Dr Gloom

Great feet big Nick

he just struck a pearler of a pass to switch it out to Tino

We’re struggling to build anything due to Bournemouth’s relentless press. Hopefully they tire second half like we do when we play like this

we always struggle against them. They’re a good team with an excellent coach

Me too but he just gave a free kick away in a dangerous area

Bournemouth controlling the game so far

Depends how we line up. looks like 3-5-2 to me so could be Hall and Tino providing the width as wing backs

I’m not optimistic. We never do well against these. Last time we played three at the back against Leeds was a turgid affair. Hope the lads who’ve been on the bench until now play with a point to prove. Sandro is the one player you can’t afford to rotate for PL games. As long as he’s in midfield conducting we have a chance. I’d take a draw.

we’re playing three in midfield: Sandro, Willock, Miley

I’d start Botman against Bournemouth too. Give Burn a rest

I can see Thiaw taking his place then being too good for Schar to get back in

I like Barnes more as a finisher off the bench, coming on against tired legs to find us a winner. He doesn’t do anywhere near as much off the ball as Gordon does so justify starting ahead of him.

It’ll be interesting to see how we line up and how many Howe rotates against Bournemouth. I’d ring the changes. The lads put in a massive shift last night. I’d put Thiaw in for Schar, Botman for Burn, Hall for Trippier and move Timo back to RB Miley for Joelinton to try and give us more control in midfield. Elanga LW, Woldemade up top and Murphy RW

i thought tonali did a number on de jong in the first half but they grew into it as we ran out of steam and ideas. pedri was different class second half.

it's more than just his finishing. he's great up front off the ball with his pressing but his forward runs aren't intelligent enough when we have the ball. he's rarely in the right place at the right time to get on the end of something. get him back out wide where he's at his best running at full backs.

been thinking about whether we're ever going to make the transition from high intensity/transitional side to a more cultured possession-based game. the top CL sides mostly play with a double pivot and a number 10. it doesn't feel like it's in howe's dna, and he's not showed any desire to play that brand of football yet. but if we do in the future, joelinton is probably the one who misses out. i love him and what he's done for us during this phase of our growth - he will go down as a legend - but he isn't technical enough to play that way.

Pedri is silky isn't he. What a player

not the fixture you want to bounce back from defeat to barcelona. our record against them stinks and they've flown out of the blocks in the league. i'd take a draw but can see us losing. don't think we'll win 1-1

even then he did his best to miss. Not his best performance in front of the England manager. Needs to play in his natural position as Barnes isn’t doing it at the moment

It’ll be interesting to see what lineup we go with at the weekend. We have genuine competition for places now and these lads left a lot on the pitch. Eddie needs to drop the loyalty to certain players and learn how to rotate the squad this season. Big test for him because his success has often come from building up a head of steam through selection continuity

succinct and to the point. I agree. We created enough chances in the first half to have got something from the game. If only we had someone to stick it in the net

I blame Gemmill for turning up

Can’t fault the lads for effort. Game went pretty much as you’d expect. Us flying out of the blocks, them growing into the game and having all the ball. We needed to take one of those early chances. Two quality finishes from big nose the difference between the two sides. We lacked that ice man in front of goal. I hope we drop the Gordon at number 9 experiment. Disappointed not to see Woldemade start. If I’m being hyper critical I think Eddie got that call wrong. Gordon hasn’t played in his natural position all season. No disgrace losing to them. Much easier assignments ahead. Some random team from Belgium next innit

they're absolutely legacy clubs. success built on the back of the legacy of being able to spend freely. i refuse to call them "big six". there's nothing but the new financial regulations stopping us building a better legacy than the ones those cunts were lucky enough to create on the back of unregulated free-spending.