Eddie Howe

[Abacus]

1 hour ago, Heron said:

Absolutely not for me. Burnley were the better side and we created virtually nothing. Scored direct from a corner and a penalty. I think there is a real disconnect in fans' perceptions in plating well personally. We played better against Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal and Spurs and dropped points in all those fixtures but because we went in 2-0 up fans think we played well. It is possible to play well and lose and to play poor and win and that's what we've been seeing this season.

 

From the radio commentary, match reports and then the MOTD highlights admittedly, it did seem like Burnley were on top first half at least up until the first goal. But hey, the 3 points is what matters, even if it wasn't a comfortable game. 

 

As an aside, anecdotally it didn't feel there was much enthusiasm for the match from a lot of fans. It's often this way for games we "expect" to win, so just glad we got this one done.

 

Anyway, 10 points from 12, two big games coming up and Wissa looking lively in spells - all set up for a big week, which could be huge for the season.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2025 by Abacus

[Lucky]

It’s a much happier place having a gripe about playing shit and winning rather than playing shit and losing by 3 goals.

 

Could be as simple as adding the right ingredients to the squad. We need to sort the GK position out. Get proper cover for Hall/Tino (who looked shot yesterday) and an athletic/technical DM (which he may not want at all)

[Cf]

2 hours ago, Heron said:

Absolutely not for me. Burnley were the better side and we created virtually nothing. Scored direct from a corner and a penalty. I think there is a real disconnect in fans' perceptions in playing well personally. We played better against Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal and Spurs and dropped points in all those fixtures but because we went in 2-0 up fans think we played well. It is possible to play well and lose and to play poor and win and that's what we've been seeing this season.

 

 

 

 

Burney were on tol for about 10 minutes when they came rushing out of the gates but after that we controlled it. 

 

In terms of chances there was Gordon off the post, Woltemade (who should have done a bit better - a couple of times now his quick shots are straight down the middle), the cross that was just slightly out of Gordon's reach, and one or two other smaller bits. 

 

And if course the goals and the Elanga fouled as last man situation. 

 

That doesn't strike me as virtually nothing. 

[Heron]

7 minutes ago, Cf said:

 

Burney were on tol for about 10 minutes when they came rushing out of the gates but after that we controlled it. 

 

In terms of chances there was Gordon off the post, Woltemade (who should have done a bit better - a couple of times now his quick shots are straight down the middle), the cross that was just slightly out of Gordon's reach, and one or two other smaller bits. 

 

And if course the goals and the Elanga fouled as last man situation. 

 

That doesn't strike me as virtually nothing. 

Yeah - upon review of MotD we appeared to create a lot more than I recalled tbf. I still don't think it was a great performance though and still think it was our worst of the season at home.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

There was a lot of time in the first half we were quite exposed and nervy at the back. Better final ball from Burnley would have had us in deep trouble on a few occasions. None of that featured on MOTD. We didn’t do a lot before Bruno’s corner but did start to control the game better.

[Whitley mag]

We look fragile to me and I’m coming more to the conclusion that Schar and Burn are becoming a liability as they age.

It’s always difficult to not sound spoilt when we’ve won and having suffered years of misery i wouldn’t consider myself entitled.

 

But, we spent a lot of money and whilst managing a heavy game load is difficult, I’m struggling to see how anything is evolving under Howe in terms of moving to the next level.

 

We lack game management, ability to retain the ball and these elements actually come more to the fore against shit opposition unfortunately.

That was the third time I’ve seen us in the flesh this season and possibly the worst considering the opposition.

[Izakaya]

From the highlights I watched, it looked like we absolutely peppered them with decently hit long range shots all game. 

[El Prontonise]

1 hour ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said:

There was a lot of time in the first half we were quite exposed and nervy at the back. Better final ball from Burnley would have had us in deep trouble on a few occasions. None of that featured on MOTD. We didn’t do a lot before Bruno’s corner but did start to control the game better.

 

Yeah, Burnley were the better side for first 10 minutes.

[The Prophet]

It seems managing the massive volume of games is the way the squad is developing this season.

 

The players themselves have spoken at length about the lack of time they have time they have on the training ground. It'll be difficult to implement too many stylistic changes at the moment.

[Kid Icarus]

Just goes to show how different perceptions are. After 10 minutes I thought we completely dominated and controlled the match, with basically zero threat from them until we went mental at 90+ minutes. And that was with a rotated team.

 

No idea how anyone could think Spurs was a better performance considering how often we were cut through in that match and kept giving away corners.

[nufc123]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

kept giving away corners.

Burnley had more corners than Spurs.

[Kid Icarus]

1 minute ago, nufc123 said:

Burnley had more corners than Spurs.

Fair enough. It felt like more against Spurs and they were definitely more threatening.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Tottenham had 8 corners. Ten man Burnley 9. After about 25 minutes it felt like we were in control. Think our general play with the ball was better against spurs at times. But then red cards change games and it was a very different match second half save for dumbassery at the end.

[nufc123]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

Fair enough. It felt like more against Spurs and they were definitely more threatening.

Thats true, but Burnley had a lot of joy down both our sides.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Burnley just aren’t very good  

[STM]

We were the better side against Man City, Everton, Spurs and Burnley.

 

We played to a high standard against Man City and Everton, in terms of intensity and intent. The other two we dominated but didnt put them to the sword.

 

The answer is really simple, to me at least.. when we are on top we dont score enough goals. If theres only a one goal margin, you know the opposition or going to have their chance.

 

Against Spurs we should have been out of sight and paid the price... against Burnley we had cigars in our mouths in the second half and it nearly bit us in the arse.

 

I wish Eddie had gone for the throat with his subs and tried to put another couple of goals past them, not for the result but more the feeling around the players. He decided to basically rest a few players and give a few others an extra run out.

 

At any point he could have brought Elanga off for Murphy or Joelinton on for Ramsey, Tonali for Willock etc. We'd have had the game out of sight.

 

Hes clearly looking forwards Wednesday but he wants to hope that the slight frustration of how the game ended, doesn't tarnish their confidence going into the next game.

 

Anyway, the league is a clusterfuck. We are in the mid-pack and not a million miles off. Let hope we can keep picking up points and that we start killing teams.

[Yorkie]

23 minutes ago, STM said:

The answer is really simple, to me at least.. when we are on top we dont score enough goals. If theres only a one goal margin, you know the opposition or going to have their chance.

 

Yep, spot on. This is where it all as stems from. People talk about fixing the mentality issue; well the solution there is entirely in figuring out how to score more goals. Not so much 'how do we close games out'. We need to be in a position to not have to. 

[MagMal]

It takes a while for squads themselves to get used to rotation, I think as the season has gone we have got better at it and the players have got more used to it.

Previously we didn't have options but we do now and that is a sign of a club heading in the right direction. 

If we can keep this up the rotation will become more natural to the players and we will see the benefits. 

[STM]

Weve also got players inexplicably drifting in and out of form. 

 

Tonali was our best player for the first half dozen games and then he dropped off (injury fair enough), Bruno started slow and is now playing well, Joelinton has steadily improved i think. Gordon has been way off it. Botman wasnt great when in. Woltemade is having some good, some bad, largely because if the type of player he is and having very little rest. Even Tino the last couple of games has been slightly below par but you forget he was injured too and is probably battling fatigue.

 

It doesn't help that weve got to rotate because of the game load. 

 

If I could sum it up, id say we lack rhythm, from one game to the next. Aside from Thiaw, Bruno and lately Barnes, there's been very little in the way of consistency.

 

[Magpie Mover]

If we want to get both Wissa and Woltemade on the pitch together which we should we will need to move away from a rigid 4-3-3 unless Wissa is going to play wide which he shouldn't. Watching Palace today and seeing how they lined up and started both Mateta and Nketiah is a good blue print for how to play with a 3-4-2-1. Glasner is a very talented manager and despite very little investment he is doing a fantastic job.

 

D. Henderson           Pope

M. Guéhi                   Burn

M. Lacroix                Schar/Botman

C. Richards              Thiaw

T. Mitchell                Hall

D. Kamada               Tonali/Miley

A. Wharton              Bruno/Joelinton

N. ClyneJ.               Livramento

Yeremy Pino           Gordon/Barnes/Elanga/Murphy

E. Nketiah               Woltemade

J. Mateta                Wissa

 

This system would get our better players on the pitch at the same time. Not sure we will ever see it as the wing backs become the wingers and that would mean at least three of ours would start on the bench most games. There are lots of limitations to the way we line up and play at the moment not least being how horrible we are to watch.

[TheBrownBottle]

4 minutes ago, Magpie Mover said:

If we want to get both Wissa and Woltemade on the pitch together which we should we will need to move away from a rigid 4-3-3 unless Wissa is going to play wide which he shouldn't. Watching Palace today and seeing how they lined up and started both Mateta and Nketiah is a good blue print for how to play with a 3-4-2-1. Glasner is a very talented manager and despite very little investment he is doing a fantastic job.

 

D. Henderson           Pope

M. Guéhi                   Burn

M. Lacroix                Schar/Botman

C. Richards              Thiaw

T. Mitchell                Hall

D. Kamada               Tonali/Miley

A. Wharton              Bruno/Joelinton

N. ClyneJ.               Livramento

Yeremy Pino           Gordon/Barnes/Elanga/Murphy

E. Nketiah               Woltemade

J. Mateta                Wissa

 

This system would get our better players on the pitch at the same time. Not sure we will ever see it as the wing backs become the wingers and that would mean at least three of ours would start on the bench most games. There are lots of limitations to the way we line up and play at the moment not least being how horrible we are to watch.

We’d get overrun in the middle every time.  Zero chance Howe goes with a four man midfield. 

[McDog]

8 hours ago, The Prophet said:

It seems managing the massive volume of games is the way the squad is developing this season.

 

The players themselves have spoken at length about the lack of time they have time they have on the training ground. It'll be difficult to implement too many stylistic changes at the moment.

Isn't it like 4 games in 10 days coming up? That's nuts.

[Hudson]

👀👀👀

[Whitley mag]

Zero creativity, as I said after Saturday I have no idea where we are heading under Howe. The football is fucking dreadful and predictable as fuck.

[GEFAFWISP]

1 minute ago, Whitley mag said:

Zero creativity, as I said after Saturday I have no idea where we are heading under Howe. The football is fucking dreadful and predictable as fuck.

This is weaker than Ramsdale on crosses.