Billy Talbot

Squad rotation is a double edged sword though. Bringing players in who aren't fully match fit into matches makes them more likely to get injured and also makes team performance less consistent and therefore makes fit players more likely to get injured. Obviously if you don't do it, then match fit players eventually red zone and then get injured. Having a small squad, like we have, with a load of players who aren't fit and a few that are consistently injury prone isn't a good place to start from and I don't think it's fair to criticise Slot for not rotating enough, especially given how one of the reasons he was hired and he got so much praise last season was how good he and his team are and were keeping players on the pitch. This season hasn't been the same, but that's largely down to the disruption of preseason and an unlucky amount of impact injuries.

I think he's been totally exposed by our recruitment and circumstances. However, I think every manager would have been to an lesser or greater extent. He's done well in parts, just not so well in others.

Endo was ready to come On quite quick. He was in shot warming up just after Gomez walked down the side of the pitch

I'm all for it if we're buying another defender. I'll dead against it if we're not.

Yeah, but all this "2nd best" malarky is nonsense. There are players that fit and blend better with current players and tactics and other players that are "better" but need current players or tactics to be changed to get the best from them. As an example I think this is the root of a lot of problems were currently going through. Yeah Wirtz is a great player etc, but playing with a number 10 (which is why he came here rather than being played as a wide forward) has not been our system and has impacted our midfield negatively and is maybe/probably (along with the change at RB) why we're not now getting the best from Salah. We might have signed Haaland who was "THE BEST" but we wouldn't have been playing to his strengths and he wouldn't have augmented our better players strengths either. Arguably Nunez with his pace and pressing suited us a lot better, just unfortunate he couldn't hit his own mad a*** with a banjo sometimes.

I read this as "god bothering cactus". I blame RBM.

And nor should we have. Although he'd walk into our team at the moment, I'm not sure he'd be (or should be) a starter in an ideal world. We need an aerially dominant CB, especially given that VvD isn't going to last forever. He'd have been a good signing last summer though. There's no doubt about that.

I pretty much only have cheese or scrambled egg on toast Sometimes marmite. I do have a stovetop toastie maker that makes a good croque monsieur.

yeah, knives and pans are deffo worth spending on. I'm pretty much the same with anything that I touch and use everyday. I'm a fan of Bosch kettles. I work from home and boil a lot of water in my kettles. **** ones don't last. I've had 2 Bosch kettles in the last 20 years and my current one is about 5 years old and looks and works like it's brand new. I do descale it a fair bit cos I live in a particularly hard water area. I do like dualit toasters but I bought a knock off dualit style one from Currys about 10 years ago for about a tenner and it's still going strong.

Yeah if we're gonna replace Slot. Alonso is right up my alley.

I don't think anyone is giving enough thought to how difficult it has been to assimilate a player like Wirtz in as a number 10 into a team and squad that has been playing 433 without a 10 and/or a double pivot. Especially how that needs a different mindset and positioning with regard to potential counter-press and counter-attack and even more so with two attacking fullbacks. Gravenberch has got the hang of it somewhat. Neither Jones or Mac Allister have. We probably need another 2 CMs to make it work properly over a season.

Sorry Jim. Trauma response.

No. We were absolutely abysmal. Far worse than we are now. Under hodgson I expected us to get beat in every match, not because of some weird psychodrama and internal mental collapse, whilst often being objectively the better team but because we were invariably and obviously the worst team on the pitch, game in game out.

You have a VERY different memory of that time than I do. Uncle ****ing Roy indeed.

With the squad we started with we needed no injuries.

Maybe we had a deal done at more reasonable wage in the summer and City are blowing us right out of the water with wages this time around. Otherwise this makes no sense unless Guehi himself would rather go there.

yeah, proper amateur hour.

He missed his vocation as a war movie tank commander or a Star Wars imperial officer.

Yeah I agree. Just saying that he's not necessarily going to be cheaper or easier to agree a deal with this window compared with last summer. I think the opposite may be true.

Yeah, I've not gone along with the "he cost £35m in the Summer so..." line of thinking. He'll cost what he costs. Palace won't just accept a fee unless they know Guehi will go the club they accept a fee from. And why would he agree unless he's agreed a whopping fee that covers the loss of a free signing on fee? In the summer we had to agree a fee with Palace and then relatively easy wages with him and his agent. Essentially now it's two big fees.

Yeah, when he's been good he's been consistently very good, even with the odd mishap. But when he's been crap he's been consistently ****ing crap. I'd have no problem replacing him with a slightly worse defender who was consistent. Guehi would be great I think. Even if there's a slight drop off in aerial power in extremis. Surely there are other defenders out there. Guehi would make a difference for instance in our build up. That said, I've got no problem if signs a new deal and regains his best form and consistency. Clearly the Madrid rumours went to his head.

I’m still confused

I'm not getting my hopes up about consistency. I'm hoping for a bit more of that next season and expecting it the season after that. So much upheaval in the summer and I think we have several positions that still need addressing. Arsenal are consistent. That's 'cos the core of their team has been there for a few seasons and they've been adding to it, not replacing key players. Villa are quite consistent too for the same reason. We're not and no amount of tactics or coaching will solve that in the short term like it hasn't anywhere else, ever as far as I can remember.

I'm okay with Slot. I think he's decent and events have conspired. I hope we ride it out. This season has been a write off in a number of ways.

Precisely. He's right though. But that doesn't stop anyone thinking Martinelli is a c*** for doing that. In fact it compounds it.