Eddie Howe

[El Prontonise]

Just now, Dr Venkman said:

I’ve seen this come up a few times re: Ramsey and I don’t get it, at all. He looks a very tidy player, much better in possession than Joelinton and has a history of being a dynamic player/scoring a few goals. He’s barely played and some people seem to writing him off.

 

Yeah I think he'll be fine.

[Dr Venkman]

10 hours ago, Lucky said:

Nobody is calling for him to be sacked. Why can’t his recent performance be criticised?

They can. So can your posts.

[TRon]

8 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

What has your impression of Bruno and Tonali been when we have the ball considering you are seeing them for the first time this season? I am increasingly unimpressed by their use of the ball in this team, considering their reputation as two of the more technical players.

 

Think you pretty much missed the seasons when the team was more of an aggressive pressing team, and the midfield still seems more suited to that, but we rarely play that way anymore. We created chances by forcing teams into making mistakes. I think that's when we see the best of this bunch.

 

Currently we have wingers that are runners that are lethal getting in behind and into space, and I find it astonishing how poor a job both Tonali and Bruno do of finding them at the right time in transition. Bruno dwells on the ball too much and spoils a lot of potentially great transition opportunities, while Tonali often rushes things first time before players further up the pitch are ready to receive the pass.

 

Joelinton also gets bypassed a lot when he is in space to receive and carry the ball in transition, with Bruno and Tonali looking to whack a cross field switch of play pass at the wrong time too.

 

In scenarios where teams sit deeper, again, Tonali and Bruno should be the ones moving the ball quicker and finding the right options and spaces to exploit. In my opinion both take way too many touches in these instances and are not good enough shooting from the edge of the box when they are afforded the space to do so.

 

Very very disappointed in the midfield so far this season, particularly Bruno and Tonali, who I think should be so much better in there.

 

At points last season it looked like the midfield was right up there with any in the league, but it's far from it right now.

 

 

While I agree that Bruno can often dwell on the ball for more touches than necessary, I don't think you can say that about Tonali. I've always considered his one touch passing to be one of his strengths. If anything he can look to move it too quickly, but personally I'm a fan of that. 

 

Joelinton is just watching too many games pass around him this season. This is why you see him end up in the book making stupidly late challenges because he's behind the play. 

[Mole]

17 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

What has your impression of Bruno and Tonali been when we have the ball considering you are seeing them for the first time this season? I am increasingly unimpressed by their use of the ball in this team, considering their reputation as two of the more technical players.

 

Think you pretty much missed the seasons when the team was more of an aggressive pressing team, and the midfield still seems more suited to that, but we rarely play that way anymore. We created chances by forcing teams into making mistakes. I think that's when we see the best of this bunch.

 

Currently we have wingers that are runners that are lethal getting in behind and into space, and I find it astonishing how poor a job both Tonali and Bruno do of finding them at the right time in transition. Bruno dwells on the ball too much and spoils a lot of potentially great transition opportunities, while Tonali often rushes things first time before players further up the pitch are ready to receive the pass.

 

Joelinton also gets bypassed a lot when he is in space to receive and carry the ball in transition, with Bruno and Tonali looking to whack a cross field switch of play pass at the wrong time too.

 

In scenarios where teams sit deeper, again, Tonali and Bruno should be the ones moving the ball quicker and finding the right options and spaces to exploit. In my opinion both take way too many touches in these instances and are not good enough shooting from the edge of the box when they are afforded the space to do so.

 

Very very disappointed in the midfield so far this season, particularly Bruno and Tonali, who I think should be so much better in there.

 

At points last season it looked like the midfield was right up there with any in the league, but it's far from it right now.

Tonali I have mostly been extremely impressed with. At times he covers up the space of multiple people (although I wish he didn't have to) and when he gets on the ball he doesn't from my impression give it away all that often and is capable of playing some sublime passes. (the one in the cup to Thiaw was really great)

 

Bruno I was a bit unimpressed to start with but as the season has progressed I think he has gotten much, much better. My criticism of him (which maybe it's an instruction I'm not sure, you guys can tell me better) is that he doesn't command the ball as much as he should, when he gets the ball 35 yards from goal I feel like it's always very positive but it should happen wayyyy more often, he and Nick should be seeing the ball in the final third more than anyone else.

 

My issues overall have been the wingers see the ball far too much for their levels of production and the 3rd midfielder simply hasn't come to the party this season, whether that's inconsistent game time, form or injuries. To me the 3rd midfielder has been a big issue all season and will help a lot if we're able to nail that down.

 

To be clear though against West Ham, everyone was terrible. This is more of a general view of the entire season as a whole.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Mole

[Lush Vlad]

6 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

What has your impression of Bruno and Tonali been when we have the ball considering you are seeing them for the first time this season? I am increasingly unimpressed by their use of the ball in this team, considering their reputation as two of the more technical players.

 

Think you pretty much missed the seasons when the team was more of an aggressive pressing team, and the midfield still seems more suited to that, but we rarely play that way anymore. We created chances by forcing teams into making mistakes. I think that's when we see the best of this bunch.

 

Currently we have wingers that are runners that are lethal getting in behind and into space, and I find it astonishing how poor a job both Tonali and Bruno do of finding them at the right time in transition. Bruno dwells on the ball too much and spoils a lot of potentially great transition opportunities, while Tonali often rushes things first time before players further up the pitch are ready to receive the pass.

 

Joelinton also gets bypassed a lot when he is in space to receive and carry the ball in transition, with Bruno and Tonali looking to whack a cross field switch of play pass at the wrong time too.

 

In scenarios where teams sit deeper, again, Tonali and Bruno should be the ones moving the ball quicker and finding the right options and spaces to exploit. In my opinion both take way too many touches in these instances and are not good enough shooting from the edge of the box when they are afforded the space to do so.

 

Very very disappointed in the midfield so far this season, particularly Bruno and Tonali, who I think should be so much better in there.

 

At points last season it looked like the midfield was right up there with any in the league, but it's far from it right now.

 

I think Tonali often moves the ball quickly and tries to get some semblance of tempo to our passing game.  I feel that is a bit harsh on him.  He is often too deep to really impact the final third, however.  

 

Bruno is simultaneously our best creator on the ball with his through balls and some of the passes he can pick.  Whilst also causing us issues with how many touches he wants or by moving the ball across the pitch by dribbling it and then passing.

 

Sort of related.  But I remember I used to play for a decent Sunday side, which was mainly made up of semi-pros.  I remember getting a bollocking for carrying the ball sideways before releasing it once.  When a better player would be able to play the pass earlier from further away, whilst the opposition are out of position.  I feel like a lot of our team do this, Bruno in particular.  We're not incisive enough to catch teams up the pitch or in the wrong place. 

 

I mentioned it in the Woltemade thread, as he often plays the pass perfectly. But other than that or when Bruno is on a going day with his through balls.  Our pass appreciation always seems a bit lacking.  Too hard, too slow, behind the player, not hitting them in stride or at the angle they need to beat their man or get a shot off etc.  

 

Then I'm kind of going to go against a lot of what I've just said  As I do think there have been improvements with this at times and maybe it is something we are focusing on and it is just a work in progress.  Some of the passing moves against Spurs were top class.  The goal against Barca, the final goal against USG, first and third vs Benfica.  All some of the best team goals and passing moves I can remember under Howe.  I swear there was a near miss the other week which would have been up there with our best team goals we've scored.  I forget who it was against, maybe Fulham? 

 

The lack of training time, injuries and trying to incorporate new players after a disjointed and interrupted pre-season are all going to have a big impact.  Along with the fact that we seem to be trying to transition to a different style.

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, TRon said:

 

 

While I agree that Bruno can often dwell on the ball for more touches than necessary, I don't think you can say that about Tonali. I've always considered his one touch passing to be one of his strengths. If anything he can look to move it too quickly, but personally I'm a fan of that. 

 

Joelinton is just watching too many games pass around him this season. This is why you see him end up in the book making stupidly late challenges because he's behind the play. 

 

Unfortunately those first time passes seem to catch his teammates off guard too often, and so he has to adjust.

 

The more I watch the team, the more concerns I have with Bruno and Tonali. It's crazy how often we never seem to have control of a game with those two in our midfield. There's such a lack of calm and composure in there. It's really alarming.

 

When Miley plays I always see complaints that he can be too conservative with his passing, but it's an element the first team could do with a lot more of at times. Everything is always so forced and careless.

 

So many simple 5 yard passes to keep possession and move the opposition's players around a bit until space opens up are turned down, and extra touches are taken until players get tackled, or a really difficult pass into traffic is forced in really dangerous positions too close to our goal.

[Kanj]

We solve the midfield splitting pass issue away from home when defending and we pick up points more or less. It’s our Achilles heel and you can probably look back simply on the majority of our away results and we pick up points when the boys execute the plan. Unfortunately this season the flat midfield has returned and it seems more of an execution issue. Either the 8s or the 6 don’t maintain proper spacing and shape. Fullback defending becuase our two stud young fullbacks are out hurt isn’t helping either. 
 

Back Eddie to fix those issues Tino and Hall return and we should be good to go defensively. 

[Yorkie]

43 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

I’ve seen this come up a few times re: Ramsey and I don’t get it, at all. He looks a very tidy player, much better in possession than Joelinton and has a history of being a dynamic player/scoring a few goals. He’s barely played and some people seem to be writing him off.

 

 

 

 

Yeah. The Ramsey slagging is pure "we've just lost a game" craic. He's looked really promising so far, though I thought he was quiet against Benfica. Looking forward to seeing more from him. Worth remembering that he's a Longstaff upgrade, too.

[KaKa]

19 minutes ago, Mole said:

Tonali I have mostly been extremely impressed with. At times he covers up the space of multiple people (although I wish he didn't have to) and when he gets on the ball he doesn't from my impression give it away all that often and is capable of playing some sublime passes. (the one in the cup to Thiaw was really great)

 

Bruno I was a bit unimpressed to start with but as the season has progressed I think he has gotten much, much better. My criticism of him (which maybe it's an instruction I'm not sure, you guys can tell me better) is that he doesn't command the ball as much as he should, when he gets the ball 35 yards from goal I feel like it's always very positive but it should happen wayyyy more often, he and Nick should be seeing the ball in the final third more than anyone else.

 

My issues overall have been the wingers see the ball far too much for their levels of production and the 3rd midfielder simply hasn't come to the party this season, whether that's inconsistent game time, form or injuries. To me the 3rd midfielder has been a big issue all season and will help a lot if we're able to nail that down.

 

To be clear though against West Ham, everyone was terrible. This is more of a general view of the entire season as a whole.

 

 

 

 

I agree about the wingers. They are far too involved in the build up early on. They are ideal for receiving the ball further up the pitch after build up through the midfield, especially now we have Woltemade who is brilliant at dropping  deep and attracting so much attention.

 

Again though, I expect Bruno and Tonali to take responsibility for making that happen. They don't look for Woltemade anywhere near enough when he has found space and is asking for the ball. They are more likely to move the ball into wide areas. It's incredibly frustrating.

 

Oddly enough the best player in the team currently at finding the right pass between the lines into midfield areas and even to Woltemade at times, has been Thiaw!

 

The use of the ball by our midfielders is just not good enough, both in decision making and execution. Just pass it into Woltemade and play off him and stop forcing the issue or going wide all the time.

[Lush Vlad]

48 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

I’ve seen this come up a few times re: Ramsey and I don’t get it, at all. He looks a very tidy player, much better in possession than Joelinton and has a history of being a dynamic player/scoring a few goals. He’s barely played and some people seem to be writing him off.

 

 

 

 

Agree with this.  He sort of drifted out of the game as the rest of the team ran out of ideas and the shape was a mess by the end.  But for 20-25 minutes of the second half.  I thought he looked really lively and arguably our best player.  Bit of dynamism about him, shows for the ball and finds space, can carry it up the pitch.  

 

Really hoping he can stay fit and get a run in the side.  Puts the graft in from what I can see, as well. 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Lush Vlad

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 hour ago, Abacus said:

 

I do agree, and also trying to adapt with an unconventional striker. Who is brilliant, just completely different to what we're used to. The Wissa injury has messed up a more gradual transition there.

 

Anyway the reason I quoted you was my only issue with your partnerships there is that Tino has been so good on the left. I suppose I've not had much of a chance to see him on the right.

 

Yeah, agree Tino has been great, I just think overall the Hall/Tino combo is the one we need to see, and that can only happen by moving him back over to the right. 

 

Especially if Elanga eventually becomes first choice, he will benefit from an overlapping FB like Gordon would with Hall. 

[black_n_white]

54 minutes ago, Kanj said:

We solve the midfield splitting pass issue away from home when defending and we pick up points more or less. It’s our Achilles heel and you can probably look back simply on the majority of our away results and we pick up points when the boys execute the plan. Unfortunately this season the flat midfield has returned and it seems more of an execution issue. Either the 8s or the 6 don’t maintain proper spacing and shape. Fullback defending becuase our two stud young fullbacks are out hurt isn’t helping either. 
 

Back Eddie to fix those issues Tino and Hall return and we should be good to go defensively. 

It’s been said multiple times before but the lack of proper fullbacks is what is killing this team right now. Having those two back, or even one of them will improve us.

[Mole]

47 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

I agree about the wingers. They are far too involved in the build up early on. They are ideal for receiving the ball further up the pitch after build up through the midfield, especially now we have Woltemade who is brilliant at dropping  deep and attracting so much attention.

 

Again though, I expect Bruno and Tonali to take responsibility for making that happen. They don't look for Woltemade anywhere near enough when he has found space and is asking for the ball. They are more likely to move the ball into wide areas. It's incredibly frustrating.

 

Oddly enough the best player in the team currently at finding the right pass between the lines into midfield areas and even to Woltemade at times, has been Thiaw!

 

The use of the ball by our midfielders is just not good enough, both in decision making and execution. Just pass it into Woltemade and play off him and stop forcing the issue or going wide all the time.

Because of my limited exposure I assumed they were under some sort of instructions tactically that led to that. Not that is necessarily a bad thing because being solid defensively has been extremely important considering everything around them.

 

But if that isn’t the case I agree they both need to take on more responsibility with regards to getting the ball into dangerous areas much more often.

[Kanj]

Trips doesn’t have the legs of old, man if we had the version of him from a few years ago. 

[TRon]

6 minutes ago, black_n_white said:

It’s been said multiple times before but the lack of proper fullbacks is what is killing this team right now. Having those two back, or even one of them will improve us.

 

Taking Krafth off at half time didn't really help matters. I'm not his biggest fan by any stretch, but moving Thiaw and then Tonali to RB wasn't the answer. 

[Sibierski]

5 hours ago, duo said:

Personally I think what is costing us this season is the lack of time Eddie has on the training ground with the squad.  A lot of the signings came late on in the window so he hasn't had the luxury of a week between games to work on tactics.

Surely the training ground stuff was dispelled last season? When it seemed the more time we had between games, the worse some of our performances were, especially when we faced a side that had less time between games.

 

Don’t think training ground time mitigates rolling out the same midfield three you’ve had together for ages, away to a crap side, have majority of possession and same inefficiencies displayed. 

[TRon]

3 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

Surely the training ground stuff was dispelled last season? When it seemed the more time we had between games, the worse some of our performances were, especially when we faced a side that had less time between games.

 

Don’t think training ground time mitigates rolling out the same midfield three you’ve had together for ages, away to a crap side, have majority of possession and same inefficiencies displayed. 

 

 

Yep. From what I could see Howe wasn't happy at all with the shift we put in. We can't make excuses for such lack of collective effort. 

[Yorkie]

1 hour ago, Sibierski said:

Surely the training ground stuff was dispelled last season? When it seemed the more time we had between games, the worse some of our performances were, especially when we faced a side that had less time between games.

 

Don’t think training ground time mitigates rolling out the same midfield three you’ve had together for ages, away to a crap side, have majority of possession and same inefficiencies displayed. 

 

Our best runs of form often come in bursts where we have lots of games in a short space of time - and there's no excuses for how bad we were on Sunday - but I reckon the odd bit of time on the training ground is probably helpful like. Certainly in terms of integrating new players during pre-season. It's a pretty commonly-held view that the manager does a lot of his best work on the training pitch, or did you never buy that?

[Decky]

I know our league form has been poor but are people aware we won 3 in a row before West Ham, and 5 of the 6 before it too? There's plenty of time to get climbing the league, I trust Howe and these players to sort it out.

[timeEd32]

21 minutes ago, Decky said:

I know our league form has been poor but are people aware we won 3 in a row before West Ham, and 5 of the 6 before it too? There's plenty of time to get climbing the league, I trust Howe and these players to sort it out.

 

For various reasons those don't count.

[Kanj]

We've always had a shitty result against a shit side desperate for a win, the over analysis and calling out some of our best players is a bit mad after some of them put in absolute perfection in performances as of late - Burn, Tonali, Bruno among them. 

[SUPERTOON]

29 minutes ago, Decky said:

I know our league form has been poor but are people aware we won 3 in a row before West Ham, and 5 of the 6 before it too? There's plenty of time to get climbing the league, I trust Howe and these players to sort it out.

I think the concern is at the away form more than anything. Not read the whole thread so may be wrong though.

[Gottlob]

Our form was still patchy and we didn't look like a different side when our fullbacks were available. The problem with Ramsey isn't that he's a bad player, it's that he's in a similar mould to Joelinton and Willock, a moderately attacking midfielder who has played pretty much exclusively down the left side, has injury problems and seems like us doubling down on a flat midfield. For me he's a solid addition on his own merits but he's not going to solve any creativity issues or be the player to make runs in behind Woltemade. And where does he fit in if we start using Wissa alongside Woltemade and adopt a midfield two?

 

Personally don't think it's worth singling out individuals for their use of the ball or for our ball retention issues. It's a team-wide issue when our more direct style isn't working.

[Lush Vlad]

34 minutes ago, Decky said:

I know our league form has been poor but are people aware we won 3 in a row before West Ham, and 5 of the 6 before it too? There's plenty of time to get climbing the league, I trust Howe and these players to sort it out.

 

We haven't been great in the league in general.  But we were still getting some results and seemed to be improving a bit at home.  Unlucky to lose to Liverpool and even though we were crap, Arsenal was also unlucky in the end and we shot ourselves in the foot.  The cup games have been very good, bar a 40-50 minute spell against Barca. 

 

The away form is a big concern, however.  As we look toothless and devoid of ideas this season.  The results this calendar year have been poor at best.  That's where my worry lies.  As we're not going to be perfect at home and we need to actually start winning or at least scoring some goals away. 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Lush Vlad

[Stottie]

3 hours ago, black_n_white said:

It’s been said multiple times before but the lack of proper fullbacks is what is killing this team right now. Having those two back, or even one of them will improve us.

Yeah, fourth and fifth choice out there against West Ham. A lot of what we do in wide areas is little triangles and it doesn't work with lesser players.

For the most part, we've dealt defensively with Tino and Hall missing, our defensive record is one of the best in the league, but it has been by sacrificing other parts of the team.