Viana

Well… Sorry mate

I’m really happy with this. We’ve grabbed two promising young defenders that are versatile and have their 20s ahead of them. I imagine Eddie will be slow integrating him, but I’m excited to see what he can bring and how he makes us different.

Just let the season play out a bit. This idea his system is good - and Sir Alex saw something in the tea leaves - is a bold conclusion to draw from one win. We don’t know how good his system is or isn’t. I was saying against us, I saw ways his decisions made it harder. Maybe that changes once the season settles. it feeds into a wider point that I feel most fans are just waiting for full time so they can either commend the winner or berate the loser. There’s no patience in any of it.

Stuff like this. The fact Villa put four past a turgid Everton doesn't suddenly mean Sir Alex was right. That's reactionary analysis. Emery's system against us was one of the major issues because he asked a slow back line to play a suicidally high line against a lightning quick set of attackers.

I get that, but having watched 75% of the interview I think he comes across as a bit of an idiot. There's an irony in him laundering his reputation with that absolute charlatan Bartlett, but yeah, even then he plays fast and loose with 'I did not do' and 'I don't recall' then gives himself a pat on the back for taking responsibility. EDIT: Having now watched it all, I had a few other thoughts. Firstly, I believe a genuine recovering addict wouldn't seek pity for their punishment. Accepting the consequences of your actions is typically one of the first steps. He cites missing out on the World Cup as the real punishment, but that's not how it works. The same is true with his claims of 'well I bet on myself to score'. He ignores that by placing a bet that stands to benefit himself (and potentially others) he has impacted the integrity of the contest. His decisions will likely be influenced. It's not like a goal bonus because that's an additional sum he gains when he scores on top of his salary. He doesn't actively lose money if he fails to score. He doe if he bets on himself to score. I think we have significant work to do on the link between gambling and football, but there's a moment in this interview where Bartlett cites a tweet in which Toney said he'd 'tell it unfiltered' or words to that effect. You see Toney hesitate, pause, and then deliver a word salad with no great direction. I could go on, but Toney knew speaking to a non-journalist would afford him a platform and a string of soft ball questions.

I can't see Arsenal winning the league by the same token. They arguably got away with Partey doing the pick and roll for the penalty then same with him not conceding one. I think they lack a proper pure number nine and that's what causes them to shuffle the ball side to side.

The commentator on NBC made note of Mark Bright, Southgate, then Pardew and said, 'It's a right old Palace reunion tonight.' Townsend; "You can't put Alan Pardew in the same bracket as those two."

Tbf, those interview questions are a tougher gig than it seems.

I'm still surprised Guardiola doesn't want to trust the academy players more. They've got four or five that should be involved, and this just feels like another obstacle for them to overcome.

Big fan of Toney saying he thinks something deeper was at play with his ban, then saying he's not too clued up on the ins and outs of the situation

I kind of admire him fronting up and saying he did it the wrong way. He was a solid prospect, but one that the club did well to get £8m for. Maybe if he'd stayed and won promotion with us he'd have made more. I think it worked out best to have Colo, Taylor and Williamson as a rotation of CBs with a few loanees to fill the space.

A truly horrific situation that has been handled incredibly poorly by Manchester United. They've failed Greenwood, they've failed his partner, and they've failed the players of Manchester United women.

I can appreciate the general sense of frustration attached to lots of strains, but his injury today looked brutal.

I'm very high on his potential. That got me too excited and I compared him to Raheem Sterling. I think he has a bright future.

The market for proper defensive midfielders this summer has been outrageous. I don't blame us for holding off until things settle down. I wouldn't have wanted 50m on Lavia or double that on Caicedo.

Scottish football is hilarious, and I won't hear an argument otherwise.

The thing with him is, he's hard to get past, and when he starts running he can build up a canny bit of speed. You fold those qualities into last night and it potentially gives Walker more problems. I don't blame Eddie because you don't want to change a winning team, and throwing Longstaff in from the start would have been suicide. If Trent plays next week it might be one for then.

Enzo misses a pen, Caicedo concedes one, Murdryk looks crap. That's what, £300m spent?

Caicedo praying on the pitch. Bit late for that.

Whether through luck or judgement Chelsea's signings should work well with Pochettino. I think his style meshes better with players that are on the come up over players that have already had success.

Jesus Christ if that goal doesn't scream relegation I don't know what does. Everton have circled the plug hole for a few years but this is probably the year they finally go. It's still early days, but their start to the season has stunk of Sunderland under Moyes. A battling British manager, no money to spend, mediocre players unable to summon anything. If it wasn't for the blue shirts you could have convinced me the loss to Fulham was at the Stadium of Light.

I think Villa's first two games are a good indication of how the season may go for them. You can get away with Diaby in a free role against Everton, but when you're playing a team also pushing for top 6 you need everyone to work off the ball. It's why he wouldn't have been much use to us last night against Man City. I think Villa will be hard to beat at home and will likely grab a good amount of points from teams in the bottom half, but they'll struggle against the top teams.

As someone that saw a lot of Ziyech, he's a very good player, but I think he's like a few of that Ajax team in the sense he was made to look great by the system. . There was a few in that group on the younger side that secured moves but didn't manage to kick on (Donny van De Beek, David Neres, Nicolas Tagliafico). Onana and Matthijs de Ligt are two that may escape that accusation, but de Ligt certainly wasn't great for Juventus. My belief is strengthened by how good Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone looked that season, and it's why I'm surprised that Erik ten Hag has Man Utd looking so average even with the ball.

If you assume Trippier ages out in 2-3 years then Ashby will likely battle Tino for that role. If that's not the case, it wouldn't surprise me if Dan Ashworth/the club saw Ashby as someone we could sign for a few hundred thousand, develop via loans, and then flog for 5-10m depending on how he gets on. The early reports indicate he's comfortable at Championship level.

Recorded his first assist for Swansea today.