Matt1892

I think we play better as a team with Joelinton on the left than ASM, it is the interchange with Willock that buys us lots of space to exploit, they have the footballing intelligence to do that and team struggle with it. That and we are more defensively sound.

After the season we have had there will be quite a few in the squad whose values have increased. I don’t think the club will actively look to move people on but if decent offers came in for ASM, Almiron or Wilson I think the club would be open to the deal.

Surely one of the benefits of selling ASM is that it would offer us some relief in regards to financial fair play, as we could book down the majority of the fee we got for him next season while incoming transfers would be spread over their contract. I’m presuming a straight swap would negate that benefit. Taking on board TCD made about appearances it would be better to try and get Tierney on loan with an obligation to buy if he plays a certain amount of games, at least that way it will give us some confidence in his fitness.

That was a terrible penalty.

https://twitter.com/toonmouthtyne/status/1653045916205547520?s=46

What I like about Lavia is that not only is he an excellent ball winner in midfield but when he does win it he turns over play really quickly which is an asset for any team wanting to break quickly. I would put him in our starting 11 and could see him being a transformative signing for Liverpool. He played well the first half yesterday and disrupted our midfield play but in the second half we didn’t try to play though the middle, instead only turning it over from side to side so he couldn’t have an impact on the game.

While not being outstanding I thought he was our only real attacking threat in the first half, it looked like the issue in the first half was that Southampton played with a high line so we were relying on getting in behind but because the midfield were not offering anything Isak was dropping deep to pick the ball up, so when it did go to Gordon there wasn’t much support for him. That changed in the second half with Wilson coming on and they were pushed back as we increased the intensity, it also helped Joelinton who was the right side of midfield in the first half and not even in the game. Overall I see Gordon as being in a similar position to where Willock was at the end of last season and the early months of this one, he has something about it but it hasn’t clicked for him yet and he needs some coaching on his positioning on and off the ball. Howe sees something there that he believes he can develop and I’m interested in seeing what the end product will look like.

We have pulled away from Liverpool in the last month, picking up 4 points more presuming they win today.

8 goals in April.

The BBC put us set up as Gordon being in Longstaff’s position and while that is unlikely to be the case and he will go out on the left, it did get me thinking as to if Gordon could potentially fill the midfield spot and what attributes we would miss out on by him being there compared to Longstaff. I think the game is too important to try it but I know he has played attacking midfield before.

Tottenham target Newcastle livewire Saint-Maximin Tottenham are leading the chase for Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin. AC Milan have emerged as rivals for the French maverick, but Toon’s asking price – which could rise to £50million – is a potential stumbling block for the Serie A giants. Spurs have long been keen on Saint-Maximin, 26, and made discreet enquiries about his availability during the January transfer window. Newcastle’s £45m capture at the start of the year of wideman Anthony Gordon, 22, from Everton has cast doubt on Saint-Maximin’s future. A £16.5m signing from Nice in the summer of 2019 and the early days of Steve Bruce’s reign as Magpies boss, Saint-Maximin still has three years left on his contract. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/transfer-news-mane-chelsea-manutd-29735125

Newcastle Premier League games this season: ✅ Won 2-0 ? Drew 0-0 ? Drew 3-3 ? Drew 1-1 ❌ Lost 2-1 ? Drew 0-0 ? Drew 1-1 ✅ Won 1-4 ✅ Won 5-1 ? Drew 0-0 ✅ Won 1-0 ✅ Won 1-2 ✅ Won 4-0 ✅Won 1-4 ✅ Won 1-0 ✅ Won 0-3 ? Drew 0-0 ? Drew 0-0 ✅ Won 1-0 ? Drew 0-0 ? Drew 1-1 ? Drew 1-1 ❌ Lost 0-2 ❌ Lost 2-0 ✅ Won 2-1 ✅ Won 1-2 ✅ Won 2-0 ✅ Won 1-5 ✅ Won 1-2 ❌ Lost 3-0 ✅ Won 6-1 ✅ Won 1-4 I put the above together quickly so apologies if I have made an error with anything but the stand out points that commentators or opposition fans don’t seem to talk about is that we have had our own difficult periods throughout the season, with only one win in the first seven games at the beginning of the season and another period with only one win in eight between the end of December and early March, scoring three goals in the process.

Worth remembering that Spurs signed their shirt sponsorship deal in the summer of 2019, shortly after finishing 4th and reaching the final of the Champions League. They were also an established ‘top 6’ side and hadn’t finished outside of that in the previous decade. This will be our first season finishing higher than 10th in the league since 2011/12 season. There is still work to do to show potential signings and sponsors that we are here to stay and that this season wasn’t a one off, even if we all believe we are.