Maldini

That's what makes it worse though, we've been to heaven and been kicked out

It's a f***ing slog supporting us sometimes isn't it

I think we're missing his ability to alter the flow of a game, he's a great asset off the bench. How much of the fee to Villa was paid as a loan fee?

I thought he was alright first half. We might as well have stuck him on an island out on the left second half though. I think the problems are further back though, we can't get it out from the back at all now. The only tactic from midfield seems to hoping be a Grav slalom run will open them up. Mac Allister is the main problem I think though, he's supposed to be the link man and he's completely AWOL most games.

The u16s beat them 5-0 so maybe the whole talent skipping a generation thing is true

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I don't think we need a RB, the two we have are good enough, they've just both been playing below their best or injured.

I think he's the kind of guy that won't f*** them over and force his way out

Wirtz as a 6? How would that work Yeah that's also not Paul Joyce's account

Speed of thought and aggressive on and off the ball, that's the first time he's looked like the player we thought we were getting since pre-season

David Silva too, 1 goal, 4 assists in the first half of his first league season. Only managed 4 and 8 for the full league season

What smugness? Neither of them have said a thing

There's been a bit of chatter about Nico Schlotterbeck over the last couple of weeks. Contract is up in the summer of '27. Bild saying we want to sign him in January

Rudi Voller's comments were interesting, basically said we're not getting the ball to him enough and not in the right areas. He's right, Mac Allister's form or lack there of has been a major problem. We're not moving the ball through midfield well at all. I think we probably need to drop him and let him get his body right

I'm surprised we haven't tried Szoboslai at left wing yet, he played there a lot at Leipzig

Other clubs fans are having a great time calling him 007 because he has 0 goals, 0 assists in his first 7 games. Ignoring the fact he got one in the Community Shield, other players who've gone 007 include Ian Rush, Thierry Henry and Diogo Jota.

Full back in the 90s and full back now are two very different jobs though. Trent and Robertson touched the ball more than any of our midfielders over the last few years

We've totally changed our defensive shape from last season, it may have been because Wirtz came in but it's Slot's decision. We've gone from 4-4-2 out of possession to 4-3-3 with Gakpo being one of the midfield three for some reason. It's not working at all. Gravenberch seems to be given more licence to roam too which is adding to the problems.

We need to stick with him, I don't think he has been as poor as people are suggesting but he's clearly not having the impact we expected him to. He's not going to get better sitting on the bench, it's as much about his teammates getting used to his movement as anything I think.

Not even named in the squad for Galatasaray, it's getting a bit weird now

We were linked to him for a year or two before he went to Chelsea though weren't we?

I still don't know why Duff didn't happen, it was the most no-brainer signing I can remember. He was perfect for us and his rep at the time (former League Of Ireland manager Pat Devlin) had been a scout for us when Kenny was in charge. I guess we had people with no brains in charge of transfers in those days though.

Also, Bajcetic used to be a CB, he might get a go there at some stage. Not sure he's strong enough to play there in England but beggars can't be choosers

Tomiyasu is the best one available so not really. He's coming back from a long term knee injury as well. I think we'll turn to Endo, Gravenberch and Robertson if we're stuck. Nallo and Lucky from the u23s are both decent prospects but they're still pretty raw. Both are older than Leoni which just shows how good he is that he was able to come in and look so settled

Yeah he's definitely done enough to feature more, madness not having him in any 20 man squad. He has a proper eye for goal