Nine

I reckon he starts the next game that the opposition won’t spend 80%+ of the game in a low block

Lack of other options

Confidence shattered after a poor early run here and doesn’t have the mentality to get himself right, I usually hate people saying this but this club isn’t for him.

Tbf they knew that before tonight’s game

We played a weak side and it didn’t pay off, we could have done without the extra fa cup schedule anyway. Disappointing but far from a disaster.

Problem is the wrong word, but it will probably change the initial planned timeline of things drastically. Europa league we could get away with a bit more but to put up a serious CL campaign and sustain PL form even with 3/4 more players from here will be a real challenge. For the people saying ‘to good of an opportunity to miss CL, spend now and grab it’. Never that straightforward, I don’t think we’ll stray to far from our original layout for January.. the summer however.

I’m expecting if we dip into the foreign markets it will be for a young prospect, any first teamers we sign will already be in the PL imo. Summer will be different.

Can only blame ourselves for not taking the chances, Leeds were lucky but did well to frustrate us and make it as difficult as it could be

Think we score before this is over

Both contracts signed under different circumstances to now

Funnily enough being where we are the table has probably derailed the initial layout we had planned for this window, not necessarily a bad thing but as we are looking way ahead of schedule the slow build over multiple windows to prepare the squad for a European campaign is going to have to be adjusted now. FFP is one thing but keeping the structure and balance of the squad right is as important. It’s going to be interesting to see what approach is taken, we definitely wont go signing a massive amount of players as that’s not Howes way but if we sign 1 first teamer in Jan and 2 more in the summer is that going to make the level of squad depth acceptable enough for a CL/Europa push? We know how teams can struggle after a top 6 finish with the extra games on their schedule the season after, it takes a toll on a squad and with the very high output style we play under Howe we will likely need to adjust and adapt tactically along with signing whatever number is deemed necessary to cope.

If he can keep even half of this goal/assist form up consistently it’s a big leap forward in progressing this squad, id imagine his position was one of the priorities to be upgraded for Jan/summer before he turned into the player we have seen since September. Leaves us much more wiggle room FFP wise to prioritise the next position now we don’t need to use the funds for RW.

Glad to see us start off with a comfortable away win in what could have been a tough game on another day, the WC break looks like it has benefited us so far.

Great header but shit defending. Always love seeing him score.

Well then

Yeah I’m not trying to say he’s Bellingham or whoever else, but he’s also not Joey Barton either. I think his current circumstances will count in his favour is all I’m saying. I think he’ll get a ban most likely but Id be surprised if it was into double figures.

I think he’ll get off lighter than someone else might as he’s a good, young English striker. So fucking stupid though, he’s had a few social media moments where you think he comes across as a [nope] but I didn’t think he was THIS dumb

Might push us closer to signing a first team LW then

Midfield isnt pushing high enough to support because we are shit scared of the counter, something needs to change here and we will have to take the risk at some point.

The greatest free kick ever

While I agree hes the better player that difference gets balanced out a bit when you consider how well Willock fits into this system, im not sure Maddison would be as useful in the press as Willock and make those same intelligent runs.. I just feel hes a slightly less industrious midfielder than Willock is but obviously has more quality in and around the box.

Not quite as straightforward as that but I get the point Is it only me that felt the Maddison bid felt like a kind of try your luck one? I wonder if the opportunity has passed now.

Let’s remember they had qualified in 1st place even if they had lost this game, must be taken into account that they stepped off and set out a bit differently like us vs USA. With that being said I wouldn’t be scared of playing them, I really think this England side can beat any team in this tourney.

The most emotional fans always expose themselves early on

I wonder if the Wales result changed plans today, step off in this one and conserve some energy for the easier tie. I think he'll rotate the side a bit for it.