Howay

It’s funny how their obsessed logic with “claiming” anywhere that’s near a drop of the Wear doesn’t seem to apply to South Shields which sits right on the mouth of the Tyne. I would add that who fucking cares, people support who they support and move around the area but that lot can’t get the concept through their thick skulls.

Almiron hopeless yet again, hopefully he’s dropped for the next game as he just kills most our attacks. It went unnoticed by many how bad he was against Villa due to the result.

Really good game overall, Isak is a ridiculous player. Tonali was brilliant and just completely ran the game, probably Gordon’s best game for us he was a nightmare for Cash who just started kicking him and the ref ignored it. Great to see Barnes come on and show why we got him, he’s so clinical and direct. Really exciting start to the season. Glad we properly shut up the YouTube fuck heads that have disrespected us by acting like Villa and Emery are miles better than us. We’re a far far better team. I thought Emery was fucking clueless today too, his tinkering around was weird - moving to 4 CMs then subbing one off for a 3rd CB.

They were playing the best football in the country and he was the man to thank just recently according to these fucking Neanderthals.

Excited for this one, a player with massive potential - it’ll be interesting to see where they play him. Think we really need a CB now with Schar hurt.

They were making out like they were the modern equivalent to the Busby babes a few months ago.

Who could resist going in for a picture with a pre-season friendly trophy?

It’s a weird one, can’t really see what it accomplishes. As RobinRobin says the problem imo is more total cunts like Arteta and Klopp screaming at officials and opposition coaches without any punishment.

I was just trying to get a rise tbh. I wish him well, I agree with Isegrims posts from earlier.

Good riddance.

Anderson is class like, his close control is really good and he made good runs most the night. Miley looks like a real player as well, looking forward to seeing the two of them develop this season.

That Chelsea kit is fucking shocking, looks like a Sunday league template.

Looking forward to it. The part where Howe is saying “if they want a quick game we will give them one” is apparently ahead of the Man U game we absolutely pumped them after Ten Hag whinged about us saying we time waste .

I feel that’s how a lot have went after joining the Athletic.

I remember having a very similar argument last season with people when I said I wouldn’t sign Targett. As Alex says a lot of the goal scoring wasn’t just a purple patch he was also playing against defences that played into his strength, the back end of the season teams sat deeper against us and he struggled not just for goals but in his overall game as he’s not that good on the ball. I couldn’t disagree more about him being the best player against Brighton, he wasn’t even close to Joelinton and others in fact at 2-0 up him missing a total fucking sitter almost cost us as Brighton made it 2-1 immediately after. He’s improved but that still doesn’t make him close to players like Gordon. His pressing side of the game is good but it’s overblown in terms of effectiveness because of how much he runs, I saw OTF mention Gordon’s pressing in comparison I think it’s a tough compare since Gordon is adapting to our system and we’ve not got a huge sample size from him but I’ve posted his stats below and you can see last season per 90 Gordon was among the best in terms of pressing type actions. I also think you’re being unfair on Barnes OTF, I’ve added his stats below as well from the season before last - it’s a hard compare because Rodgers doesn’t play a press he’s more possession based and wants his forwards to remain up top which was made worse last season as they struggled so Barnes stayed forward. Players like Almiron and Murphy missing so many chances at the back of the season is what started to make the end nervy, that’s why I hope Gordon plays as he’s a far better player than Almiron and we’ve spent significant money on him. I’d keep Almiron as a squad player as he can be a useful player but we need to improve that position. I disagree with your last point too Gloom, Howe backs his players but he’s also ruthless - Lascelles, Targett, Fraser, and Ritchie all were effective players for him in the takeover season and he basically dropped all of them when we’ve improved on them. Maybe he will start Almiron but as I say I’d be disappointed as I don’t think we will get anything more out of him next season and tbh I think we will get a drop off. Almiron last season: Barnes 2021/2022 Gordon last season A lot of the defense for keeping Almiron as starter seems a bit sentimental to me, which is fine obviously but as I say I’d prefer we improved the position and kept him as back up. It’s similar to how Southgate plays Maguire and Pickford over objectively better players in that they’ve performed for him so he won’t take a risk to see if things improve - I think, and hope, Howe will take the risk.

I’m hoping not tbh, Almiron is one of the more frustrating players on our team imo. He had a good goal run up until about January but outside of that he’s just good for pressing.

He looked canny when he came on, gave Villas high line issues and obviously helped in the lead up to the third goal. I think he’s going to start on the right as he moved there when Barnes come on

I love the screaming on at a lot of these reporters “ya caal yasel a north east journalist” completely missing the point that’s staring them in the face. We just need some Hartlepool fans to start chipping in that their preseason friendlies aren’t getting much coverage either.

Agreed, it’s a weird one for the twitter rabble to jump on Tonali missed the ball and then Buendia at full sprint clattered into him it’s not at all the physical battle people are making out, but I suppose that’s the level of football discourse nowadays.

Canny run out so far, Howe is trying something different formation wise and it’s been an entertaining game for the most part. The ref is doing all he can to try and stop the flow of the game mind.

It’s staggering they’ve spent so much when you look at their squad.