Proud-Blue

I mean I understand Estevao Willian is apparently incredibly talented, but we're absolutely crying out for someone on the left. I suppose he won't actually be playing for us for a few more years anyway... assuming he makes it.

I genuinely think the owners have not decided what to do yet. The next three games will be absolutely crucial. If we get Europa League, I'd be pretty certain he's safe.

United are statistically one of the most fortunate teams in the league. They have no business being where they are and should probably be 6/7 places lower. They're showing their actual level now, not bad form. More importantly for us, this should be all the motivation we need. Three wins and we can get Europa league football.

They absolutely do. For all the problems the team has had, precisely zero have been caused by the players disliking Poch in any way, shape or form. Quality of players and coaching is another issue, but they absolutely do want to play for him.

It looked very obviously on but they took ages with it. The automated offsides can't come fast enough.

Probably worth putting on Nkunku, Colwill, and Sterling for some fitness minutes. I mean I am admittedly terrified that someone will look at Nkunku funny and injure him, but he does need the minutes...

I missed all but the last 5 minutes of the first half. Sounds like we played alright?!

This is a very short turnaround and that's especially problematic given our injuries. I think it's unlikely we'll get the level of performance we got against Spurs. Hopefully we have a couple of players returning we can use as substitutes. Either way we should in theory have enough to beat them...

I wish the language barrier wasn't a problem with that interview. I don't think Poch was able to articulate exactly what he meant in that interview. Maybe at some point he will need to have a translator in the press conference. I remember Sarri doing that as a one off to communicate a message to his players when he was unhappy.

We have all been critical of this team and players, but tonight they genuinely fought for the badge. There were some outstanding performances from the most unlikely suspects, especially Cucurella. Credit to everyone, including Poch.

Thrilled for Chalobah to get MoTM but baffled he didn't give it to Cucurella!

TOTTENHAM GET BATTERED EVERYWHERE THEY GO TOTTENHAM GET BATTERED EVERYWHERE THEY GOOOOO

Having to dig deep. I'm a bit worried as this goes on our lack of options on the bench will be telling. Gonna need some luck...

Has someone put on a Cucurella wig? This is quite astounding from him!

Excellent first half performance. Just lock Poch out of the dressing room now and we're fine.

That should have been 1-1. How on earth did he not score? Very fortunate.

Chalobah!!! 1-0!!!

Been a good first 23 minutes to be fair. Mudryk and Madueke looking lively.

Agreed, if the price was reasonable. I know it's not saying much, but he'd be an upgrade on what we have on the left at the moment. He's not had a great season but his career stats are fantastic. He also has plenty of experience. He could of course be on a massive downward trajectory, but I'd rather spend on him than another punt on some randomers.

3-0 to Arse now. Listening on the radio as I'm travelling back north but it sounds like they're getting smashed

I can't remember a more baffling player for us than Mudryk. He has these small moments where he looks like he could potentially be world class, but considerably more where it looks like he's never played football until now. It's almost as if we are seeing a player who was exceptionally good at playing in the park with his mates, or doing tricks in his garden, suddenly be put into a match environment. He just looks genuinely confused about when to run, when to track back, who to pass to, when to press... its stuff a player his age should have mastered. It's possible he's a late bloomer, but I'm really not sure. I fear he may be an outrageous talent that was lost because of a lower standard of coaching. Had he come through our academy, I think we could be talking about someone very different. A decision needs to be made this summer. The choices should be between keep, sell, or loan. If we keep, he needs to be played centrally. This does give him the opportunity and freedom to do some of the ridiculous bits of individual skill he has displayed on occasion (goal vs Newcastle at home for instance). Playing him on the wings is limiting and think frankly he just doesn't understand what to do in that position. The problem is, by playing him as a ten we are dropping Gallagher or Nkunku (assuming fitness) or possibly Palmer. Can we really say that any of those players should be dropped for Mudryk? I think the case would be difficult to make. If we sell him, I suspect we will make quite a substantial loss. I'm also not sure who would actually buy him. But since he has had two seasons and barely shown any improvement, this may be a reasonable option. I think the most likely option is a loan. He would need to go somewhere with a coach who is willing to work with him and his deficiencies. I'd be reluctant to send him to a PL team because he wouldn't get in many due to his tactical deficiencies. Maybe the only one who would want him is De Zerbi at Brighton. I am really disappointed about the situation. I saw Mudryk play for Shaktar against Celtic and thought he was magnificent. I had such high hopes when we signed him. He also does have some real individual quality, and it's confusing that he looks so lost at PL level. In an ideal world, we would see vast improvement under different coaching either here or on loan. But sadly I'm not optimistic.

Frustrating game. The second half performance was among the best we've played this season. Caicedo was immense. This may be a minority opinion, but I do buy into the hype with him. I accept he's not worth what we paid, but his ball winning ability and engine is absolutely top quality. The issue is his two best games have been without Enzo next to him. Now to be clear, I do rate Enzo highly and think he needs to be in a different system to the "run and vibes" we currently play. But I think they need a third CM with them if they're to play together. This means a formation change, probably to 4-3-3 or something similar. It could be that this is what Lavia was bought for, but I'm sure Gallagher would work too. Ah well. Since we are most likely not qualifying for Europe, all we can really do is hope for good performances and results. At least we got the former.

I travelled down for the game yesterday. The penalty looked suspicious from the MHL and I have to say replays show it was soft to the extreme. The yellow cards, especially the second, were an embarrassment. Its not quite Ovrebo bad, but it was equally as impactful. Absolutely gutted for the players and Emma who deserved way better.