GrahamTaylor5

That was deserved

That would be fair

Chelsea look poor so far

I think he is more interested in xP

We have been without our 1st choice GK which has had a massive impact. This has, however, not really been addressed in the tactics. Botman had barely got back to match fitness and he has had a different keeper behind him which has had an impact. No way will Barnes be up to match fitness yet. Murphy has barely been back and is definitely more of an impact sub rather than someone we would want to start. Isak and Wilson returning at intermittent times has massively impacted on the fitness of them both. Willock will be nowhere near match fitness. The impact of all of the above is not just physical, there is a psychological impact that we need to learn to address. I am extremely disappointed that we have not appeared to try anything 'new' and that we seem to just have a Plan A. Maybe Plan B is to do Plan A with less intensity but it has not worked. Howe also seems to do everything to protect youth players. I think this was reflected in Miley starting on the bench last time out.

Trippier has a few times this year.

It is interesting wording as 'refused to raise salary from around £43k to £110k' could mean because £90k was the limit the club gave Ashworth but they are wording it in a way that makes Ashworth look bad. I would be extremely pleased to see him sign a contract, even if it meant a significant change in his wages of around 67K. I cannot see who we would he able to buy and pay a low enough wage to that would fill the place of a Howe-era Joelinton.

Is this a reliable account?

I understand the principle behind what you are saying and I said something very similar, around the first 4 pages of this thread, that I thought Schar or Lascelles should play this way/ this role. My point is that there must be a reason why Howe is not doing this. He has done everything to not play Tino, Hall or Anderson yet he has been forced to play Miley every game for goodness knows how long. I don't think he has wanted to do this. I think if Schar or Lascelles, or anyone else could play this way of being able to switch between defence and midfield, the way Maguire has (and well) then I think that would have been Howe's preferred option. He has stuck with both Trippier and Burn when it felt more obvious to play Hall or Tino. I really think that the players we have cannot play this switch of positions or it would have been done. I don't understand why it wouldn't work as Schar seems more than keen to push on into midfield, at times. Maybe Lascelles less so as his passing can be questionable.

How depressing must it be to support Sunderland. When we were in the Championship, they were being hammered every week in the Premier League. When we were struggling with Ashley, they got the used car salesman. When we got PFI, they thought that they got a billionaire but it turned out that they were still owner by a car salesman. We got a documentary showing shrewd negotiations when it came to Gordon, they got a bloke burning money on Will Grigg when he was explicitly told not to do so and both events were then shown on a real life version of The Office. I would be devisistated if that was Newcastle as I know that I couldn't stop supporting us.

The closest I have seen anyone say we should do that was @Nefilim thread. Even then, I am not fully convinced that he was saying we should sack Howe for Mourinho.

The first half of the game was the worst that I have seen us play for a long time. The way Arsenal cut through us was similar to what happened to us in the Champions League but in those games we were able to offer something back. I don't think the tiredness is just a physical aspect, it has a mental drain that then plays a factor on the physical. This is our first year playing the volume of games that we have faced. Arsenal have a squad (players and supporting staff) that has be built for this purpose and have numerous years doing this. I am glad that we had Champions League this year and I don't think we are going to suffer from it long term. I am not sure if it would be better to get Europa League and have the same volume of games for experience or not. The big issue is the cycle of FFP that means the longer it takes us to compete at the top 4 regularly the harder it is to do it. We can beat Arsenal, or any team, on our day and I don't think it will take us too long to get all the parts in the right place. Man U (who are doing better than it feela they should) and Chelsea show how bad a team perform when the structure at the very top is not correct. I feel we have that part right and that it will/ is transferring to the squad. I love Miggy, Murphy, Miley, Burn, Longstaff but they are nowhere near Top 4 players. This is obviously for various different reasons for each player.

I am not convinced that Schar or Lacelles are able to play this role. If they could, why wouldn't we have tried this out rather than playing Miley every single game?

I am glad to be wrong on my previous assessment of him. I would be happier to see him keep his place and see how he gets on when we are not being pegged back. I feel no loyalty to Dubs. He has been great but it isn't working with him.

Nice for Willock

I think these are good subs to be fair.

I wonder if this exposure will be great or bad for him long-term. Howe has protected Anderson, Tino and Hall. I would not be surprised to see him not play for a long time when we get Willock back to full fitness, if Bruno doesn't get the two match ban.

I didn't. I must have missed it. To be fair, for most of the game there have been about 10 players in our box so it would be a worry if he wasn't there.

You think he is playing further off his line?

There is still the gap between midfield and defence and Karius plays just as deep as Dubs. I'm not sure what Howe can do about this to be fair. Other than playing Lascelles and then putting either him of Schar between the defence and midfield but that is not their position and we would have to change the full system alongside hoping it works. We need to build the squad but that it obviously going to take far longer than anyone wants it to take.

This is disappointing. I don't expect us to win but we just look shite. Some really bad decisions.

You regretting the cinema decision?

That is disappointing but was coming.

I have a good feeling about this. Nothing to lose here and the pressure is on them.

Nowt wrong with Barbie. Surprisingly not as bad as I thought it was going to be.