Eddie Howe

[Beth]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

The investment is in line with 7th.  Everyone else has spent money too. 
 

i look at this squad and I don’t think it’s a top 4 squad. Not top 6.  
 

I said this after Villa.  There’s so much joy for opposition to be had between our midfield and defence.  Foden punished us. Liverpool punished us.  Joao Pedro punished us. We need to change it tactically. 

Which will be hard as the only natural holding midfielder we have is Issac Hayden.........

[The College Dropout]

2 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

Comparing fixtures' results from last season to this is as pointless as thinking because we finished 4th last season we can do it again. The last 3 fixtures have been difficult but the performances have been really poor for me.

 

Something doesn't seem right. Have a couple questions about the transfer window now as well given its now shut. I have utmost faith in Howe to produce the answers, mind. Just as he did in February 2022.

 

Did find it slightly baffling though that West Ham and Everton in May gave a blueprint of how to play Brighton at their place yet we chose to not follow one bit of it.

Maybe I’m wrong. But it looks like we setup the same way tactically or close to it every game. Like today I think we tried to go 1v1 in the press. But it didn’t work. After that nothing. When teams play with 2 10’s we do the aggressive CB thing which works when we are pressing. But in ‘rest defence’ opposition pop it through the lines again and again. Howe does nothing about it. 

[Donut]

3 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Reckon he has the next three PL games and if things don't improve, PIF might get the itchy trigger finger.

LOL no chance.

[HaydnNUFC]

Just now, Optimistic Nut said:

 

West Ham and Everton were struggling in the league and had no other way of playing them. We have a style of play which should be able to beat them. We've just been shite last game and a bit. 

 

West Ham are still unbeaten, are in 3rd after taking 10 points from their 4 games. Wouldn't say they were struggling at all when they went down there last week. 

 

They've shown under De Zerbi that they struggle against a low block and teams that break with pace in wide areas. We opted to press high with what currently seems an incredibly questionable midfield 3 offering next to no protection should Brighton have been able to play through the press, which they did.

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Beth said:

Which will be hard as the only natural holding midfielder we have is Issac Hayden.........

A normal 442 defence protects that gap well. Or any 2 banks or 4 really.  

[Myleftboot]

3 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Reckon he has the next three PL games and if things don't improve, PIF might get the itchy trigger finger.

And bring in who? 

[The Prophet]

3 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Reckon he has the next three PL games and if things don't improve, PIF might get the itchy trigger finger.

 

I'd be concerned if they did.

[Beth]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

A normal 442 defence protects that gap well. Or any 2 banks or 4 really.  

Yes, but that formation is about as fashionable as flares now.

[Scoot]

Where on earth has our intensity gone? Its like we're a different side to what we're used to seeing.

[TheBrownBottle]

4 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Reckon he has the next three PL games and if things don't improve, PIF might get the itchy trigger finger.

Then we’ve got ourselves some bad owners - that would be an unbelievably fucking stupid thing to do

[joeyt]

He had loads of success at Bournemouth playing 4-4-1-1 with Josh King and Callum Wilson.

 

Really think we can get Isak in the King role and get them both on the pitch

[Yorkie]

The last person I'm gonna lay into is Eddie Howe but there is definitely something wrong with the team atm and we've made a fairly dismal fist of that very challenging run of games. Glad to have a fortnight off where things can hopefully be repaired.

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, Beth said:

Yes, but that formation is about as fashionable as flares now.

Man City defend in a 442 often.  

[nufc123]

8 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Reckon he has the next three PL games and if things don't improve, PIF might get the itchy trigger finger.

Bedwetter

[MrRaspberryJam]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

Man City defend in a 442 often.  

They’re the best team on the planet though. 

[Big Geordie]

Has he spoken post match yet?

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

Starting Joelinton today, given his obvious lack of sharpness seems such a needlessly bad decision. I really don’t understand that at all.  

[The College Dropout]

Just now, MrRaspberryJam said:

They’re the best team on the planet though. 

Aye but you can close gaps between the lines in that formation.  That’s my only point. And you can move to it from other formation. 

[SUPERTOON]

10 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Reckon he has the next three PL games and if things don't improve, PIF might get the itchy trigger finger.

Based on what ?

[gbandit]

3 minutes ago, joeyt said:

He had loads of success at Bournemouth playing 4-4-1-1 with Josh King and Callum Wilson.

 

Really think we can get Isak in the King role and get them both on the pitch

They definitely both need to play, especially against weaker sides going forward. I love Miggy but for sides that defend deep I think we should have Gordon on the right with Barnes on the left. Can’t wait for Willock to come back so we’ve got more pace at moving with the ball in the side. Joelinton needs benched until he’s fit 

[Beth]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

Man City defend in a 442 often.  

They have the quality to play any formation they want. Their second XI is capable of beating any team in the league.

[STM]

Even talk of losing Howe is mental in the head. Some fans never learn. Should we get Souness in too?

[joeyt]

1 minute ago, gbandit said:

They definitely both need to play, especially against weaker sides going forward. I love Miggy but for sides that defend deep I think we should have Gordon on the right with Barnes on the left. Can’t wait for Willock to come back so we’ve got more pace at moving with the ball in the side. Joelinton needs benched until he’s fit 

 

I think with Trippier clearly being told not to go forward it meant we had no width at all because both wingers were cutting inside. Gordon or Murphy on the right would have at least held their width

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, Beth said:

They have the quality to play any formation they want. Their second XI is capable of beating any team in the league.

Yes but Pep does it because it reduces space for opposition.  We give opposition acres of space in rest defence. 

[Armchair Pundit]

The players look like they're not playing for each other, no hunger, no drive. Individual errors are costing us dearly, but we haven't been running back or covering like we did last season. Bruno's been very mediocre for the last few games, in fact I'd go as far as to say the second part of last season saw him tail off, no idea why. Pope's looked suspect ever since he got that red card, the players in general look like they're waiting for the ball to come to them rather than chasing it down themselves. We're putting out what 'should' be our best eleven, it just feels like we've dropped off, like there's no spark or energy.

 

For the record, I didn't think we played that badly against Man City and one nil against them is respectable enough, but we don't look solid enough across the board this season, even Tripps has been making some unexpected decisions and mistakes.