Holmesy

I think our run of excellent form has done him no favours from an impact point of view. Teams are tightening up and sitting deeper against us which allows him no space to do what he does best. He's also (despite being excellent at it) a bit of a one-trick pony, which isn't particularly difficult to defend against - show him down the line instead of letting him cut inside and you largely nullify his threat. I still think he's a very good player but you can see why he spends so much time on the bench.

Hopefully this is an opportunity for Osula to get more minutes. That raw pace at the back end of games when defenders are tiring could be a real threat

Really impressive performance. I don’t think he lost the ball once, and he looks far more dynamic than he did when he had that run in the side last season. Another top CM option to add to our already impressive stable.

Could be another option for the right forward role with that left foot.

Delighted for him! What a strike!

Just saw him control the ball on 58.18 minutes. Things are looking up

How do you even give a halftime team talk to Longstaff after that display? “Sean, you’re a professional footballer. Try to do one thing this half that demonstrates that”

Longstaff is absolutely shocking! Miley looks twice the player already and he’s basically still a kid.

I wonder if Arteta will be gracious in defeat? 🤔

They’re not even trying to hide their bias at the moment. Just doing it blatantly and all the pundits go along with it. Fucking racket

Fucking crooked bastard!

Everything Tonali does is absolutely top drawer!

Take a bow big man. That pass was outstanding!

The problem is the league has already found him out. It doesn't take long with modern analytics to suss out a player's patterns, strengths and weaknesses. Unless he has bags of new tricks we haven't seen or he's very coachable, I don't see how he'd be an asset. I reckon Eddie and our fanbase could restore his shot confidence but I don't think it's enough.

These dicks are just paid to talk. They're not paid to actually do their research and know stuff. Anyone who has watched Schar over the past 5 years knows he's one of the most cultured CBs in the league. These puppets just play to the ignorant majority and make themselves look stupid to the informed minority who actually know what they they're talking about.

I agree completely. What we saw from him was neat, tidy and risk-adverse which is exactly what he should have been under the circumstances. But that isn't what we need to replace Bruno. We need drive, creativity and forward momentum. Of our remaining CMs, I think Willock is the only option.

Because he's one of our more creative players and a genuine goal threat with both feet. Nothing more than that really. We lose so much creativity without Bruno in the side so unless we're planning on parking the bus (not Eddie's style) that creativity ideally needs replacing. I'm not suggesting a like-for-like swap for Bruno, i'm suggesting a more advanced role behind Isak. I'm basically trying to come up with alternatives to starting Longstaff in midfield

Won't happen but i'd like to see Barnes in the #10 role tonight in the absence of Bruno

It's only a ridiculous idea if it hasn't been proven to be the case. It would be great to put it to bed but it's a fair label as things stand

Would that £40m get you close to Delap?

Totally dominant performance and some lovely goals but Gordon’s performances continue to be a concern. He looks like a shadow of the player he was last season. His energy is there - some of his tracking back has been fantastic - but he’s giving the ball away, poor touches , lack of composure etc. and his confidence look shot

Plus that slimy prick Steve Parish seems to enjoy taking the piss out of us with his ridiculous valuations

We are absolutely blessed to have Bruno and Tonali in the same midfield - who'd have thought a few years back that we'd have the mainstays of the Brazil and Italy national teams in our engine room. Long may it continue. Now let's start fucking some PL teams up.

Every team we played targeted him down that flank with a pacy winger and we shipped goals for fun. There was a very good reason for that.

I’ve got the same guy. 😀