Sempiternal

Did we change formation last season, like towards the end? I don’t know if I have imagined it but I thought we did maybe around this time actually not the end of the season. Wonder if Howe will consider it again

Big fan of Miley but for sure the weakest part of his game is defensively. He’s young so he will learn, but it compounds problems at the minute. Not his fault, just not his natural game. If we had the players wouldn’t mind seeing him as a 10. Has great vision .

He’s not ASM for sure but he’s a good athlete. I love Bruno but sometimes it looks like he’s running with a fridge on his back

He’s been brilliant for them, him and kudus was excellent business.

Hindsight of course but Alvarez at west ham would have been great for us. They bought really well with the Rice money

Yeah I really like him as a player, but the way we play we need someone with pace. He would definitely help with ball retention but yeah we get cut up too easily on transitions.

Need pace, and he doesn’t have any. Lovely player though

Yeah he’s built like a marathon runner never gets bullied though.

Aye at full speed, that’s fair. I think when he’s 1v1 that leggy sort of slow down run reminds me of him a lot.

It’s scary how much he reminds me of him. His running gait, even the way he shapes his body when shooting. He’s an absolute killer

Isak genuinely the best striker in the world tbf

Yes I think villa likely getting CL compounds stuff. They will be on a big positive wave, especially if they win the EConference. Maybe Spurs get back in as well. There’s more factors that can go against you

Yeah I don’t think it’s really controversial to say that targets will absolutely change depending on league position. That’s true across every club. Not just us.

I know, but contextually it is different. Depends on the implication of “transformative”. That changes when you’ve been in the CL. The targets will adjust according to where you finish. Of those three only Trips was pulled from a bigger club. Botman was at Lille, Isak was at Sociedad, Bruno at Lyon. That quality of course was very transformative then, but I took it to mean they are wanting to go to the next level. Just my opinion of course.

That’s true tbf, but I do think there would have to be an adjustment of target if we are solidly mid table this season.

If we finish mid table I’m not sure transformative moves are really on the table tbf. It’s a risk for sure

He’s fine as a 9 but he needs someone to compliment his runs. Willock was good for him.

Jack Clarke worries me. I would also try to sign him. He’s carried them a lot this season

Lot of that was down to Mourinho imo. Won a lot of course but he really coached the expressiveness out of him. Similar to grealish/pep

Yeah that’s the risk. But if we can’t spend, then options are low. He can play, he’s shown that plenty.

One of the best one on one finishers in the league. Makes time slow down, ice cold. Love the guy

Also used to Bielsa level fitness so should be fine on that front

I’d take Phillips even with that loan fee.

It was painful watching him and burn try to run back. We lack a lot of athleticism defensively. Burn/Botman/Schar is a very one paced defence. He could try him in a two like Brazil do presumably to compensate for his speed. I don’t know. The midfield is a total mess to me. We had a corner and within like 3 passes they were in our box. We leave way too much space in the midfield.

There’s this weird disconnect where we have pace up front, and then right through the middle, Bruno,Longstaff, Botman,Schar have no real acceleration, so we get absolutely pounded on counters. The midfield to me is horrible. We’ve lost any semblance of control in there, gaps everywhere and when we get turned no one is quick enough to get back. I’d kill for an athletic DM. Someone who can really run and dominate