Nine

Not convinced that Smith Rowe has the physical profile to consistently perform in our system, fitness record a big issue also.

Where are my internet points?

Is anyone surprised?

The end of an era.

Chelsea missed one or two absolutely clear cut chances and then lose it at the death, gotta hurt

Caicedo is so lucky

It’s amusing that Howe has had us consistently over performing with the players we’ve had available since the injuries started to pile up, but it’s this expected result that seems to have broken some people. We convincingly lost to a side chasing the league who also happen to be in deadly form at the minute, yes our first half performance was slack but the midfielders we have available make it very difficult to compete against the team we faced last night. Did people really think swapping out Burn for Liv was going to fix the issues down the left hand side? The lack of physical ability in midfield is and has been the main issue, as much potential as Miley has he has been chucked in at the deep end because we have no other options and he’s physically not there right now. The midfield has been exploited by teams as of alot recently (especially the left side), but Burn has taken a lot of the flack for that because football fans. Management have done a great job under this seasons very difficult circumstances, we are 8th and still in a cup competition.

Our left side is so weak defensively, the gaps our midfield leaves get exploited down that side so easily. We are in for a long night.

Hes scored 5/5 penalties for Chelsea with another 10+ G/A from open play in the PL alone.. hes 21 and banging in penalties like an elite striker. It’s hardly a knock on him like.

How do you know we didn’t attempt to sign him? You think we were offering him the kind of money Chelsea were? Also how does he fit into our 4/3/3? I love Palmer to, hes on a trajectory to potentially become one of the best English players in years.. but I can also see why we didn’t sign him. Six months ago he would have been a gamble on a young player from City to most on here, and people would have said £40m was to much of a risk - the same as lots said about Gordon (who had played far more PL football than Palmer had when he moved). This hindsight stuff on here is out of control lately

And you say there are many reasonable options out there that tick these boxes? Who do you have in mind?

Besides the hyperbole, what you are describing is another in the Tonali mould. The summer will be interesting, I expect we’ll only drop big money on a CM if we sell Joelinton because imo it’s just not necessary otherwise.

There are, but in your previous post you were suggesting we target players that possess the creative quality that our current players don’t while also being physically able to play Howe ball. Lets be honest, without breaking the bank there are very few available options out there of that description.. if they are there and available the likes of Liverpool will have tabs on them to (Szoboszlai). I just think expecting to sign a ready made player of that mould is a huge ask for our current circumstances. I expect we will target strength in physical depth while being capable technically, if Everton go down I’m 99% sure we make a move for Onana for example.

Elite physical and technical midfielders? They don’t grow on trees, Tonali was a remarkable signing for where we were last summer and as good as he is technically he’s not of that level. Of course that transfer has mitigating circumstances now.

Of course there are, but they are few and far between and cost mega bucks. Top sides that deploy a high press will have tabs on them to.

And that’s exactly why we value physical ability above all else, it is 100% the most important attribute for our midfield and forward line to possess. We have brute forced enough high turnover goals with our press to make it clear why we signed Gordon and Barnes.. as creative and technically good as a player like Maddison is we wouldn’t have extracted full value as he lacks that physicality.

It’s a shame he’s moving on already as he was singled out as a big piece of our puzzle moving forward and likely would have delivered. Man United are an attractive club for someone in his position and they will have made an offer that understandably was very hard for Ashworth to turn down, their infrastructure is light years ahead of where we currently are and he will offer them the direction that they have lacked for years. Without doubt we’ll have some highly rated targets we can work at now to replace him, will be interesting to see who it’ll end up being.

That’s so unfortunate

I think we will look to sign someone of the Joao Pedro/Ekitike mould in the summer should the right target be attainable, a versatile forward that can play centrally would add so much selection value at the moment. I also think there’s a decent chance Wilson stays on for another season if both parties will be happy with him playing a lesser role.

The problem is people assumed he was going be some super bargain finding recruitment wizard for us because of Brightons business over the last 4 or 5 years, the actual reality is recruitment is only a small part of what Ashworth oversees..

A good squad option that seems content enough with his current place in the squad and won’t be on a massive wage, good business imo.

He’ll probably go, and it’s understandable why he would.. unfortunately he’s exactly what Man United have needed for years. We would at least replace him well though.

Howe obviously feels the side functions better with Burn in rather than without, you don’t think he realises that Burn lacks pace? There are more aspects to consider than just Burns pace being exploited, my point is the value Burn adds usually offsets the weaker parts of his game. So it does make sense to pick him.

Yeah, people a seem to be forgetting that he was up against his worst nightmare yesterday We know Burns limitations, but a lot of the criticism since yesterday has been emotional, reactionary stuff. No one has mentioned that he dealt well with Diaby a few days earlier.