Palestoon

This game will be much tougher than Everton on Tuesday. the midfield battle in particular will be night and day. Villas midfielders are everything Evertons arent; dynamic, athletic and combative. I'm worried we might come crashing back down to earth with the shelvey/willock/joe combination. pressing Villa high up the pitch will be much riskier with this group, they have the capability to break a press and get their players running directly at our defense. Allan and Gomes were weak plodders and i think Howe specifically game planned for that to perfection. I think howe sticks with the trio that have won back to back games, lets hope he has the tactics worked out. He deserves the benefit of the doubt.

goals flying in everywhere

what about moving willock out wide as part of the front 3 with wood and st max. harsh on Fraser, but if howe doesnt want to sit Shelvey, this might be the only way to get Bruno into the line up. might also give us some flexibility with willock and Big joe interchanging

Shelvey chasing coutinho around in our half on sunday

So good today. could have had a hat-trick of goals and assists. Think he will take his game to another level as the quality of player around him improves, and the coaching staff works on his flaws.

I don't care that his legs turn to spaghetti in the box. I love Big Joe

credit where its due to the captain. after all of the criticism hes gotten, he could have completely folded after the opening goal. got us right back into the game, and was solid in the 2nd half.

someone wake me from this dream!!! GET THE FUCK IN!!!!

Lets hope with someone in the team capable of actually playing a defense splitting pass that ASM will mix up his movement and make some runs instead of coming deep to get the ball to his feet all the time. they could do some serious damage on the counter if they link up well.

Haven't watched much of Everton this season but really interested to see how they operate in midfield. On paper, without decoure, they seem really lightweight. hoping Bruno and big joe and impose themsleves in the middle of the pitch

I love this man already. just listened to the media briefing, he said all the right things. he was asked why he joined now instead of the summer. His response was that the club really wanted him, and he felt that by joining this project in the early stages, that would endear him to the fans and earn him more respect. He seems to really get it. If hes as good as been touted, he has club legend potential about him.

You could maybe make a case for Watford when fully fit and available. Sarr, Joa Pedro, Denis and King is a solid group. but overall i agree, i wouldnt trade our squad for any of relegation rivals

both these teams are awful. We have no excuse after the investment in January not to stay up.

Agreed, he did well today before he went off. both our fullbacks were getting beat like a drum in the first half, Schar and Lascalles dealt with everything. Second half trippier sorted himself out, and Manquillio was excellent. Our CBs had much less to do.

agreed on the effort, he never stopped running. maybe my memory is hazy, but I remember him having this burst of pace that would leave defenders for dead in his days at bournemouth. Not sure if hes just lacking fitness, or injuries etc, but he looks so weak in everything he does.

What a fucking win! still haven't caught my breath.... Dubs - 7 - solid, good save from james in the first half. claimed everything in the box 2nd half. Trippier - 7 - much better second half defensively Lascelles - 6 - best game in a while before going out injured. always looks nervy but dealt with everything that came at him. Clark - 6 - did his job to help close up shop Schar - 9- was absolutely fantastic defensively in every aspect. MOM Dummett - 6 - struggled with raphinha in the first half. Manq - 8 - Was fantastic coming on. shut up shop down the left, got forward, and played some good composed passes forward. needs to start Shelvey - 7 - solid today Longstaff - 8 - Was involved in everything. great energy. Willock - 6 - grew into the 2nd half. some good moments late on. Fraser - 6 - seems to have lost some of that explosiveness from his early days at bournemouth, doesnt really produce much, but credit to him for running to the end. Maxi - 7 - better second half. created good chances for wood, willock and fraser. also should have had a penalty. Wood - 6 - looks not much more than lump. some poor touches and seemed to lack that sharpness in the box. worked hard and won a lot of headers though. need more from him without wilson

Found this from last year. doesn't include this season, but i doubt it changed much. OVERALL TOTALS AT NUFC WITH ASM STARTING: Played 26 Won 12 Drawn 6 Lost 8 Points 42 Goals For 34 Goals Against 31 OVERALL TOTALS AT NUFC WITHOUT ASM STARTING: Played 16 Won 1 Drawn 6 Lost 9 Points 9 Goals For 10 Goals Against 32

Until we have a team that is actually capable of creating chances through actual build up, incisive passing and good movement, discussing the merits of ASM is absolutely pointless. For anyone to think replacing him with murphy or almiron would make us more capable of scoring a goal is laughable. Take ASM out of the team, and we turn towards pinging the ball up to wood/wilson and hoping for the best. this team is not capable of anything more than that. He deserves criticism for some aspects of his game, but unless we have a miraculous next 2 weeks of the transfer window, he is far and away our best chance at staying up.

At some point our luck has to turn. We are due a result we dont deserve. Fucking Bruce used up 10 years of luck in the the span of 18 months. fat prick

agreed. his positioning and tackling are very underrated. Offensively he is who he is. I think Howe thought bringing on Almiron to support him would be enough, and Almiron fell asleep in the moment that ended up being our undoing.

there was a moment where he received the ball in our own half with our back to goal, turned his defender, burst past 2 players into the opposing half, and played fraser in on the right wing. 10 seconds later he was by our corner flag tackling one of their players. i had to rewind to make sure it was him. great engine. Shelvey should be embarrassed strolling about for 90 mins

I know he missed a couple of chances, but he was immense again. the best player for on the pitch for us bar maybe trippier week in week out. get him some help in midfield and i think we'll see another level from him.

Lascelles has to be replaced. get carlos in now. our midfield is so bad, so unatheltic. Its scary to think how much worse we would be if we hadnt discovered that our #9 last year is a solid option in midfied. Imagine playing shelvey longstaff and hendrick. beggars belief

wow. sums up how much we've neglected the position over the last 10 years

No doubt about it, we are awful in midfield and have been for years. Shelvey used to be at least good a few goals from balls over the top. Cant remember the last time we've scored from one of those. Longstaff is like a deer in the headlights, Willock looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. hendrick.... the less said the better. We literally need an upgrade in every facet. Someone to protect the back line, someone to control the tempo, and someone to carry the ball forward. Shocking state thanks to Ashley