Checko

Fairly insipid overall, though an away win is not to be sniffed at - we basically had 3 chances and scored 3 - 2 of which came from set pieces and one came from them playing a bad ball on the edge of their box. They got through on goal a couple times. No pace in our back line or CM so to be expected I guess. M-Dubz didn't have many other saves to make to be fair. Burn got rinsed a couple of times 1st half, thought he was much better second half (perhaps because we were sitting in mainly). We did a hipster and put Tripps into a holding midfield 2 on the ball, but we lost all our patterns of play on the right wing and so Almiron did nothing. Bruno was allowed to push further forward, which I'm generally in favour of as he's our best and most creative CM. Miley and Longstaff both quite safe and passive in overall play though so never really got anything going. Overall tempo very low. We did seem to be playing a different system though so perhaps not surprising that things weren't that smooth. Thought Barnes looked bright when he came on. Gordon tried hard and was knackered by the 80th minute and probably should have come off sooner. Tino assured. Wilson lasted 90 minutes! Didn't do much but he lasted. Krafth sighting, which means I got to google how to spell his name! Anyway, points on the board, baby! We haven't had many scrappy, undeserved wins this year and we're due one. Almost forgot, Bruno is class. If he was fast I reckon he'd have a shot at making it at this level.

Ok he should have dealt with that keeper's hoof

He conceded a clean through one-on-one (and saved one earlier), and a massive deflection. I don't really see he's done much wrong today tbh (as of half time).

They're kind of letting us pass it around a bit, not trying particularly hard to get the ball off us. We don't really know how to pass through teams very well so we're not really doing anything with it, other then when Schar crossfields it to Gordon. They're basically just waiting for things to fizzle out then hit us on the counter. With no pace in our back line or central midfield that's working pretty well for them. The overall tempo on the ball is very slow. I can see why you would want to be cautious with the ball, as the counter is their gameplan. But a lot more one, two touch, rather than 3,4,5 touches would help. That basic quick pass and move is not something we're particularly competent in. Draw probably fair so far.

Thought he did well today - I've not been that impressed with some of his all-round play this year but he was up for it and held the ball well I thought.

The main question is, why aren't all of our players wearing these magic moon boots all the time?

We'll have to wait till Bruno's suspended to play him again then. Just to be on the safe side.

Think he's one of those long-legged guys who's a bit faster than he looks. Did some really nice things today. Knackered near the end of the game which is unsurprising - he's young and endurance is something that takes years to build up. If we had any other bloody CMs we could give him a bit of rest. Hope Willock's back soon.

I would say he definitely did some good things, but it's that old problem that at the key moment the odds of him: 1. making the right decision 2. then technically not messing up Are both quite small.

To be fair to Howe, you probably can't build a good team spirit by just benching players after a bad game. All players have bad games & Burn was solid for us last year and was a big part of the tightest defence in the league. He often got rinsed once in the first 10 mins and then fixed the issue. He's had bad games before and tends to come back strong from them. That said, when Tino started I thought he should be starting going forward. I still think that. He's the long-term starter here and just the one defender we have with any pace. Right now all our CMs with proper athleticism are injured/suspended. We're just so slow defensively I just feel we need some pace in the mix.

Disappointing result but certainly not boring! Very exciting game. We have no speed in our back four or central midfield right now so we're struggling to shut things down. Really feel a proper DM sitting in in games like this and allowing Bruno more freedom to be creative Bruno would be quite useful. Overall thought we were most likely to score for much of the game but a draw's probably a fair result as they went for it and had some good chances too. Thought Barkley looked tidy for them. Dan Burn is not as fast as very fast premiership wingers. That is clear to see. He is very tall though at least. Was it just me who thought their penalty was a bit soft? Didn't really look to be any force in the contact.

They're quite open at times as (to be fair to them) they're going for it. Feel a proper holding DM and allow Bruno more freedom to do his thing might work. With no Joes our CM has no recovery pace if there's no-one back there. Also why is their gameplan anything other than give it to their RW. Profit.

This would be a great game for Big Joe

Schar was absolutely dreadful for that second goal

OMFG a Barnes sighting! Would have loved it if he'd turned up in that darts video with a fucking longbow, but good to see him back.

Fuck him then. I want players that give me something to complain about.

Some sexy Boris Johnson cosplay you got going on there.

Perfect hat-trick I reckon - groin, hamstring and achilles.

Is it, brother of NUFC player Jacob Murphy, Josh Murphy?

I don't know about anyone else, but footage of JT karaokeing 'I am what I am' is the content I need right now.

I agree with Conjo, I can barely name a youngster on the fringes who Eddie has given chances to, even in the midst of a ridiculous injury crisis. He gave Miley his debut last year in a dead rubber game, though obviously he's very talented & had been training with the first team for a while. Circumstances (and Miley's own performances) have got him a run in the team this year. Anderson was 20 last year, so not super young, and basically played the fresh legs role. Lots of short sub appearances, not actually many minutes in total. Apart from that... I wouldn't say Hall's been given plenty of chances at LB, he's had like, 3. In the worst injury crisis I can remember & where the players we do have fit keep dropping from overwork Hall can't even get on the pitch for a few minutes. Tino looks quality and he can't get a start over BDB and has only really played during the main injury crisis at LB. It's hard to be a young player and have to perform at Premier League level right off the bat. It's such a tough league, so I can see why he's reluctant to play youngsters. He likes reliable players he can trust and young players tend to make a lot more mistakes. Re: your examples: Ake - Chelsea youth player, bought for £20 million at about age of 20/21 Solanke - Chelsea & Liverpool youth player bought for £19 million at about age of 22- played in over 40 league games for Eddie and scored in two of them. Developed in the championship after Eddie left Ramsdale - GK coach will have trained him Trippier - Man City youth player - played under Eddie for 1 year in the Championship at age 21 and he'd already played well for a year in the championship before. These weren't youth players he developed. Dont get me wrong, I think Eddie's a great coach and I would trust him to develop a talented young player, and I think he will develop some good players, but I just don't think it's true to say that he's particularly big on trusting youth.

Gives their forums plenty to talk about though!

If he has 6 months left can't foreign clubs sign an end of contract freeby deal now? Perhaps that's what's going on.

Well we're pretty desperate for bodies in CM & I saw something where he says his favourite player is Maradona, so just coke the lad up and set him loose I say. [For the record I have no formal coaching qualifications]

Woo, deadline day signing! In your fucking faces other clubs. Now we shall probably never hear of him again.