Sufi

Id prefer if we didn’t do any business with them going forward. I love Lewis hall but let’s end it there. Tons of value elsewhere on the continent and even in South America. 50m for Gallagher is ridiculous to me.

I like Mbuemo but I’m not sure another cut-in and shoot type of inside forward is needed. We’ve got Barnes on the left who is always doing that. It’s one of Gordon’s favourite moves as well. Would be nice to get more of a traditional right footed RW who can supply isak. Part of the reason I like Gordon on the right is that ability to take someone down the line and cross it on his strong foot. A lot of times the opportunity for a cross is lost when a player has to check back on their other foot. Would be a bit annoying for me if I were Isak flanked by two wingers who are always looking to cut in and get a shot off. Idk maybe they can cut in earlier and give him a through ball to run onto just behind the CB. We must be one of the least crossing teams. Can’t even think of a header scored by Isak which is a shame because he’s tall, good positioning and good in the air.

I love Minteh. Had no clue he could be played at striker though. Would be interested to see what we do with him this summer

Also loved his ball to Gordon that led to the pen. Put it into space and let him run onto it. It’s very early but I could see a bit of chemistry developing between those two in the near future. Especially since hall loves to get forward and Gordon can definitely be trusted to come back and cover for him. Can have some very fluid and instinctive attacking/defending down the left once they are on the same page.

Love how he does like 6 different celebrations everytime he scores. It’s almost like fifa or he’s doing some celebration multiplier haha. This one with the flag was my favourite tho

Wish we would just get some info on wether or not he will face a further ban. It’s making me a bit nervous because I could see the fa pulling some bs like that.

I’d like a developmental striker. Younger player who can maybe play on the right as well. Come on for a cameo in games where we are up or play in cup matches. We also have both Gordon and Barnes who can play striker if needed. I’d be fine selling Wilson. His transfer value will probably be over 20m and that’s worth more to us at the moment than an aging and often injured player. That being said he’s probably the best backup striker in the whole PL asides from Alvarez who isn’t really a backup these days.

I want a ben arfa regen. Few years there where he was pretty much the only reason I’d wake up early to watch the matches. But maybe a regen of him that cares more about football or is more professional. Once in a while I go back and watch his highlights for us. Magical talent. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a better dribbler.

Thought he played very well today. Seems to have improved in terms of defensive positioning and timing of forward runs. Exciting young player

On a positive note I’ve loved what I’ve seen from Lewis hall and Tino

Definitely. Kudos to Anderson and Murphy filling in where needed but as soon as hall came on you could tell there was a massive difference with a player who knows how to play that position. Good to see we have Wilson and Barnes. Amazing that we are celebrating having two fit first team quality subs haha. What a season

We weren’t good today but I think palace just simply wanted it more, very impressive display from them mostly just in their work rate. The tactical matchup didn’t help. Thought we held out pretty well considering the possession numbers up until the goal. Schar and Burn both stepped up at the same time there one of them needs to play sweeper in that situation. No clue how that wasn’t a penalty. Thought Howe should have made changes earlier in the match when the writing was on the wall that our shape was a mismatch for the opposition…instead of gambling on us to catch them on the break. Played a bit too route one for my liking, I get it though since Palace basically dared us to by leaving only 3 men back. Brave of them. That’s football. Not the end of the world or even the end of our hopes at a European place. We still play Man U in a while so no need to go all doom and gloom. Wouldn’t be too mad about conference league to develop youngsters and have less of a toll on us in the PL.

Think it was obvious within 30 mins the tactics were a bad matchup for palace today. Waited until 60th to make a change. Kudos to palace, they played with a ton of energy. Brave as well leaving only 3 men back most of the match. I think we tried too hard to go route one and there was no outlet ball when we won possession back so it was easy for palace to win it off us. Few of our players didn’t look up for it as much as they usually are. Only knock on Eddie today is seeing how overrun we were for 60 mins and only reacting to it when we were 1-0 down. I’m not a fan of first half tactical changes but if it’s that clear you have to change something.

I agree. To play devils advocate this same side just turned spurs over. I think tactically our back 5 and quick counter isn’t matching up well with palace and their counter pressing

I’ve noticed this as well. He has zero confidence to play any progressive passes. Sideways or backwards only. Even if there are clear options ahead of him

With as much possession as they have had I actually think we had two of the better chances of the half. That failed backheel from Barnes to Gordon on the overlap looked like a sure goal. The Isak chance just went a few inches too far for him to get a toe to. We are getting pressed and our wingers need to come short when we win the ball. They are immediately going for the through hall and it’s leaving us with no options as an outlet when we do get the ball back. Having just Bruno and Sean in CM means we need LWB and RWB to help in that regard as well but it’s hard for moments where we have just won posession and they are behind the ball. Simple adjustment. Gordon and Barnes come short and show for a pass to feet in those situations. Isak as well drop in to retain possession. We are in full counter mode and we don’t need to be.

I see a 3-1 victory. Barnes. Isak penalty. Anderson.

Well. We have Livramento Wilson and Hall on the bench. That’s better than our options a few weeks ago. With how our season has gone I hope it doesn’t result in an injury (knock on wood). Every time we get a player back we seem to have one go down. Every single time 😆

I like this. Back 5 again? Not sure how to read it. Could Anderson be playing the Jow/Willock position? Or LWB like last game.

Only 10 mins till the lineup is out. Curious to see if we go with 5 at the back again. Also Tino and Joe could feature. Will be interesting

15-20m maximum for Miggy Wilson and Targett combined? Hahaha come on man. Miggy himself is worth over 15m. Same with Wilson. I understand being a realist but that seems pessimistic to me. Maybe we undervalue our own players? Wilson can bag 15 goals easy for a newly promoted team. Miggy is a hard working pacey player with skill who would fit in perfectly at a counter attacking side in the bottom half of the table. Probably half of the managers in the PL would like to have players like that. We sold Chris Wood for 15m. Wilson is a capped England international who scores goals for fun (when healthy). 18 premier league goals last season. 5th in the prem right up there with Salah and co and he was sharing the job with Isak.

Completely agree with STM. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if we spend 100m. Obviously not net spend. Maybe like 55-65m net spend. I think there likely is a minimum 40m of deadwood in this squad to get rid of. Add the ashworth money to that and why not. 2-3 players for a total of around 100m seems reasonable.

Hang on I’ve just had a look at their schedule. Winning all 6? That would be extremely unlikely haha. Villa, Spurs, West Ham(who have been dipping lately, but still a good squad). I don’t think you can consider Brighton an easy match. They always seem to show up against Chelsea. Bournemouth with the form Solanke is in. Even Forest aren’t an easy side and especially now since they are one point out of the relegation zone. We also have like 15 better goal difference. I’ve gone from not really worried about Chelsea to not at all worried. We just need to focus on beating all the bottom tier sides we have coming up.

I’m more focused on Man U than Chelsea. Even with Palmer back I don’t see them going on a run. They seem to be more motivated against top teams and never show up consistently against anyone else. They have also had an amazing bit of luck with penalties. I love Palmer don’t get me wrong but 9 goals from penalties is something. Every game they seem to get an interesting call go their way. I think we can all rely on our boy Nicolas Jackson. Also Mudryk and Sterling. All 3 have been abysmal most of the season.

re: someone to link up Bruno and Isak. I have been thinking about this all season and I think our approach may be to make Bruno that player and find someone to sit deeper. With Joe/Bruno(Tonali) it seems like we are lacking a proper defensive midfielder. I also think Bruno would be absolutely terrifying to opponents if the average position he received the ball in was 10-20 yards further forward. he usually retrieves it just outside our box and is facing our goal, then he finds a way to pull a feint or trick the player pressing him, turns and picks out a ball usually to the wing. IF he’s further forward and he does the same thing, turning his man but in a dangerous part of the pitch with 3 options ahead of him I think he would be near impossible to stop. Considering the pace of our front 3 and his dribbling/passing ability it would be a case of pick your poison for the opponents. Another thing I’ve noticed is since he’s been playing deeper he seems absolutely gassed when he does make it into the final third. He will have a spell where he is absolutely everywhere for 10 minutes and then when the ball finally finds him in the final third to pick out a killer ball or go for goal his legs are completely dead and he is out of breath. Would be nice to find a player who can do the heavy lifting in terms of breaking up play and pushing the ball forward. Not necessarily an anchor of a CDM but someone with a high work rate, good physical traits and is half decent at passing.