aimaad22

I'd say Howe has limited room to operate with on the touchline tbf

Udderly disgraceful trying to start a pun run in the middle of the game

Cant blame them on this occasion though

Aye, again. His Miggy style purple period might be over. Both him and Barnes have been torrid we've lacked any spark on the wings coupled with Tino looking lost near their box.

Barnes and Tino again.... cup final with these two on the left feck me

Barnes man.....seems a second too slow to everything right now

Tino looks hopeless on the left thus far. Barnes hasnt been much better.

Shcar and Tiny there dear me

Sir Rat rambling on about how shite some of his ManU players are. I mean we all know that but the owner taking names in public should really do wonders for their valuation in the summer

Howe has determined Pope is our best keeper, end of. I'll be switching screens when him and Burn are trying to pass it about though.

As strong a lineup as could have been hoped for and hopefully one that starts in the final after a good outing tonight.

That's not really how it works though is it I'd definitely take the cup win over a CL finish if we had the choice or the two were mutually exclusive. But they're not and we need to stay in the run for 5th place. The squad has it in them to put together another run and finish the season strongly, a CL place could make a big difference to the next couple of seasons and our chances of winning something then.

A shite start to the week that

I think that was just really a case of knowing it will never get overturned. Where we need to really to cut out the be nice crap is lawyering up and going after the PL once the City cases are done with the related party shite they pulled.

Unreal yet entirely predictable because this is vintage NUFC

Botman staying fit might be critical for a CL push. We've talked about the fact we cant keep poession despite Tonali and Bruno, well our CBs and Tino are a big part of that right now. I like Tino and he's got so many great aspects to his game but posession and passing are where he needs to develop. Less said about the CB pairing in that respect the better. I get that Schar was always slow and he's aged a ton this season but he was a fantastic passer of the ball and you dont suddenly lose that over a couple of months so I've no idea whats happened to him. Burn's having a brilliant season in honesty but its heart in mouth stuff when he's trying to play short balls around our box, especially if freaking Pope is around too. Botman will make a big difference, suddenly balls into midfield will flow a lot more smoothly. I hope to hell he's not going to be the next Woodgate though with the injuries. Howe has managed to pull this lot back from poor form on previous occasions. Around the cup final two years ago when things seemed to be unravelling. And then last season of course finishing 7th with that horrendous injury crisis was nothing short of a miracle. So you'd think he's got it in him to come up with something again. It can only happen so many times though and this little period when we're trying to salvage CL place should be the absolute last time Howe is required to work miracles with this squad. The utter numpties questioning his position again ffs I know its only social media mostly but deciding what bread to buy is the limit of the decision making autonomy these people should have.

Aye. Willock and Schar seem to be competing for the steepest fall off in quality in recent memory for us.

I know Gordon hasn't been great recently, but keep in mind we've been very poor in general last few games excepting Arsenal. But he's so critical to everything good we do going forward. Even today he seemed to be the only one that could find Isak with a simple pass or at least cut in and make some trouble. He's involved, he's energetic and he's a nuisance even when not playing well. Barnes and Murphy are either very good or terrible, completely anonymous for large parts. We can now only hope they buck that trend and the team finds some semblance of form from somewhere to stay in the run for the CL.

Now you get it. Call off the cup final too.

Most of those fixtures are the types we've absolutely bottled the whole season, mid table sides at home etc. Even before we went on the brilliant run. My concern is the run was a brilliant flash in the pan in an otherwise mediocre season. Hall out for a while per rumors? Just typical.

The timing is always perfect too biggest game in possibly decades coming up? Time for half the squad to drop into their worst form for years and someone to completely lose their head and get sent off. Every freaking time.

It's the performances and the massive drop off the likes of Schar Wilson and Willock are exhibiting that's disappointing. Barnes too We've got zero quality or ideas in the final third without Gordon, barring a moment of Isak magic and knowing our luck he'll be crocked for the final. I don't blame the players. Howe has got them over performing massively when in reality many are mid table standard and winning cups or finishing 4th just seems a level too high right now imo. I'm honestly not having a knee jerk. It's a compliment that this squad managed to put themselves in this position another season but they're running the course now. The teams around us look more composed, more energetic and just more competent all around. Difficult to see us finishing CL places unless Howe works up another miracle. This phase of the evolution is ending. Up to the club to back him this summer now.

Which is why the final is a gone conclusion. He's our most important player behind Isak and the only with any end product. And he's a fucking moron who's bottled it today

He takes about 5 seconds to 'load' his cross lifting his leg back. A defender on a wheelchair could get there to block it

Our end product is laughable. Willock ffs so many good positions cant do shite with it