Palestoon

Agreed. regardless of the result tonight, I would have been confident of finishing in the European slots if we had a semblance of a squad. And when you look at the injury list, outside of maybe trippier coming back at the end of the month, everyone else will miss most of the remainder of the games. I just dont think we have the depth to hold on. Thats all assuming we stay injury free the rest of the way as well. In reality, we are a hamstring pull away from having to play Dummett/Krafth/Ritchie major minutes the rest of the way. The only silver lining is we have a very reasonable set of fixtures the rest of the way, and none of our competitors look to be picking up any form. West Ham have Europe and look to be losing steam the last few months. Manu look awful and are only as high as they are due to some very lucky results. Brighton have a very difficult run in and look like they lack the cutting edge from the teams of their last few years. Wolves are dealing with major injuries to their most important attacking players. Chelsea are Chelsea.... up and down as they've been all season. We can do it, but its going to be a grind. Shame these injuries have ruined our season

Looks clear now that his knee hasnt been right since early in the year. Explains his performances of late. Lets hope he makes a full recovery. ACLs arent the career killers they used to be. Most players come back to full strength, it could just a while to get fully up to speed...

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1w7hw2Mj2B/?igsh=MXd3ajRtM2xodHQxeg== New Mackem Slayer

No pace at all in the back 7. So easy to counter us

Burn Schar botman tripper Miley Bruno longstaff Lack so much athleticism in the midfield and Backline....

Reality is, we are victims of our own over-acheivement. We have to remember this squad and staff are new to this kind of grueling schedule. And we simply don't have the squad to cope. Elite teams would have seen out luton today Regarldess of the game midweek. They would have absorbed thier fast start, settled the game down, kept the ball with their quality, and picked their spots to go full pelt and won 2-0 comfortably. We used to be victims to these kind of results regularly against the "big clubs". Unfortunately we just don't have the quality on the pitch or know how to deal with these situations yet. But it will come in time.

apparently 50/50 for tomorrow at Luton. Would rather he sat out until he was back to 100 percent

My favorite player, but he's definitely lacking that spark from last season. Thought it could be fitness from the busy schedule, but he looked slow and lethargic the minute he came on. Makes me think he's not fully over his latest groin injury either physically or mentally and is reluctant to sprint or move with any explosion.

If phillips is brought in, would love to see him and Bruno in a double pivot, big Joe and Gordon down the wings with Wilson Uptop and Isak playing behind him in a 10 role. Think it would be a great balance of steel, athleticism, flair, workrate and goal scoring.

Great point away at the San Siro. As far as the lack of creativity in the side, I don't think anything has changed in personel. We didn't have a lot of creativity last season, but we created chances through our high press and intensity. We don't seem to playing with that same style this season. I don't know if it's because of the level of opposition we've faced this season which has been historically tough, or if Eddie is trying to preserve legs with all of the extra games this season. I think this favorable run of games coming up will prove telling. Hopefully we look more of the side from last season

Very true. One thing that I've noticed is it seems with the quality of opposition we've faced, Howe seems hesitant to fully commit to the relentless press that got exposed against liverpool/Villa at the tail end of last season. But instead we seemed to be opting for this middle ground where we don't drop behind and counter, and we don't committ bodies to the press. We're doing this hybrid tactic and I don't think our midfielders know where to be exactly, and it's causing alot of hesitation

Might be wrong, but it felt like there was more structure last season. Our midfield had patterns you could identify. All 3 have looked all over the shop these past few matches.

Most Frustrating thing to me is we don't seem to have a plan B outside subbing like for like players. Same issues rearing their head week after week and haven't seen any attempts to address it. Howe said he was looking for 3 mids to Interchage and all be versatile. But up to this point it just looks like no one knows what their role is and we're getting caught completely disorganized. you can't play without a DM with this defense. We've been hurt the same way all 4 games this season. No DM, teams play to their forwards coming short and force our unathletic back line to chase forwards into no man's land with no support from midfield. It's been so easy, even villa had success with it. Has to change. Upfront, isak is too isolated. Not sure if his skills translate to being an isolated #9. I'd like to see a 4-2-3-1. Have Bruno and tonali double pivot. Clear roles to dictate from the middle. Isak roaming behind Wilson with 2 from gordon/barnes/joelinton/Almiron out wide. And please get Hall up to speed. Burn and Targett have both been poor. Trust in Eddie and the Boys to get it right. No need to panic yet

Hope Howe sticks with him vs BHA. They will commit alot of men forward and he should thrive playing off the shoulder of a slow dunk/webster/Milner back line

Yep, seems like he's on another wavelength then the rest of the team. There are times I'm pleading with him to hold it and turn and look for a forward pass. Think as he gets more comfortable he'll be more adventurous. He definitely has the ability to pick incisive passes into the final third

Don't want to overact after 1 game, but can't help but feel today showed why some of us have mixed feelings on this transfer window. As individuals I'm happy with all of the additions we've brought in and feel like all will contribute and strengthen the squad. But... after all of the business we've done, can't help but feel we're still talking about the same issues 3 games into the season. Today we lacked pace at the back, A left back who can push up and support the left wing (hopefully hall can rectify that) a creative force who could help unlock low blocks, and a specialist DM who can protect our slow back line. All problems alot of us highlighted at the end of last season. And a lot of these problems don't seem to be rectified. Regardless, Ashworth and Howe deserve the benefit of the doubt. Hard to think longterm after that gut punch today, but trust the process.

Today highlighted again how badly we need a left back who can support the left wing. Against 10 men and with TAA on a yellow we should have been wave after wave down the left side isolating him. Unfortunately Burn offers no threat to overlap and get forward, so liverpool were able to bring midfield cover to help all 2nd half down that side. They never looked uncomfortable. Hopefully hall can get up to speed soon and make the LB position his own. Think it will have a huge impact on our attacking capabilities.

Ahh... would have liked to see Isak from the start. Suprised to see Burn on the bench. Surely this is one of the few matchups he makes sense in as Everton will play long balls all day and look for Free kicks and corners. Could have used his height. Ah well in Eddie we trust

I know we've all mentioned this, but I really do think we should wait until maxi gets consistent run in the team with a natural LB behind him. So much of our play goes down the right side with the tripper/longstaff/almiron combination. Plus Bruno seems to lean towards that side which leaves Maxi extremely isolated on the left. Especially with Burn standing at the halfway line most of the time acting as a third CB since trippier is pushing so far upfield. Seems like Maxi is trying to combine and play the "right way" but ends up getting doubled up with few options nearby which ends up with him panicking and playing a poor pass or getting dispossessed. I'm not ready to throw the towel in with him yet

I think against a team like Liverpool where we sit back and look to hit them on the break, he's fine as a lone striker. He has room to roam, find channels to run and use his pace. But against sides who sit deep, he's struggled to get into the games, and usually just gets dominated physically.

Role in the squad should be a reserve center half and emergency left back. Not his fault, but he completely destroys the balance of our team when he plays at LB

Has so much quality, it jumps off the screen. So elegant moving with the ball, but I don't think Howe has figured out how to best use him. Think he's looked best coming on to play off Wilson like he did today and when he bagged that winner vs Fulham. Allows him to ghost around, pick up the ball deep and use his pace, and technical ability to create. Playing him as the lone striker asking him to bang around with big strong center halves in the box is a waste of his abilities.

Created our only real chance of the day. As mentioned before, Burn makes it so difficult for him to be effective. So easy to double up on him and take him out of the game, with Burn 40 yards back being completely ignored. Think we'll see him finish the season strong when targett is up and running again

Will always love papiss, So frustrating at times, but you couldnt hate him because he was such a likable fella. Would go from wondering to how he was a professional footballer to pulling out something worldclass in the same breath haha.

Cant help but feel like its make or break time for Maxi. Big chance over the next 3 games to cement a place in the side for himself with Bruno out. If Howe goes with Gordon from the start against West Ham on saturday, that would probably signal that Maxi's time here is coming to an end sadly.