Phoenix711

I see what you're asking, but when you say "it's arguably on the line", I didn't see a single angle which showed any of Willock's boot touching the line. Personally, I felt there was enough evidence to say the foul was outside the box based on the angles/ freeze frames shown. "Clear evidence based on the replay is not the same as deciding that the error was clear and obvious. Or is it?" The location of the foul is an objective matter i.e. it was in or not in the box. As it's objective it is easy to see if the referee was correct or not and thus overturn. Whether it was a foul or not is a subjective matter and this is where you are less likely to overturn the referee even if it was a dubious call. The fact we're arguing about an objective matter makes it easier for VAR to intervene imo but as you saw the EPL website, it is a grey area. Anyways, upwards and onwards. West Ham next.

It was applied correctly. From the EPL website: "VAR will be used only for “clear and obvious errors” or “serious missed incidents” in four match-changing situations: goals; penalty decisions; direct red-card incidents; and mistaken identity." So you start with the situation and then look for the errors or things missed. The situation isn't the foul but the decision to award the penalty so you look at all aspects from the build up to the foul. When looking at the award of a penalty, they will look at all aspects (they have a check list), starting if it was a foul, were they any fouls before it, was it in the box etc During that checklist, it was deemed there was clear evidence that the foul took place outside the box. It was close but we scored and won anyways.

It's fine mate, everyone has their own opinion. Just glad we won. West Ham next.

Really? He gave the ball away 11 times and only won half his ground duels (9/17). The yellow card (and he was lucky because we've seen a referee give 2 yellows in the same passage just recently and he could have had 3!) hampered him ALOT. But the times he did win, only a couple of times did he distribute well. Most of the times he never set off an attack - just one dribble and no progressive passes. Stats aren't everything but if all his job is to tackle/ intercept maybe I'd rate him higher, but he's meant to progress the ball as well and he didn't do that today. He was immense against Man Utd, he was average today imo. To be fair both midfields cancelled each other out that the game was dictated from the flanks. With regards to Krafth, he did his role well, he wasn't brilliant but he stopped as much as he could and wasn't beaten in behind - he got lucky with the offside.

Depends how you see it. Was it Villa playing awful or EH making them play awful or a bit of both? They were still getting in down both flanks but they were adamant with crossing it into the box (rather than working it in) and we had 6ft7 Dan Burn to mop up. I felt we were lucky that Bailey looked undercooked and neither full back drove into the box and instead opted to cross it from deep. If Villa had exploited Cash overload the numerous time ASM didn't track back they could have been in. The breaks in play hindered them a lot but the fact Howe didn't block their main threats, it wouldn't have surprised me if a ball got in and it fell for them. It wasn't a game where Villa "deserved" something but it was one where they could have got something had they been better in the final third.

Wow, lot of generous ratings. Thought we were pretty fortunate second half. Just like against Watford, we sat back and invited pressure, got a massive warning for the goal but fortunately Villa had no cutting edge. Dubravka - 7 Not much to do, swept one through ball well and kept a clean sheet. Distribution bad as always. 7 for the clean sheet. Trippier - 8 Made a few passing errors but was put under pressure a lot with no help. Important goal and offered a threat going forward which pinned Digne back for the first half. Schar - 7 Solid with some important interception when he stepped up into the midfield to pinch the ball. Burn - 8 Excellent in the air and commanded the back line well. MoM for me. Manquillo - 7 Promising when going forward and solid enough defensively. Like Trippier, because he offered some kind of threat Cash felt wary of over committing when he was on. Joelinton - 5 Scrappy in midfield and could distribute better when he did win it. Lost possession 11 times with less than 80% pass accuracy. Shelvey - 6 Did well to contain the central threat and distribution was ok Willock - 6 Quiet both ends but won some important fouls to relieve pressure. ASM - 4 Offered a little threat going forward but when Manquilo came off, Cash wasn't afraid to go forward and he NEVER tracked back. Threw his arms in the air complaining a lot rather than getting on with the game. Some days its not his day but he can't shirk his defensive responsibilities - all of Villa's threat second half came from both flanks. Wood - 6 A couple of half chances, won a lot of aerial duels which went to no one but provided an escape route to relieve the pressure sometimes. Fraser - 7 Most lively of the front three and helped back as much as possible. Look a threat, just final ball could be better. Krafth - 6 Did well overall but lucky boy to not play Watkins onside. Offered little going forward because Digne pinned him back which invited a lot of pressure down our right. Dummett - 6 Defensively ok but never went forward which meant Cash had less to worry about and as game grew we looked vulnerable from the flanks. Howe - 7 We won so he gets a 7 but after 60mins when they had a goal disallowed he should have changed things up, I know we had used 2 subs but we were just inviting pressure. We were lucky that Villa got worse with Ings/Bailey vs Watkins/Buendina. The time wasting and breaking up the play helped us a lot. Overall a good win set up by a solid defensive display in the second half. Targett back will be a huge plus but we really need Trippier fit as well.

Ngl, just watched it and the only extra thing he did was let it roll across him a couple of yards. It was decent but I don't think it was anything special. The last time I saw him do something really good creatively was against Man Utd (1-1) where he carried the ball deep into the Man Utd half before playing a through ball to Fraser. I like Joelinton and hope he continues to improve, I feel a goal would do his confidence wonders.

Fraser goal vs Everton? Didn't he just carry the ball 5 yards and pass it 5 yards to his left? Generally, Joelinton doesn't do enough with the ball when he wins it. He doesn't carry it far enough, his passing range is limited and he's having trouble shooting. Maybe he'll come good but he has an awful lot to work on. GK: Henderson - £40m CB: Diego Carlos - £30m CB: Botman - £40m LB: Bakker - £20m CM: Bissouma - £50m RW: Lingard - FREE ST: Zapata - £30m That's £210m for those players for a team which although I think is much better than us right now, would struggle to break into the top 6 but finish comfortably in the top 10. However, I think we could get a top 10 finish for a fraction of the cost: GK: Navas - Loan CB: Dan Axel-Zagadou- FREE CB: Kamara - FREE LB: Kostic - £8.5m CM: Grillitsch - FREE RW: Lingard - FREE ST: These are always expensive but Gouiri/ Schlick/ Andre Silva - all 15+ goal strikers for around £50m. Alternatively, Broja for around £40m or on loan There are out of the box options too like Charles De Ketelaere (£30m) as a Striker from Bruges or Kamaldeen Suleman as a winger from Rennes - Raphinha's replacement, quicker than ASM, good dribbler and two footed, a little raw but only 19. I'll reserve judgement until the summer (pending we stay up) but apparently January was the B-List so would love if the A-List had names like Nkunku and Schick on it

Even if he pushed he wouldn't be allowed to leave, he still had 3.5 years left on his contract. Diego Carlos tried to push and he couldn't do anything. I'm pretty sure Botman and Lille's director of football came to an agreement - you can leave in the summer for x which he was fine with. He's said nice things about us and Milan and probably hasn't made his mind up yet. I know Milan have the Maldini factor but he probably wait til the summer before making his choice. With Diego Carlos I think we told his team that we'll revisit things in the summer depending on what happens in the league - that's probably why he didn't want to sign an extension for now (his deal expires in 2023) and Mochi (Seville director) hinted he'd be willing to sell in the summer.

When teams in the bottom 7 play each other, best result is a draw for us usually - exception is final day(s) of the season when we might need a specific result. Each team gets 1 point = net 2 points gained. If one team wins = net 3 points gained. So a draw means 1 net point is 'lost' - not sure if that makes sense but an example would be if team A and B play, if they beat each at home they would both be on 3 points, if they drew both games, they would both be on 2 points. For teams which want to finish above A and B, having them draw is more beneficial. Draws will keep more teams in the relegation fight as they won't pull away. It's very possible within a few weeks that Leeds and Brentford are sucked in. Drawing so many games is what got us into the mess we are in right now.

We offered €50m which is around £42m on deadline day apparently. Unlike Diego Carlos who will be 29 and will have 1 year left on his contract, Botman has just turned 22 and still has three years left on his contract (2025). I can't see Lille taking any less than €50m and if we were willing to offer that in January, Lille won't take lower as they are in a much stronger position compared to Seville. I wouldn't pay our Jan valuation of Diego Carlos. Koulibaly will be 31 in the summer and apparently will sign a new contract extension with Napoli. When we were linked with him back in November his agents said they weren't too keen. 31 is also on the older side for a defender who relies heavily on his physical attributes. He's not wily like Thiago Silva (Chelsea). I'd avoid anyone over 30 (unless they're cheap) as we'll be paying a premium already and there will be no resale value if they flop. Also the best players around this age want trophies/ European football.

Oblak's contract expires in 2023 and he has a €120m release clause. He's had an ok season but far from his best and Atletico have been rumoured to sell for around €80m+ in the summer. It seems a fair price for a 28yo with 1 year left but I think that might be a bit too much for us. I recon we'll have £200m (€240m)+ transfer budget. To blow a third of it on the goalkeeper when the defence and attack need major upgrades might not be worth it. And even if we could agree a price, there's a big possibility Oblak won't want to come. Liverpool upgraded their defence from Sakho + Lovrens => Van Dijk + Matip before they bought in Allison and I think we need to upgrade the CB before the keeper. Remember the keeper needs to pass out from the back for EH's style and Lascelles + Schar are not the CB you want to be passing the ball out to. He's not a Sweeper Keeper afaik. His distribution isn't that great either. I think he is a great shot stopper and an upgrade on Dubravka, he is Croatia number 1 after all. However, he's fixed to his 6 yard box a lot and I don't think he's the kind of keeper EH wants. He'd be great value for money though, around €12m has been quoted. My thoughts on positions to upgrade in terms of priority: I put them into three groups. Group 1 - Must upgrade 1 x CB - A world class/ potential to be world class CB who is comfortable with ball at feet and can resist the press - the last is important. Schar is actually decent with ball at feet but when pressed panics. 1 x CF - A world class goal scorer, must be capable of 15+ goals a season. Ideally good in air and can lead the line in a 3 man attack. 1 x RW - A world class creator/ scorer to play opposite flank to ASM. Goals win matches and the CF and RW will make the biggest difference to a mid table team and European team. Group 2 - Needs upgrading (ideally this summer too but will make less impact than group 1) 1 x LM/LB - depending on the formation, need a replacement for Ritchie/Lewis who can create from the left flank and protect ASM. 1 x CB - the second CB to pair with the first. Needs to be comfortable with ball but ideally has a bit of pace so we can play a higher line to try and press the opposition 1 x GK - With 2 CB and a LB/LM and Trippier, we should have a pretty good defence so can now get the best keeper we have with the money Group 3 - Final upgrades, budget depending 1 x CM - Partner in midfield, this could be a DM in a 3 man midfield. 1 x CM/CB - extra midfielder if 3 man midfield or extra defender if 3 man defence In total, if we say ASM, Trippier and Guimaraes are good enough for a top 7 team, replacing the above 8 would mean we should be aiming top 7 and higher.

TRon and Kaka both have valid points but the reason for their difference is they're missing the elephant in the room: Lyon play 3-4-3 with a high pressing game. The two midfielders (Caqueret + Guimaraes) were tenacious and won the ball high up before starting attacks. There was no pure DM e.g. Ndidi, Bissouma etc because they had 3 CB and one would push up into the midfield to block the space if they lost the ball. Howe is currently playing a 4-3-3 with a single pivot who is a deep lying playmaker (DLP) - their job is to shield the back 4 and distribute the ball i.e. link up defence and midfield/ attack (Wood is there for the long ball). The original role Guimaraes had does not exist in the current Newcastle formation so the question is, do you make him into a DLP or play him in CM as a Regista (High pressing midfielder like he was at Lyon)? Honestly, I'm not sure and that's why Howe is the manager. And before anyone asks why buy someone who does not fit into the system? It's because I'm pretty sure we'll evolve into a 3-4-3 when we get the personnel - we've been linked to a LM like Gosen's as well as it being reported us wanting TWO CB in the window, one who is left footed - this all hints to 3 at the back i.e. 3-4-3. He didn't get who he wanted (no Carlos and Botman) so I think he's making the best of what he has. Guimaraes, Trippier and ASM (the three best players) will all fit perfectly into the 3-4-3 system. On Sunday I expect Burn to come in for Targett and if Trippier is injured, Manquilo in for him. The rest of the starting XI will remain unchanged despite how much some of want Bruno - that's at least what I think EH will do.

It's the EPL rules, not sure when it was introduced - I know previously it used to be a contract thing but guess that's changed now. https://footballhandbook.com/can-loan-players-play-against-their-parent-club/ So even if the parent club permitted it, in the EPL, the loan players couldn't play against their parent club.

Realised I didn't answer this. My suggestion would be a 3-4-3 (solely based on what I think Howe wanted) and so we would keep ASM, Trippier and Guimaraes which would mean we need: GK - sweeper keeper who can distribute LCB - left sided center back who can carry the ball from defence CB - Faster Center back who can act as cover and martial the defence RCB - same as LCB but ideally right footed LM - Wingback like role who crosses from wide and runs up and down the channel LCM - Partner Guimaraes in midfield, needs to be a good tackler/ presser and distributer RW - More likely to be an inside forward, drifts in and scores/ creates goals CF - must be good aerially (because we have 2 crossers), good at linking up with the two wingers and be a fox in the box. Ideally can lead the line and hold up the ball. I'll ignore subs, but we could get around with some of the current squad for these roles. But IMO, only if we have a CL quality player in these roles could we challenge for something beyond 7. My suggestions, some are a bit unrealistic albeit on Guimaraes level and not Mbappe level i.e. unlikely but not impossible GK - Nubel (Neur 2.0, back up to Neur, doing well at loan on Monaco) LCB - Botman/ Schlotterbeck CB - Tapsoba (might be expensive), cheaper option is Diego Carlos RCB - Dan Axel-Zagadou (Free) or Tarkowski (Free) LM - Kostic alt: Sosa LCM: Tchouameni (probably unrealistic) so Kamara (Free) - might be hard if Man Utd get CL or Florian Grillitch (Free). Could even try and re-mold Joelinton. We have also been linked with Fabian Ruiz from Napoli who could play here but again would be costly. RW: Nkunku is my number 1 choice because he will score goals and assists but could cost £60m. Alt: Paqueta, this is where he plays for Lyon but PSG might buy him in the summer. Others include Raphinha, Antony, Darwin Nunez. CF: Schick - good with right, left foot and head. At 6ft 3 good height and has been prolific. I like Gouiri and Jonathan David but both don't excel in heading. Some of the above might be too expensive, but we'll see. I was in a similar situation. Probably watch more games in the Championship than the EPL, just came a bit disillusioned but Newcastle is the only team I'd follow. When the transfer window opened I got a bit excited for once and started looking at signings. Then started to feel many of these might be out of reach (Guimaraes was on my list) but then we signed Guimaraes and the names we've been linked with are the ones you'd expect top 4 clubs to go for - I was genuinely worried we'd end up with Bale and co. So now I'm being a bit more optimistic for the future - there was a quote apparently that Howe is aiming for "world class" players but found it difficult in January so I'm really hoping we continue to try for Guimaraes's. Yh, I saw you liked Nkunku too. I don't think we'll play 4-2-3-1, Howe has never played that before and it's not the most defensively robust. If he only goes with 3 forwards and ASM takes one, I think we can only have one from Nkunku or Paqueta. We could play Pacqueta in midfield but then I think there are better options if we were going to do that.