sure if he had a better option in the squad, that option would be picked over Willock. His versatility and energy are his strengths but if you offered Eddie those attributes with goals and assists added in, we likely wouldn't see Willock again.

I disagree. He used to regularly get in good positions and then balloon his shot over the bar, like clockwork. That’s the part of his game we all thought Eddie would improve but if anything he’s gone backwards. The assists side of his game is also pretty poor too. i love his energy and running but it’s not enough.

Said it before, if he had end product he'd be a £50-60m player. But he doesn't and never will have, which is why we should cash in while his stock is still relatively high. He's the kind of squad player we should be looking to upgrade as we evolve - onwards and upwards

We've just won our first domestic trophy for generations, we could well be playing in the CL and we have the best midfield in the league. DCL should be absolutely nowhere near our list of targets, PSR or no PSR. He would be the most underwhelming signing we could make.

Remember when Almiron scored goals for fun in that one season? Then he turned to shit. Murphy is having a purple patch and long may it continue, but we can't bank on it. We need a better quality option on that side of the pitch and if they have to sit on the bench for a while behind Murphy, fair enough.