janpawel

Trippier out the team.... To fit Burn at LB over Tino? ?

Willock, Bruno and Joelinton played last season I think after many (including me) were clamouring for it. But it felt unbalanced and not as effective / defensively secure as when Longstaff is in I completely agree it is our most talented midfield 3, which is why as I mentioned I'm keen to know how Howe will use the 4 of Joelinton/Willock/Barnes/Gordon Agree on your last point. We have 3 pretty good 11s which would have been perfect for rotating over these 4 competitions, such a shame

Presuming Bruno and Longstaff are 2 of the midfield 3, I have no idea who Howe would pick out of Joelinton/Willock and Barnes/Gordon to fill the left hand side

Leny Yoro looks an amazing talent at 18 as a CB, think he plays on the right side too

City have been dreadful recently Like someone previously said, would rather they win the league over Arsenal or Liverpool

He'd improve them, their midfield quality isn't what it was and they are too reliant on Rodri

Anyone know roughly how much extra cash towards FFP the 6 results will have got us? I know we've missed out on the 10m (I think) for progressing which is a shame

Absolutely, he has so much credit in the bank and for me the CL exit, poor away performances etc are primarily down to injuries impacting the squad and the knock on effect Can only think of Howe and Emery as managers who squeeze the absolute most out of the players and team

Seriously can't wait to see him play for us, especially after 10 months where he hopefully learns English and has time to bed in like Gordon did between Jan and Aug Some of his 1 touch play was great in the games he played, sure he will be something unique to add to our midfield

Absolutely quality, in what is a very hard and disciplined role in being a no 8 for us. Crazy to think how could he could possibly be if this is the start of his trajectory, I hope!

Aye, I'm sure he was advised on what to say for his best interests

Fair. But would you not consider such thing if you were in his shoes, knowing the punishment could have been at worst 3 years banned (I think that's what I read)?

Personally think the 'addiction' part is fabrication to try and reduce the punishment by playing against mental health and sympathy I have no evidence of this, but it's what I'd do if I genuinely fucked up something in my recent past that affects my livelihood

Hahaha true. I mean knowing there was an investigation coming which would likely lead to a long term ban I like to think he that he thought it was behind him and something that no one would find out

If Milan knew, then surely Tonali knew, hate the thought that he may have known he was sabotaging us

James is so talented, really think he could have been the best right back in the world, shame about the injuries If I was Chelsea, I'd consider selling him while he still has a high profile

Also Bruno for me as potential to be world class, maybe already is in that I think he could fit in several top teams Whilst he isn't the most athletic, his ability to receive the ball under pressure and either play a pass to start a phase of play, or draw a foul to allow us to reset / move up the pitch is as good as it gets imo

Isak is more talented and more importantly, significantly younger so yes overall, Isak is more important to us But Trippier has more often than not been our best player this season, and our style of play revolves around him a lot in possession. I'm sure as well he was statistically the best RB in the prem last season, as well as in the European team of the season?

Must be a nice life getting clean sheets against City and Man U but being immune to the stress and pressure of these league/CL games ?

I remember him seeing him smile/laughing a lot, and looking quite 'relaxed', whereas I feel he is normally super focussed Kind of think he was focussed on not looking stressed and trying to appear like he doesn't care /look cool but this resulted in quite a meh performance

You're right, unfortunately for me I get my hopes up after amazing performances like against Man U, despite what you just mention. It's probably more down to a spirited performance, rather than a sign that we are able to play that well with all the injuries on a consistent basis Playing away also seems to affect us a lot too

Villa also don't play every game 100mph like we do, surely that helps with fitness / injuries I'm hoping it's the next thing Howe implements as we continue to make progress and improve as a team

Really hoping for a turn in our way form, though hard to expect with our limited squad due to injuries

Thankfully Villa are no where near as good away from home as they are last night, they're only slightly better than us away from home roughly looking at results so far. Both of us should look to improve away results to try and consolidate top 4 in the table

Villa look like a super well drilled team who are better than the sum of their parts, just like we are. They're playing great Quite enjoy watching them as they play a totally different style to us, more technical ability but less athleticism than us