OTF

Absolutely, best game for him in the PL for a long time. Great to see.

Another soft diving prick in red and white

Willock flying in at 100 miles an hour

Howe and J. Tindall looking like a fresh new breakdancing crew on the sidelines.

Merino is a lot less likeable in red and white.

Great tackle Hall, has Trossard frustrated enough to rugby tackle out Willock's legs.

Taking the piss taking the throw in nowhere near where it went out.

Explicit touching Longstaff

Surprised the ref didn't buy it like the rest of his dives.

Much better positioning and decision making. Easy to forget he's not long turned 20. Wor Al re: Gordon's cross for our goal: "What a cross! That was a cross from the 90s!"

I'd suggest Arsenal need to investigate their boots/studs as they keep falling over under minimal amounts of contact.

Heck yeah baby! GORDON from the right and ISAK baby! #longstaffbalance

Based on that yes absolutely must. Livramento was just way behind the rest of the defensive line. Granted it was because he was trying to cover a player running through but that doesn't bode well.

Nice move there

14 fucking years since the 4-4 comeback victory, incredible. So much that game gave us. Firstly it was an absolute masterclass in shithousery, just niggling, niggling, niggling to encourage Arsenal to self-implode. Barton, probably his most memorable achievement at the club, firstly getting Diaby sent off and then putting away two penalties. Leon Best had a rightful goal chalked off to an incorrect offside decision, but eventually scored one that counted and even Nile Ranger had an impactful substitute appearance. Tiote's goal was one of the most memorable in our history and the reaction that followed was iconic. The classic Steve Harper elbow drop was born. Let's also not forget the invention of Steve Marshall Barnes. https://talksport.com/uncategorized/191864/marshall-barnes-newcastle-were-danger-losing-9-1/

It's a bit fucking weird in the age of injury and sproting intelligence that we're in, but effectively everyone knows (Wilson and Howe most of all) that if he plays in an actual game he'll pick up a real injury.

To be honest given he's already here having Barnes on the bench is a good thing. Having a strong 11 isn't enough in this league, you need someone who can come on and change things and Barnes has shown he can do that numerous times. We still need to convert one of our predominantly left sided midfield/forward players into a right sided one. Maybe it's worth a shot trying to do it with Willock? He's been off the boil and or injured for a long time but he has the energy and pressing to be super effective for 60-70 minutes not just in attack but also contributing defensively.

That's what he's best at.

The effort he puts in is unparalleled. He's a behemoth in that regards. He does sometimes find himself well out of position and/or in a footrace he can't win as a result. I don't think Botman is that much faster than Burn, but positionally he is ruled by his head rather than his heart and this makes a big difference.

It's testament to how shit our youth system was under Ashley that we were properly excited about Longstaff. He did have a good spell under Rafa but never was he ever an exciting player. Worked hard and gelled well in a midfield with Isaac Hayden (ridiculous I know). Hayden was a good player once upon a time but his body wasn't up to his combative nature. Because this was under Rafa the focus was on defensive stability and compressing space so it suited him. In a more expansive game Longstaff doesn't have the athleticism to keep up, he covers a lot of ground but at what seems a snail's pace. I don't see any future for him here and wish we sold him instead of Anderson. Miley is a superior player already with a better range of passing, more physical presence and never gets caught on the ball like Longstaff frequntly does. And that's my rant for today.

Fitness isn't stopping Longstaff from playing.

I mean even if they switch out their first 11 they'll be on higher wages than the team we put out.

Should be giving some minutes to Miley to get him back up to match sharpness.

Hopefully Man City winning their case against the FA opens up our PSR options and Howe gets a chance to replace the aging/mediocre players in the squad.