Checko

Definitely looks worse in slow motion, can see why it's split. Also if it had been one of our players think there would be a lot more calls for accidental.

Just got to hope with Fernandes and Ugarte out that they don't luck into a different set up that works for them.

Yeah, I meant not a stamp with the right, he does step on Schar and shouldn't.

Yeah, Eddie's evenness, at least in public, is a good feature. A lot of football is about not getting too carried away with the wins or down with the losses. Haven't seen much of Amorim, but I certainly wouldn't be writing him off yet. He plays a completely different system, which was known when they bought him so he'll need time. He's also new to the country and giving interviews in a foreign language so sometimes allowances need to be made for the exact wordage he uses.

Really wasn't sure about the red card tbh. It wasn't a stamp, it was a scrape and he does lose his footing and balance which could well be what causes his leg to instinctively come out. On the other hand he loses his balance because he treads on Schar and he's looking at him the whole time. It's all very quick in real time but he had a couple of steps first, he shouldn't be stepping on Schar in the first place there so I'm leaning to red because of that.

Worth reading comments on Eddie Howe from 15th Jan before writing off Amorim. Things can change very quickly in football when it starts to click, as we've seen over the last couple of weeks.

Love his fucking triangle pass.

No form, new system, no Fernandes, no tackly man [can't remember his name]. We are going to go there and absolutely batter them. 2-1 Man U.

Any chance you could start posting your picks so I can bet against them? I'll give you a quarter of all profits.

No. Why do you think we eat so many baked beans?

Double checked and Bruno's goal clearly comes off the defender. Looked like it was going wide, or at best on to the post without so I reckon should have been an own goal. Didn't affect anything but probably was something VAR missed. I presume they assumed it went in off Bruno and didn't check for anything else.

Thought he was excellent today, even without the goal: good defensive work, looked like he was causing a threat all game. Feel his understanding with Hall is coming along nicely as well. Man, if those two can build a really good understanding...

Yeah - regardless of it being accidental/hand position it's handball if it goes straight in off your arm, or you score after it hits your arm (eg Wilson vs Brentford away a couple of years ago). Looked from the final replay that it was going wide and went in off the Villa defender though, in which case goal should have stood as an OG I believe. Haven't seen it again though to double check.

Love seeing our best playmaker freed up to be a playmaker.

I like Targett, he's been unlucky here but always been solid. Nice to see him back.

Great start, lovely goal from Gordon, then I thought they got on top though we were dangerous when we got forward. The one issue really was our ongoing struggles passing out from the back under any kind of pressure, Eddie still hasn't solved this. Still think he should just drop Bruno back at times so he and Sandro can double pivot the fuck out of teams in those situations. We brought a lot of pressure on ourselves and that let them dominate things for a while. Still, after the red card it was one way traffic unsurprisingly. Up to 5th, feels the exact opposite of how things were a year ago. Couple of tough away games to come so fingers crossed. If we can get something from them we're in a really good spot.

Feel more tense vs 10 than vs 11. Villa are too good a side not to have 1 or two decent chances. Really want that second. & throwing a game like this would be a proper kick in the nads. Their plan will be the usual 10 men plan... try and keep it to 1 goal and hit back in the last 10 mins when everything's ours to lose and we go defensive.

Bring him home!

Chronicle says Tino has an illness, so doesn't sound serious.

He played on the left under Rafa, we had him left, Rondon up top and Perez on the right and it was an effective front three. I remember when he arrived he had about twice the energy of any of our other players and was the only player who consistently wanted to try and make runs and get behind and made something happen. From memory he was moved onto the right when ASM arrived.

Would be worth a try just to see the inevitable FTMcoin tank.

Feel Osimhen is the striker Arsenal need and they're the top prem team who really needs a top CF. Maybe Liverpool too. Man U already have a £75 million CF already, plus Zirkzee as backup. Spuds have Solanke, Man C Haaland, Chelsea have Jackson and Nkunku (though it must have been about three months since they last bought someone so they must be getting desperate). Liverpool have Nunez who I really like as a player, but he isn't clinical, though Jota's a consistent scorer.

In terms of a single moment - Barnes' winner vs West Ham felt like it turned our season around then. More recently Sandro's 1st goal against Brentford. It felt like a release for him, for the team. It just felt like the club had finally got its mojo back after a fairly, shall we say inconsistent year.

Feel like this game could be anything. They play a high line, which suits us, but they're also good at moving it forward through the middle of the pitch, which is where we can get caught out. They've just beaten Man City and we've had three good performances, so both teams will be full of confidence. Will be interesting to see how our updated set-up performs against one of the better teams.

Craig Hope was saying they're prepared to let him go this window if he wants to (and it sounds like he will) but he thinks it'll be nearer the end of Jan so Pope can come back first.