Tomo

Although I didn't expect him to get zero minutes this week I did say he needed to be took out of the firing line a bit. He was great Vs Liverpool and all right against Norwich but against Leicester and Sheffield United to say he was largely anonymous is being kind. Remember when Conte kept playing 21 year old Christensen through his shit spell only to damage him further?

Gone a bit unnoticed with Tomori's masterclass but I thought Kurt was very good today. He came into a very awkward situation and did well.

He always seems to respond well whenever Emerson has a run (case I'm point this fixture the year before last which was in my opinion his best performance for us).

For me it's all right at the minute because we are at the stage of development where performances take just as much stock as results and to match who are whether we like it or not the best team in the land right now and one of the best in PL history is a very positive sign at this point. I however do agree that over time that these type of soundbites will have to erode and be replaced by more substance. That's where Arsenal went wrong 2005 onwards, even when Cesc/Nasri etc hit their prime it they still had the same targets as they did when the players were teenagers (ie play well and get top 4).

Pep done the exact same thing after City drew against Spurs, does that mean City are not a top team anymore.

I think the open play defending has improved since United/Leicester/pre season however set piece defending if anything is getting worse, look like conceding every time we face one.

The stupid thing is it's fixing things that don't need fixing and neglecting things that do. I'll say that if/when we benefit from it also, a small toe being offside, who actually cares?

The more gutting thing is we don't deserve to be losing this. Liverpool are ahead of us in development right now so if they were outrightly outplaying us I'd be able to just say whatever fair enough. But we've more than matched them and handed them two goals.

Adrian is a cunt at it, I went to the 0-0 West Ham game a few years ago and he was doing it to this level then aswell. There's slyly running down a few seconds then there's what he does.

I bet you he won't.

While I don't think Azpi is captain material that's reaching a bit calling him out for that. Drogba once had a manhug with Carragher at Anfield while we were two down and Zlatan greeted our players with smiles after we stuffed United 4-0.

Wait until Thiago Motta becomes a manager, he apparently has a plan to have the keeper as part of the midfield.

I said in the summer that these predictions of Spurs being nailed on 3rd were extremely lazy, they have stagnated and are going backwards. We have a serious shot at a comfortable 3rd place ourselves this season if we can get all our players fit.

Norwich fair enough but Wolves is a bit of a grey area as he did actually save the shot but then it hit Tammy and went in.

I think he does the basic stuff really well actually, shots he's actually expected to save he does it like food and drink, the only issue is so far we've rarely seen the impossible done with him (which separates him from the likes of Alison, prime DDG etc) which means we don't often stay in the game while getting battered or keep a clean sheet/only concede one while conceding lots of chances like we often did with Courtois. I don't worry about him being a spectacular liability like one of Arsenal's banter keepers of the late 00s/early 10's but equally not sure he can ever break out to a level he consistently saves our arse when an opponent is smashing us. 10 years ago I'd say we need an upgrade but in this era his weaknesses ain't that big a problem if we can grow into the side we hope. I'd say Ederson is a similar level to Kepa but his weaknesses at "actual goalkeeping" is rarely exposed due to how good and complete the side he's playing for is.

I imagine if everything goes to plan it will be two and a half years into the deals (so midway through 21/22 if not a bit before) we will approach the academy 8 for the next spree of new deals. I imagine if they all progress like we hope they will get rises to the 180k-250k bracket (adjusted if inflation gets even more obscene before then) which would be pretty good deals for top class local boys.

Agree apart from Jorginho in for Kovacic then swapping positions with Kante.

That's exactly why i'd like to keep him beyond this season (restricted role though obviously). He's the perfect mentor for the young lads due to being in this position (coming through at a major club with huge pressure) himself, among other things. In my opinion he should be retained in the squad until either he wants to go somewhere else for more games or when he gets to the point he can't physically compete at this level even as a squad player.

I think the real reason is his performances haven't been good enough and Lampard is covering for him in the media. I wanted him to come on purely because of the fact Willy and Pedro on together is an eyesore but I can certainly see why Pulisic has been taken out of the firing line. I have high hopes for him long term but apart from vs Liverpool (and Salzburg if we extend our assessment to pre season) he's been as raw as you can get so far and needs easing into things.

I hope so, because if he does that means he's living up to the billing.

I imagine Mount is on 70k ish and the others not far from that. Not that great a difference, we're hardly talking an Alexis situation.

Emery is the most strangest manager I've ever seen. He's a defensive manager who can't coach his side to defend. They are worse than Wengers Arsenal at the back and less creative than Chelsea 10-11 upfront, bizzare.

I would have backed Inter had they signed better than Lukaku and Alexis. No way can they hold up for 38 games with those two as the main attackers, even with Conte's reputation for unexpected titles.

Give Kante an injection, play him for this game then rest him till whenever he needs. Play the same way as Istanbul but Tammy and Tomori instead of Oli and Zouma. Other circumstances I'd say Giroud (as for some reason he tends to cause VVD problems) but can't drop Tammy with his current goal run. This game is important to send a message, we won't be finishing above Liverpool this season but a win would show them that we well and truly plan on competing with them in the long run (a bit like what they did to City at Anfield the year before they challenged them for the league).

Seems the stage now where it's 99% done, like when they announce teams have agreed terms on a transfer.