Nine

Delap does have a very high ceiling, probably elite potentially. And he’s English. But he needs to go somewhere to play or he won’t realise it. If we have Isak we are no good for him.

He’s not playing anywhere near the standard he was in 22/23, and he is getting to that sort of age where you might expect dips in form. It’s a shame because when the team is performing he’s usually been a big part of it. As I said though, I don’t think he deserves to be written off as a 3rd/4th choice yet. I feel like he could still perform well enough in a more balanced back 4.

Apples and oranges.

I won’t disagree that’s he’s struggled, he’s put himself in trouble in moments. But he has been heavily pressed at pretty much all times, I don’t think he’s done as badly as some have made out under the circumstances.

It’s because oppositions press is focused on him, Burn isn’t a threat with the ball so Schar gets pressed and has passing lanes cut. Another ball player next to him and it’s a different story.

Bad recently, but the balance to that is that he had been pressured heavily by every side we play as he’s our only fit CB capable of passing the ball to a decent standard. Hes taken on increased responsibility and hasn’t looked great, still think he’d be back to being fine in a more balanced/stable back 4. Also, some fans attitude of just binning off players the moment they begin to decline or are out of form is total unappreciative arrogance.

I don’t know man.. looking at it realistically I just feel like our slow back line will be the death of us here. And the fact they are used to winning things, while the big occasions always seem to get to us (fans and players alike). I was a proper doomer for this even before the injuries and suspension

Goodbye sweet progression

Absolutely brutal for him, long way back from here.

Good player, glad to see him settling there.

This place is hilarious sometimes

I’m on this side of the fence to, however he has work to do on the defensive side of his game. Time on the pitch obviously helps but Howe is always giving Barnes a lot of direction mid game, I just hope he becomes more coachable as he’s getting more minutes because if he can adapt a bit and take on more responsibility he will be a great asset for us.

We’ll know the answer next year. One criticism that is justified is that we were not ready to move away from the press as quickly as we did, but the injuries of last season may have forced Howes hand in that respect. Now we are down to watching Schar and Burn try and play out from the back, well mainly Burn as Schar gets pressed first.

The one he gave away across our own penalty box was criminal

Funnily enough, even though we all slated the fee we saw quoted for Guehi - he alone would have fixed a lot of the issues we are seeing now.