Checko

Imagine our team tonight but with, say, Salah on the right wing...

Yeah Nick Pope is a brilliant goalkeeper and hard to be compared to his standard. People like to focus on Pope's obvious weakness, which is that it's mildly terrifying whenever he's passed to and there's an opponent in our half of the pitch, but apart from that he's so good at everything else. Looking at the Pope thread, when he signed there were some saying he's good, and lots of 'is he that much of an upgrade on Dubs?' 'Is it really a priority position to upgrade?'. Then a month or two later it's all 'holy crap he's a massive upgrade.' That difference has only increased with a year and half of Dubs' inactivity. Still, perhaps he'll end up scoring the winning dunk.

Yeah I've seen it, Woody Harrelson gets the key dunk at the end of that film IIRC. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Dubs is amazing, by any means. I just don't remember him being really at fault for the goals today, but I'd need to see them again to be fair.

Talking about the second goal? I'd have to watch it again but from what I remember it looked a quality finish and I don't think any of them get near it.

Tbf I think he's generally quite rubbish on the left... he stays very wide and hugs the touchline but doesn't look to get to the byline and get a cross in and doesn't look to cut in and shoot. He likes to drop deep to get the ball rather than run in behind and so doesn't cause much of a threat at all. Basically it's not really his position and I'm never sure what he's expected to do out there. He got an assist vs Southampton and there was his crazy run vs Everton last year, apart from that I don't remember being particularly impressed with him there. Think we'd get the best out of him with a proper no. 10 playing behind him who he can link with. He's not a big strong Drogba type, I think he needs the Bergkamp to his Henry. The Del Piero to his Inzaghi. The Jeff Hendrick to his Chris Wood.

If we'd had almost any other manager we'd not have been knocked out tonight against that Milan team... because we'd never have been in the competition in the first place.

We definitely didn't bottle it. We came out, were assertive, on the front foot, played well, got the lead. 2nd half we were ok, then they got a chance after a set piece and took it. That can happen. In football one chance is all you need sometimes. Things then got a bit open, but we could have sat back, defended the draw and tried to just stay in Europa League places but we went for broke. That's not bottling, perhaps a bit naive more than anything. But if we're going to go down, at least we went down swinging. When the game got open that's where we really missed Willock and Barnes, would have really suited them then. Ultimately just lacking some really top quality in attack. A maddison or Chiesa type playing and we probably make an extra chance or two when we were on top. A proper DM to allow Bruno to focus on playmaking at times as well would be a good addition to the squad I think. Also, Tomori's a good player. He was great in the first match too.

Angry Joelinton is best Joelinton.

Thought he was quality today again. He's got -9 potential. Possibly even -10. Whether he gets there is another matter, but I think he's got the technique, composure and decision making at such a young age to become a top player.

Shame, we played well for quite a lot of the match, their goal came a bit out out of nothing. Game got a bit open and out of hand later. Overall I didn't really think we deserved to qualify from the group though tbh. Feel we really need at least one top playmaker in the squad and a proper defensive DM as well IMO, can't expect Bruno to try and be both roles. Also, is it just me, or is Isak really not very effective on the left? - he's had a couple of moments there, but most of the time I'm really not convinced he produces much. He might be better in more of a free-roaming no. 10 role if Wilson's playing up top. I presume Trippier got a bit of a knock. Anyway, pretty rubbish week but a few players coming back and we can focus on the league & domestic cups now I guess.

Shearer should probably bear in mind that most players don't have their own private Bellamy to do their running for them. That said I think sometimes too much excuse is attributed to tiredness. 'Oh Isak couldn't possibly be expected to control & hold on to the ball, he's a bit tired' that sort of stuff. It's probably the last 15 mins or so of a game where I'd expect fatigue to really start having an effect. Worth mentioning that with 5 subs allowed now, more players can empty the tanks earlier in a game, increasing the intensity of the match & it's the high intensity stuff that takes it out of you more as well - it's not the distance covered that's the key thing, it's really how many sprints and hard efforts you do. That's what's really knackering.

He certainly looked a bit sus under the high ball vs Everton. Tough to come back when you've barely played in a year and a half & I bet every goalkeeper who's played enough games has conceded 7 in a couple. De Gea conceded 7 in one game last March! Still, seems like we're getting a visit from the ghost of keepers past to remind us of just how good Nick Pope is.

I couldn't watch the Tottenham match, was he a bit dodgy?

Also I agree that Klopp's a top manager and I used to like him a lot, but he's just such a whiny bitch now he's quite annoying.

God I miss the good old days when Eddie was untouchable and guided us to 2 wins and a draw over Chelsea, PSG and Man U in a week with effectively 11 senior players fit and we had the most points in the premier league over a 10 game period despite competing in the toughest champions league group and getting through ridiculous cup draws, all while dealing with the worst injury crisis I can remember. The first week of December was so long ago now. Seriously though, this year is a big learning experience for Eddie as well as the players. It's the first time he's dealt with Europe and realistically the squad isn't really a champions league level squad yet. Plus the general toughness of fixtures and injury situations... I can't imagine he'll get a harder season. But tough lessons make great experience & he'll be looking to adjust and improve. Let's face it, 3 good results in a row or 3 bad results in a row and the mood around a football club completely changes. Just need to hang on and the good ones will start coming back.

Pretty poor 1st half. Lacking tempo and purpose. Feel most of their chances came from our errors or direct balls forward but DCL is a very effective target man (though not the best at left foot volleys apparently!). Ref also allows anyone to fall over & get a free kick which doesn't help. Hopefully pacing ourselves and will take it up a level next half, but it's one of those games that could go any way. We need to step it up to win though as we've been below par.

Haven't seen Manquillo in a while - perhaps we've stripped him for parts to keep our current guys going.

Think we're favourites here but could still be a tough game. They gave it a good go for a bit last time till we nicked one on the counter. Wonder if the points deductions has allowed them to take some of their anger and direct it outwards, rather than inwards, which could help them a bit.

If only male ex-professional fotballers can have any legitimate insights on the male game, it does kind of make most this forum a bit obsolete.

I bet you have an absolutely cracking wistful stare.

What? And poison all the sea-horses? Unacceptable.

Should just go 'Full allocation or we riot!'. What will the police think then?

Leazes Park Lake looks like it would make a pretty epic jacuzzi as well.

If we beat Chelsea in a couple of weeks we'll have a league cup semi final a few days after as well.