jackflap

Think Villa will be full of adrenaline early, start fast and then tire, hopefully they ride the early storm. Great to be involved in games like this late in the season.

Can picture Tonali running home after the game.

Only win the home games and Chelsea have to win all their other remaining games to finish one point above.

How does Tonali make relentless pressing look elegant

Cue Chelsea selling the club to themselves.

Could see Howe been interested in Cunha for his versatility and the tactical flexibility he'd offer. I'd love to see them signing a 10 to give the option of a Bruno/Tonali double pivot but doubt they'd invest to sign a specialist in that position unless they could also cover other positions and Cunha's probably the best example of someone who could do that. Could see them being interested if they thought they were getting value but would depend on what other clubs are in for him.

Looks like a striker that would be ideal to introduce out wide and bed him in but he doesn't look comfortable on the right and the left has too many bodies as is. Think he just needs to slow down, there is something there though. They're very unbalanced with right footed players in general though which they could do with addressing in the summer. Burns was the only lefty on the pitch Monday.

This is the 2nd season in a row without a meaningful relegation battle later in the season. Really mucks up the battles for the other spots as there's a good chunk of the league without much to play for.

Villa winning the Europa League next season feels like one of those things destined to happen.

Be shocked if TAA isn't out for a while. Physio made the call to sub very quick. Ankle ligaments be my guess. Bradley injured as well evens up that side. Diaz gave Hakimi a tough time of it so I'd be fearful of what he'd do to Trippier on the other side. Jota, Nunez are shot of confidence and Gakpo been struggling with injury of late. The performance against City really sapped my confidence for this one but there's just enough of doubt to keep me plugged in.

Would love to see them beat Real in the semis.

Seems to have more composure in front of goal than the other options despite his inexperience. More goal contributions are needed from midfield so that alone is a good argument for starting him especially in games they're expecting to be on top.

With the exception of Barnes the entire teams finishing has been rubbish this season and even Barnes has fluffed a fair few 1v1s, it's been more the instinctive finishes he's been getting. Maybe there's something more going on. Gordons work rate is off the charts though, he has at least one press every game that you'd never see another player make. You notice him adding little tricks to his game as well. He developed a stepover at some point last season to good effect and now when he receives the ball deep with his back to goal he's throwing in a little feint to help him get away from defenders. I don't think he reads the field that well though, particularly on a counter attack. Feels like he makes up his mind early and doesn't let things develop. When Bruno fired the volleyed wonder pass to him yesterday was a case in point. Think he'd Willock flying past him on the outside and it should've resulted in a tap in if he gave it but it was like he'd already decided he was going to cut in and shoot.

Feels almost surreal saying it but it's looking like time to move on, there's very little positive to say about this season so far to give you hope things will improve. No point in moving on just for the sake of it though but I'd hope the club is being proactive behind the scenes with identifying possible successors.

The reverting to the style of 2 years ago looks like being a short term panacea, doesn't feel like they've evolved from intensity is our identity mantra. Recruitment looks poor in hindsight with a lack of natural options on the right as opposed to the left, there's 2 natural deeper lying midfielders in Tonali and Bruno who could be the best tandem in the league but nobody to play in front of them. Had Madison been signed instead of Barnes it could've been transformative and that's said as a fan of Barnes. Peak Trippier is a massive miss as well, feels like things started to go south along with his form last season.

Gordon off and Barnes on, the space is constantly there need someone fit to capatilise on it

Baffling that Gordon was trusted as a penalty taker, woeful finisher

But for a gift of a penalty against a L2 side we'd be 3 games without scoring and 2 of them are home. Mentality of the side just looks weak.

It was less than ideal circumstances he was thrust into, 2 games a week, usually high stakes and generally forced to play 90 mins, he often looked near dead on his feet to me which is fair enough given his inexperience and post growth spurt looking physique but his talent shone through none the less and he never looked like he was trying to hide which is a good reflection of his mettle. Expect he'll be used sparingly for a while but hopefully he grabs whatever opportunities he's given and forces himself into Howe's thoughts.

You've 2 types of penalty takers that IMO, those that pick their spot(Harry Kane the best example) and those that wait for the keeper to move which seems to be the norm nowadays. Gordon's obviously the former but you need to be sticking the ball where the keeper can't save it regardless which way he dives. Otherwise you're reducing a penalty to more or less a 50/50 chance of conversion. Gordon's penalty against City wasn't a good one but he scored because the keeper guessed wrong, Saturday Pickford guessed correctly and he saved it. He's a confident guy and clearly wants to be the taker but given how lacklustre a finisher he generally is in open play I don't think he should be taking them. Hopefully Isak or Wilson are on the pitch for the next one so it becomes a moot point.

Don't feel like we've really moved on from intensity is our identity. It's familiar patterns working the ball across the pitch hoping you'll outrun the opposition and get players into space before the defence can cover but you have to evolve and force the opposition to second guess.

Such an intelligent footballer, if he's RCM I think he could strike a great understanding with Barnes as they're both clever, high energy technically proficient players. We should hopefully click more as the season progresses with Howe getting more time on the training pitch compared to last season and other sides around us playing midweek.

In hindsight it was a poor signing IMO, 5 decent options on the left now and 2 on the right that realistically wouldn't start for the majority of teams in the prem.

If there was a similar level of player that Gordon was when we signed him available at RW that we could plug into the side and strengthen elsewhere then I think a mammoth offer would be well worth considering. We have Barnes there and LW was one of our strongest points the season before last with just Willock/Joelinton dovetailing in the position and Burn not really contributing in attack. I'd be torn but I think our RW as it is will really hold us back.

Wouldn't surprise me if Solanke struggled with the hype and ended up tanking. A lot of money pumped into the CF position by Spurs now you feel it's a make or break type of season for them. De Ligt is a very good player just not the world beater he was touted to be. Aerially he'll be more than a match for anyone and will chip in with his fair share of goals from set pieces but the way ManU play their CB's get exposed one v one a lot and that wouldn't be his game