20 Oct 2026 21:53:35
That midfield needs majorly addressed and hopefully it starts in January. They ain't good enough.
20 Oct 2026 21:58:56
Ron complaining about our midfield. Now I have seen it all.
20 Oct 2026 22:03:41
Considering the contract situation around Van Dijk and Alisson, there is going to be a lot that needs addressing.
20 Oct 2026 22:10:53
I do wonder why you watch football, you don't appear to enjoy any of it.
20 Oct 2026 22:28:00
There is just no pleasing some people.
20 Oct 2026 22:36:08
Both Allison and VVD should get a 12 month extension IMO. I'd also sign Araujo permanently and that addesses much of our defensive issue for a few years.
20 Oct 2026 22:41:37
Six changes from Saturday and Andoni still wins, you have to give Andoni credit for that!
YNWA Andoni.
{Ed666's Note - 6 changes and coming back from 2 goals down gotta give them total reverence.
20 Oct 2026 23:54:45
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold your horses.
@Ron, this is all new to me, do you think you could do a quick article explains why the midfield is so bad and what the club need to do to make it better. Like I say, this is all new stuff to us and I, for one, would be grateful if you could keep the board informed on a daily basis.
12 goals in 3 wins (out of 3 matches) in a week suggests to me that we need a complete overhaul of everything and you seem like the chap who knows what the club needs to do.
21 Oct 2026 00:14:30
The defence was all over the shop though. Most of our midfield had good games.
21 Oct 2026 00:40:12
The midfield of Macallister, Nyoni and Grav? Ryan was mediocre at times but Nyoni was very good and Macca scored twice.
21 Oct 2026 01:51:37
Great to come back from 2 down, at least we've shown we can do it but there was some absolutely shocking football at times, especialy in that first 30 mins. VVD was on another planet for the first goal, I can forgive the misjudged header but why was he only jogging back at a snails pace after giving it away? He made no effort whatsoever. Araujo thought he was playing CM for the 2nd goal, complete lack of awareness, (I'll forgive him this time for getting the equalizer), Rio was half-ass tracking back even though he could blatanlty see the gap Araujo had left behind, and his man running into it. We were really all over the place at times, and again, like against Brentford we completly failed to control the tail end of the game, something we really need to improve on. 5 more minutes and I reckon we'd have conceded another goal.
Rio was phenomenal going forward, Macca had an excellent game too, hopefully a sign of things to come from him this season as we really need the midfield to step it up, Wirtz did well when he came on, hopefully that goal is just the confidence booster he needs to kick on.
{Ed666's Note - Bah humbug is it Xmas already..?…6 changes from the weekend, much weakened side..we came from 0-2 down..Let’s gooooooo!!! I’m not having a go mate and you know I’m the first one to slag off a bad performance but I do think this is the time to do it. There was mitigation for the poor performance for some of the game today and very little mitigation against Brentford. We’re in a strong position in the CL table, Macca, Wirtz & Rio played well lots to be content with
21 Oct 2026 03:35:54
People are only happy if it's a perfect performance, it's quite sad really.
21 Oct 2026 07:18:21
I was surprised that Macca started deep with Grav further forward. For me, Grav's biggest strength is receiving the ball on the half turn from the defence and running at the opposition and Macca's strengths are very much at the top of the pitch rather than deeper. That said, I was pleased to see Macca tracking back and working harder than he has in the past. Hopefully Iraola's methods and tactics are starting to take effect.
It was the most Jeckyll and Hyde performance I can remember in a long time though. For 35 mins we were embarrassing. No urgency, no hunger, complete complacency but then when we went 2-0 down we seemed to finally wake up and were a completely different (and decent) team. We turned the game round before having another shaky period of the last 10 mins.
More positives than negatives I'd say but Brighton on current form will rip us a new one if we start like that at the weekend!
21 Oct 2026 07:24:33
Could probably write a 30 page article on the negatives and another on the positives. 3 points after that first half is an outstanding achievement.
Good thing that's gone unnoticed is how many players we have off the mark in regard to goals. 10 in total with Macca 2nd top scorer and Araujo 4th joint.
Credit to them pair and their goals last night.
21 Oct 2026 07:38:54
I cant't believe there's so many negative and critical post after that game. Do we think we have a right to win every game 4-0.
I was acting like a toddler for the first 36min after that i was screaming in joy at the TV cause we all know they can hear us ;)
It was very good to see such direct play from us at times. We do have a long way yet, and yes there are places we can strengthen, but If people can't see the improvements being made i think they will just always complain its just in their nature, and that's ok.
21 Oct 2026 08:33:31
People are right to be negative. It might be early days but those first 30 odd minutes was horrendous. A better team would have been out of sight by the end of it. People are right to be critical of the midfield issues which are as obvious as the nose on your face.
We cannot defend nor attack with it. There are positives too mixed in there but it's like we were the best of two bad teams. At least we woke up and won it. Just about.
21 Oct 2026 08:45:07
For me there's a big difference being critical vs negative.
Being critical means analysing specific elements objectively to find solutions or improvements, whereas being negative involves a blanket pessimism that dismisses value and creates a toxic atmosphere.
21 Oct 2026 10:29:12
Exactly Shankly, play like that against PSG or Barca and we'd be 4-0 down at half time. So many of the mistakes were inexcusable amateur nonsense, out of position, lack of awareness and particularly not tracking back, that last one is unforgivable for me, especially when they're watching the danger unfold as they casually jog back. there's a few in that squad need a good kick.
Spot on MrJones, the "vibe police" are always out in force after a win, no matter how poor the performance is, slating anybody who gives an honest opinion or dares to use a little critical thinking. They seem to be completely unaware that you can celebrate a win and still discuss what needs to be improved.
Ed, were there 5 more minutes in that match the tone of posts on here would have been very different, Had the result been a draw the vibe police would be singing a completely different tune despite the performance being the exact same. Humbug, I tell you! Humbug.
{Ed666's Note - I can’t stomach bad performances more than most mate. They truly boil my urine but we have to be philosophical about the situation. AI hasn’t got the players he needs to play his system. We need to give him some time to build his squad. In the meantime we’re going to get humiliated and angry and go through a gambit of emotions. Patience is the key! I have to say tho yesterday I was proud of the lads coming back from 2 goals down and more than half the team changed it was a fabulous result if not an exceptional performance.
As I say there was and is mitigating circumstances. We’ve put ourselves in a really healthy position in the CL table and now we got to just put in a team performance against Brighton who are NEVER easy