Billy Talbot

Someone to play that 8/10 hybrid is vital in this new system of ours. Gakpo could do it if Jones isn't in the XI, but then we lose Gakpo from the false 9 position and we don't have anyone else to do that. It's Elliot and Carvalho after that. We need another elite player who can play there. Mount would be ideal.

It's one of the reasons fraud is punished the way it is though isn't it? I mean, nobody likes people who go around hitting people and stealing property, but being someone who undermines the integrity of EVERYTHING isn't ever looked upon favourably. It's why we should have strung Johnson up from a lamppost.

Yep, I'm in two minds about Rice. I sometimes see him exactly as you say, then other times I see him and he looks great. Think it's just different games, when West Ham are compact and aggressive, he looks good. When they look tatty and overrun, he can stick out as number 1 headless chicken, but then at least he's putting a shift in to even stick out like that.

John Brooks was the 4th official who told Tierney to only give Klopp a yellow.

They'll suffer next season. Big midweek games and 1230 Sat KO's away at Burnley take some getting used to.

Should have done them a favour. The Saliba injury in that game is what started the rot.

I had the pleasure of pointing this out to an Arsenal fan a few months ago when they thought they'd won it. I said, if they did, they ought to be embarrassed to win in it in the same way Leicester did and they should try winning it when City win every f***ing week. Or try getting nearly a hundred points and still not winning it. Anyway. They shut up pretty quick. I got a text off them when we drew 2-2 saying "ah, never mind, maybe next season". * It was us that broke them. Sort of fitting in that I think it was our game with them early season that broke us. *they've no chance btw. Not with Europe too. Not unless they buy 4 or 5 really good players. They've been dead lucky with injuries this season and have only really played once a week.

Could have been better, but could have been much worse. means Newcastle can’t draw again if the lose one and we win all three.

This is bs.

I don’t think he’s on his line when the ball is struck.

Was a s***e pen from bamford but I thought keepers were supposed to stay still on their lines nowadays? pope jumped right and then dived left before bamford kicked it.

This is ridiculous. The original premise was that detective duos only have three syllables (ignoring the & obvs) which isn't really going anywhere. Saff-ay-er and steel is 4. Shakes-pee-er and Hath-a-way is 6... Anyway. My favourites are Jimmy McNulty & William "Bunk" Moreland.

His heat map is distorted when compared to other positions and players though. It shows where he’s touching the ball most, not the positions he’s taking up out of possession.

Yeah, this is what I keep thinking. I also think the clamour (mostly from the media) for him to play in midfield has meant that this new system has him described as playing in midfield and they were right all along. If we hadn't have seen an uptick in performances and results, they would be all about how he isn't really playing midfield. He's not really playing midfield and if we played with another player at RB, his position and the system would change significantly.

yep, they need to drop 4 points compared with us. And not gain +17 GD on us whilst they do it. But most likely GD only comes into it if we draw one and they lose 2. Newcastle losing 2 is interesting with GD.

Yeah, a few beers and it went down a treat.

I think if we're to persist with the Trent inversion then that's what we should be doing. Especially if we can raise a decent fee for him.

No way he dived. One angle looks like Diop didn’t touch him, but another clearly shows his knee going into Darwin’s thigh.

Gakpo even has his own after-school tutor... https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/cody-gakpo-tactical-coach-behind-netherlands-world-cup-star-remarkable-rise/blt2cdee8e4bdd6b045

Premier League home grown rules are pretty simple I think. 17 non-homegrown in a max squad of 25 over 21 year olds. Under 21s it doesn't matter. We're losing Melo and Adrian anyway. So there's two.

Yeah, what I like most about him is how quickly and intelligently he moves the ball on. Usually within a couple of touches. Opens angles, gives recipients options. At the same time, he also knows how and when to carry the ball. This makes him very press resistant and helps others around him more so too. He's also pretty robust and physical when challenged, seems to enjoy tackling, gets forward well and scores the odd goal. I thought he was better than Fernandez at the WC also. What's not to like? Yeah, me the same. Never really paid much attention to him until the WC. Since then I've paid a lot of attention to him whilst watching Brighton games. It's him that makes them tick. Gundogan is a good comparison.

Yeah, it's a bit odd full stop, I mean, he's the ref, if he wants to give a red, he gives a red, it doesn't matter what the 4th official says. Or, he knows he shouldn't be giving a red, or he's just being a ****. Either way he's got issues. Aye, there is that. Klopp's version in his press conference is that he wasn't calling anyone out for anything, he just didn't like what Tierney said. Hardly improper conduct or questioning integrity to say you don't like what someone said, no matter what it is.

Interesting theory. Mine is that the man's a ****.

The guide the refs now get is “careless” is yellow, “reckless” is “red”. nowt about endangering. Both can endanger. Hard to argue jota’s boot is more reckless than careless and is ref’s call. If the ref had had called it red, var wouldn’t have got involved. however, skipp”s tackle was erroneously missed by the ref, so var should have got involved.

This is sorta that point. The ref (and this one in particular) is a c***, was a c*** to us during the game and always has been to us (as has the one doing VAR and the pair of them have been to us at Anfield IIRC) so the idea that they've hard done by is frankly laughable. Jota's boot is careless. Not reckless. At least, that's what the ref thought and therefore it's not a red. It's a yellow. That's okay and VAR, right or wrong has no reason under the current rules to intervene either. If we're questioning the ref and VAR. Well, the ref totally missed Skipp's foul on Diaz... That's a clear error and potential red card. He should have been sent to the monitor. I watch enough of Ref Watch to know this. I bet Dermot won't say the same tomorrow.