Reddish-Blue

Don't worry, we have the reliable Tosin at the back, he'll just keep backing off the Spurs attack until they score 😆 How we went from playing decent football vs Wolves in the first half, to almost throwing away the cup game due to pathetic defense is beyond me.

To be fair, he did have that 4 goal game vs Wolves 😆 Nice to see Gittens taking on players, hopefully once he gets a bit of confidence, he can start building a partnership with Estevao.

What was that striker's name? He's coming next season, wonder if we can ask Strasbourg to bring it forward to January 😆

It depends, has he been sent off this season? If not, we can't go and buy him as the rest of our team loves a red card! 😄

Hato reminds me of young Ake when he came across from Dutch league. Once he gets a bit more physical, he could easily play that LCB role in a back 3. I just hope we give Hato the time to develop as he's got the skills to be a quality defenders for years to come.

This has a 1-0 loss written all over it

Even if the team is picked from above him, most of the XI is auto at this point. Sanchez, James, Cucu, two CB's, Caicedo, Enzo, Neto, Pedro (and Palmer once he's fit). All this talk about picking/dropping players, more like we lack the quality in the squad. If Fofana/Badi/Lavia weren't walking injuries, we would actually have decent squad depth.

Without Gusto, we have no backup at RB and Santos is supposed to be the squad midfielder (with Lavia's injury issues). I could see Santos being sold next summer though (if the fee offered is high enough)

To be honest, its like a never ending cycle Fofana and Badi get fit to play ---> They play like 2 games ---> The manager tells the press that they got injured ----> They go missing for the next 3+ months ----> No one wants to buy them because they are injury prone ----> They get fit again

Wasn't Fofana on the bench for the game? Sort of surprised that he didn't get subbed on for the last 10-15

If JP is injured, why is he playing every game? No point having a player out there just to make up the numbers. The problem with the whole squad is the lack of experience to get them across the line in tight games. If Tosin, Chalobah and Sanchez are your 'experienced' guys who are supposed to keep the Under-23 boys in check, we are in alot of trouble. I get the business model and investing in youth but you need 2-3 quality players of that 28-31 age group to help the youngsters out. Its not like Estevao and co will pop-up with brilliance every single game, thats where a fit Palmer is so sorely missed.

It is crazy to think that our "oldest" players are Tosin, Cucurella and Sanchez and in all honesty, only one of them should be a guaranteed starter 😆 Imagine if we had the experience of Kovacic/Jorginho/Kante/Cesc in the midfield to help these young guys or even the likes of Cahill/Luiz/Rudiger at the back

Thats just excuses for having a sub-par attack whenever Palmer is out of the side. Our front line is so bad in terms of inconsistency. I don't see any of our attackers getting 10+ goals this season. Another team figuring out that we can't break down a half-decent parked bus and then Maresca not realising that Sunderland have picked up quite a few goals late in the game this season from counter-attacks and long balls over the top. Wolves and Spurs coming up.....both teams love a counter-attack, can't wait to see Tosin/Chalobah get rinsed again 😆

Never forget the 3 subs in 20 minutes against United when Sanchez decided to foul Mbeumo. This time we didn't get a red card but his subs were horrible. We really are missing Palmer's magic as Pedro seems to have forgotten how to score since the CWC 😆

Hopefully we can continue the good form and get the win. Sunderland have been good this season, won't be easy!

We signed two squad players and both of them are out till December/January (Delap/Essugo) 😄

It would be interesting to see if Facundo was registered for UCL. If so, he could play the 10 and then Gittens - Estevao on the wings with Neto off the bench.

Liverpool just getting a bit of payback from the football gods for forcing Newcastle to sell Isak. 😆

Happy to see Josh get minutes and also good to see that the club didn't sell him off in the window (Bournemouth and a few other clubs were quite keen for a permanent deal).

We started with a makeshift midfield who haven't really played together, fully expected Forest to get on top and get an early goal. Thankfully they left their shooting boots at home! We could have paid Villa for Rogers instead of Garnacho and Gittens.

Hopefully Caicedo, Enzo are all right. Interesting midfield setup

I just hope that Caicedo gets a breather every now and then, so important to the midfield. If only Santos was fit, we need that depth and Essugo is also out for ages.

If he's like Hazard and gives us amazing memories for around 5 seasons, wins the PL and other trophies and then wants to try something new, that would be fine. Every player has a dream and from what I've seen South American players typically enjoy playing in La Liga at some point in their careers. Feels like it is inevitable that Estevao and Enzo will ask for moves to Spanish clubs at some point

Hopefully not too long, one of our crucial players in the back line

I'd be surprised if he doesn't go back to Spurs for 1-2 seasons so that he can go for Shearer's record