⚽ Football (Soccer)

[BlackFox]

Dire performance and result from the sound of it. Not surprised given the side we put out looked very weak BUT it should still be beating Wolves at home. Really frustrating too as Chelsea dropped points and we could have got above them with a win. I've lost count of how many points we have dropped at home to silly sides now, I really thought we had turned the corner with that but it appears not. Our front line is not the strongest anyway but without Bruno, Mbuemo and Amad it is terrible at creating chances.

I dont know what are plans in January actually are, if any, but we could do with some major signings but that rarely happens this time of year, otherwise a top 10 position is pretty much all its going to be.

 

[Zantera]

I do feel annoyed at how cowardly Amorim approaches some of these games. I mean Wolves at home - you can't be scared trying to hang onto a 1-0 lead. If there's ever a game in our season where we get a 3-0 win - this is it! They have been absolutely dire and we almost gifted them their first win.

With that said I think the bench yesterday also just shows how paper thin we are at the moment. As soon as I saw the bench I had a bad feeling that we'd probably not get 3 points.

 

[B]

Really poor last night, struggled to really get going & get into any sort of rhythm, the chances we did create came few & far between, with no period of sustained pressure. Cunha is really the only player we have available at the minute that seems capable of going ultra direct & fashioning a chance for himself or someone else, Sesko also to an extent.

Ordinarily, while disappointing as a non-home win is I'd be, it happens, but given how generationally poor Wolves have been this season, a draw at home feels like a lose.

I'll cut Amorim the same sort of slack I've cut previous managers when we've had these sort of selection issues, but he didn't exactly help himself last night. Gary Neville has this unwavering, staunch opposition to 3 at the back as if it's the root cause of all problems, I don't, I think it's got a time & a place, but what I will say is, you got a good result & decent performance against a solid Newcastle team playing an 4-4-2/4-3-3 formation, why change? We're playing a worse side, who we knew play 3 at the back themselves, would sit in resulting in it becoming a 5 at the back.. for me the reverting tactical change didn't make sense. Particularly also when the players we do have available for selection are arguably more suited to probably a 4-4-2 as it would have got them in more natural positions with the most out of position player being Dorgu.. who rather fittingly played very well against Newcastle & looked like a natural.. although I'm sure he's played as a winger/inverted winger at some point in his career.

We've Leeds & Burnley I believe next, need much improved performances are needed.

 

[Zantera]

When it comes to Amorim I definitely see the arguments for both sides (firing him or giving him time). For me it's firmly in the yellow zone right now and I will cut him some slack in some areas. I do think our squad at the moment is really barebones and the bench yesterday was proof of that. There wasn't anyone to throw on to change the game really, just a bunch of kids. I also think Amorim unlike Ten Hag or a few other managers we've had actually knows our problems and from the way he speaks in interviews at least he seems on our wavelength. (Whether he can fix those issues or not is a separate issue) I also think for all the fast trigger pulling, right now there's not a lot of exciting options and our squad isn't the best. I don't really see a harm in sticking with him until the summer when we'll definitely have a more clear picture if there has been improvement or not.

But I also think he's made mistakes and he's not making it easier for himself. Some of the results have been really bad this year. Let's not forget Grimsby but for me any top team in PL can have a "David vs Goliath" loss in the Carabao Cup every few years. For me what stings more are the results like yesterday at home against one of the worst PL teams ever, or losing to a 10-man Everton at home a few weeks ago. These are the kind of games we should be winning by now, he's had a year in the job after all. If we lost to better teams that's fair but we should be beating Wolves.

Then there's also the case for someone like Arteta not doing very well with Arsenal for years before they saw some reward for sticking with him through multiple bad seasons. Am I saying Amorim will have a similar turnaround for us? Who knows. You can look at pros and cons of firing a manager and you can never see the parallel timelines of how things pan out.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Really poor last night, struggled to really get going & get into any sort of rhythm, the chances we did create came few & far between, with no period of sustained pressure. Cunha is really the only player we have available at the minute that seems capable of going ultra direct & fashioning a chance for himself or someone else, Sesko also to an extent.

Ordinarily, while disappointing as a non-home win is I'd be, it happens, but given how generationally poor Wolves have been this season, a draw at home feels like a lose.

I'll cut Amorim the same sort of slack I've cut previous managers when we've had these sort of selection issues, but he didn't exactly help himself last night. Gary Neville has this unwavering, staunch opposition to 3 at the back as if it's the root cause of all problems, I don't, I think it's got a time & a place, but what I will say is, you got a good result & decent performance against a solid Newcastle team playing an 4-4-2/4-3-3 formation, why change? We're playing a worse side, who we knew play 3 at the back themselves, would sit in resulting in it becoming a 5 at the back.. for me the reverting tactical change didn't make sense. Particularly also when the players we do have available for selection are arguably more suited to probably a 4-4-2 as it would have got them in more natural positions with the most out of position player being Dorgu.. who rather fittingly played very well against Newcastle & looked like a natural.. although I'm sure he's played as a winger/inverted winger at some point in his career.

We've Leeds & Burnley I believe next, need much improved performances are needed.

When it comes to Amorim I definitely see the arguments for both sides (firing him or giving him time). For me it's firmly in the yellow zone right now and I will cut him some slack in some areas. I do think our squad at the moment is really barebones and the bench yesterday was proof of that. There wasn't anyone to throw on to change the game really, just a bunch of kids. I also think Amorim unlike Ten Hag or a few other managers we've had actually knows our problems and from the way he speaks in interviews at least he seems on our wavelength. (Whether he can fix those issues or not is a separate issue) I also think for all the fast trigger pulling, right now there's not a lot of exciting options and our squad isn't the best. I don't really see a harm in sticking with him until the summer when we'll definitely have a more clear picture if there has been improvement or not.

But I also think he's made mistakes and he's not making it easier for himself. Some of the results have been really bad this year. Let's not forget Grimsby but for me any top team in PL can have a "David vs Goliath" loss in the Carabao Cup every few years. For me what stings more are the results like yesterday at home against one of the worst PL teams ever, or losing to a 10-man Everton at home a few weeks ago. These are the kind of games we should be winning by now, he's had a year in the job after all. If we lost to better teams that's fair but we should be beating Wolves.

Then there's also the case for someone like Arteta not doing very well with Arsenal for years before they saw some reward for sticking with him through multiple bad seasons. Am I saying Amorim will have a similar turnaround for us? Who knows. You can look at pros and cons of firing a manager and you can never see the parallel timelines of how things pan out.

Neville is always going to have issues with a United side that doesn't have wingers as they are such a tradition of our clubs attacking play, but in general very few teams use the system for good reason, unless you have ideal personnel like Leverkusen a couple of seasons ago, it's inherently defensive and negative, it's why Conte has been successful with it. You also don't have players that are specially developed from youth to play as wingbacks, so finding hybrids is difficult, as it's such a key position for creating attacking overloads in the system.

As for Amorim, I have no faith left, his stubbornness over the formation and his absolutely bizarre substitutions, along with the backfoot approach is never going to lead us anywhere.

 

[Zantera]

I don't get too focused on the formation because I saw us play terrible with 4 at the back for months and years under Ten Hag, Rangnick, Ole and so on. Now we're playing 3/5 at the back and its also bad but I also think players matter. We've just gotten Martinez back for example and he adds something none of the other CBs really add. We've also rotated a lot. Lammens didnt start the season in goal for us and on our 3 CBs we've probably not had the same 3 defenders for like 3 games in a row.

But also our midfield is just dire no matter how many you push in there. Under the last year of Ten Hag and under Amorim it's hard to say any midfield-combination has really worked. The reason Im OK with keeping Amorim until the summer is that I don't see the midfield getting any signings until then anyways and what will another manager do with Ugarte, Casemiro, Mainoo and Bruno?

I do think he needs to show us something by the end of the season for me to back him beyond then though. This season has been better then last but the table is so squished together that finishing 5th or 12th are both realistic scenarios and its up to Amorim to put us higher rather than lower. I think at our best this season we have looked decent, just wasteful. But if he doesn't get Cunha/Sesko/Mbeumo firing then it doesn't matter.

 

[B]

When it comes to Amorim I definitely see the arguments for both sides (firing him or giving him time). For me it's firmly in the yellow zone right now and I will cut him some slack in some areas. I do think our squad at the moment is really barebones and the bench yesterday was proof of that. There wasn't anyone to throw on to change the game really, just a bunch of kids. I also think Amorim unlike Ten Hag or a few other managers we've had actually knows our problems and from the way he speaks in interviews at least he seems on our wavelength. (Whether he can fix those issues or not is a separate issue) I also think for all the fast trigger pulling, right now there's not a lot of exciting options and our squad isn't the best. I don't really see a harm in sticking with him until the summer when we'll definitely have a more clear picture if there has been improvement or not.

But I also think he's made mistakes and he's not making it easier for himself. Some of the results have been really bad this year. Let's not forget Grimsby but for me any top team in PL can have a "David vs Goliath" loss in the Carabao Cup every few years. For me what stings more are the results like yesterday at home against one of the worst PL teams ever, or losing to a 10-man Everton at home a few weeks ago. These are the kind of games we should be winning by now, he's had a year in the job after all. If we lost to better teams that's fair but we should be beating Wolves.

Then there's also the case for someone like Arteta not doing very well with Arsenal for years before they saw some reward for sticking with him through multiple bad seasons. Am I saying Amorim will have a similar turnaround for us? Who knows. You can look at pros and cons of firing a manager and you can never see the parallel timelines of how things pan out.

Personally, I wouldn't sack him at all, I think the earliest a decision should be made on him is the end of the season, obviously barring anything abnormal like a complete & total collapse in results/form ie going on the sort of run Liverpool went on earlier this season or City last season losing 6 or 7 on the bounce, Amorim doesn't have the credit in the bank to survive that kind of run selection problems or not. Last season appointing him when we were already on a violent downward trend was a mistake, as now this season it just seems to take a single bad result to immediately invite pressure from namely the media but also some fans.

If he wants to survive, he needs to at least show a willingness to adapt.. there has been brief glimpses of that during his near year in charge that he is willing, but Wolves was a backwards move I thought. I'm not really talking about formation/system, but I'm more talking about just a willingness to recognise when he's been wrong & quickly right it like the vast majority managers that reach the top do.

Neville is always going to have issues with a United side that doesn't have wingers as they are such a tradition of our clubs attacking play, but in general very few teams use the system for good reason, unless you have ideal personnel like Leverkusen a couple of seasons ago, it's inherently defensive and negative, it's why Conte has been successful with it. You also don't have players that are specially developed from youth to play as wingbacks, so finding hybrids is difficult, as it's such a key position for creating attacking overloads in the system.

As for Amorim, I have no faith left, his stubbornness over the formation and his absolutely bizarre substitutions, along with the backfoot approach is never going to lead us anywhere.

I get the impression he froths at the mouth at the prospect of speaking with the benefit of hindsight about why something Amorim (or ten Hag/any previous manager) did failed & it's something I don't remember him doing too often when his mate Ole was running the show.

In this day & age it's rare for any team have a singular formation/system that works against every opponent as each of them pose differing problems to deal with, both defensively & offensively. How any formation actually plays on the pitch largely depends on which profile of player is selected in each role.

 

[Zantera]

Maresca and Chelsea parting ways. On one hand I think it comes as a surprise. I do think Chelsea have been in a bit of a rough patch but unlike Amorim, Frank or Slot (a few weeks ago) I haven't heard a lot of buzz about his job being in danger. But also Chelsea have a history of not keeping their managers for long and it was similar when Pochettino was shown the door. Still Maresca had some cryptic press conferences and my initial feeling is that there must have been friction behind closed doors.

It's probably very frustrating to try and mount a title challenge when the people above you keep making transfer decisions that go against making the team better. When you keep swapping around "young and promising player who might be world class in a few years" with another "young and promising player who might be world class in a few years" it's not really moving the team forward.

I think we've discussed it before but are Gittens and Garnacho really much better than Madueke and Nkunku? Are Delap and Joao Pedro much better than Jackson and Joao Felix? Not really. If Maresca had any say in the signings I'm sure he (and a lot of other managers) would have said "Get me Semenyo not Gittens". Or "Get me Osimhen not Delap".

 

[B]

Bit of a strange one just how it all come about, obviously their form/performances have been quite inconsistent but I didn't expect him to be sacked now. Seems to be very similar to Nuno's departure from Forest in that it was more about whatever was happening behind the scenes, than strictly what was happening on the pitch.

 

[BlackFox]

Chelsea have had a similar season to us really, one good result followed by bad and we are the same points but it feels like, if you listen to some media, we are having a much worse season so I'm kind of surprised Chelsea have pulled the trigger. Not sure who will be taking over now but I guess they are thinking a new man and a Jan window can give them the push to get in the top 4 for certain.

 

[Zantera]

I have very little faith we beat Leeds today sadly. If you can't beat Wolves at home then Leeds away feels harder. Would be nice if we did though because teams around us are slipping and you expect some of them to get a grip eventually.

 

[BlackFox]

Yeah Leeds away in an early kick off on a cold January day screams like a loss to me. They are doing really well lately and will be well up for beating us as they will fancy their chances and the environment will be hostile. I dont see our players coping with all that very well even if we had all our main players available, which we dont.

 

[Zantera]

Yeah Leeds away in an early kick off on a cold January day screams like a loss to me. They are doing really well lately and will be well up for beating us as they will fancy their chances and the environment will be hostile. I dont see our players coping with all that very well even if we had all our main players available, which we dont.

I think also the historical importance and rivalry in the game will probably fire up Leeds to 150% (winning the war of the roses against the mighty Man Utd would be big for them) meanwhile I think one of the biggest issues we've had since the Ferguson days is that we don't get nearly as fired up for games as we should. If this was with Sir Alex on the bench you would expect the players to go out, give it their all in every situation but I expect to see some players jogging around putting in 75% effort.

EDIT:
So our starting lineup might be the most defensive I've ever seen. Shaw-Martinez-Heaven-Yoro-Dalot but then Casemiro-Ugarte and Dorgu as RW I'm guessing (?). 6 defenders 2 defensive midfielders. Wow.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Chelsea making the move with Maresca was probably the right call, they weren't much better than us, and we're mostly dire. We just love to stay in our toxic relationships to protect the kids AKA the bank accounts of the parasite brothers and Scameos.

I get the impression he froths at the mouth at the prospect of speaking with the benefit of hindsight about why something Amorim (or ten Hag/any previous manager) did failed & it's something I don't remember him doing too often when his mate Ole was running the show.

In this day & age it's rare for any team have a singular formation/system that works against every opponent as each of them pose differing problems to deal with, both defensively & offensively. How any formation actually plays on the pitch largely depends on which profile of player is selected in each role.

It's the thing of all the defensive selections, like our wingbacks are usually 2 fullbacks instead of wingers, and the system is inherently more defensive as you start with 3 CB's instead of 3 midfielders, we just compound the negative with the type of wingbacks we play, but the base of the system is a negative idea in general and no amount of fluidity is going to help that, you can spice it up of course, but it's no coincidence that no top side utilises it outside of Serie A, attack is the style deployed by the rest of Europe's to teams, and in truth it's not even a good defensive system unless you have 3 super athletes in the 3 CB roles, as it leaves huge spaces at the back while offering less on the ball.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I have very little faith we beat Leeds today sadly. If you can't beat Wolves at home then Leeds away feels harder. Would be nice if we did though because teams around us are slipping and you expect some of them to get a grip eventually.

Yeah Leeds away in an early kick off on a cold January day screams like a loss to me. They are doing really well lately and will be well up for beating us as they will fancy their chances and the environment will be hostile. I dont see our players coping with all that very well even if we had all our main players available, which we dont.

Agreed, especially with how threadbare our squad is right now, it could be ugly.

 

[Zantera]

Chelsea making the move with Maresca was probably the right call, they weren't much better than us, and we're mostly dire. We just love to stay in our toxic relationships to protect the kids AKA the bank accounts of the parasite brothers and Scameos.

The one thing with Chelsea though is this move of sacking Maresca feels like it has very little to do with their performances or results. He's made some comments in press conferences suggesting it's not all great behind the scenes and with Liam Rosenior rumored to be their main choice for replacement it really feels like they just want a Yes-man. Someone who is green enough to go along with the hierarchy but not someone who can actually win titles who will make certain demands.

It's hard to imagine Chelsea actually challenging for a PL title in the next decade mostly because their model isn't about winning. They could have gone for Mbeumo or Semenyo in the summer to really improve their wings but they went for Gittens and Garnacho. They'll keep recycling "young and promising" with more "young and promising" and they'll probably keep swapping managers every 18 months because any manager will eventually grow tired of their structure and say "How about we sign someone who is good now?".

 

[BlackFox]

1-1 so far, pretty even game that could go either way at the moment. We have been average and look very shakey at the back, Leeds have had more chances and hit the post as well. Sesko has wasted our chances, he doesnt look like he can really do it in the Prem. Hanging on in there at the moment.

 

[BlackFox]

Finished 1-1. Nothing burger of a performance and result, the fact we looked like the same level as Leeds says a lot.

 

[Zantera]

Sesko should have scored but I do think its a confidence issue more than a skill issue. Just look at Hojlund and how he went missing for games for us but we rarely fed him balls and now he's banging them in over at Napoli. We're just a team that can go 10 minute stretches of not creating anything meanwhile other teams can bomb forward and have 6-7 great chances per half.

 

[B]

Pretty even game, I thought we played alright, we exerted more control over the game than Leeds & created slightly more opportunities, but a draw was probably just about a fair result for both teams. We didn't play particularly well or bad & the same could be said for Leeds.

The goal we actually conceded was so poor to watch, just a random nothing probably more clearance than defence splitting pass, found it's way to through Aaronson who did well & finished. I'm not sure what Heaven was doing, I thought he'd initially made an error & was jogging back after the ball casually thinking he had it under control, but when I've seen the replays I think he misjudges it initially then was actually trying to sprint.. and looked painfully slow doing so.
We rightly instantly equalised because we definitely didn't deserve to lose today & certainly not to a random goal like that.

Amorim had a little outburst after the game, I think the media is starting to annoy him a lot with their constant negative badgering about formations, transfers, board relationships etc which in fairness, it has even the more experienced managers that have taken the role.

I'm probably reading too much into the quotes, but when he mentioned, and I'm paraphrasing a little, the 'criticisms of the Gary Neville's & if people can't handle that, they'll need to change the club', that to me sounds like something not aimed a Neville directly or what he had to say but perhaps someone at the club is paying more attention to pundit opinion/criticisms than they should. I'd presume, one of the INEOS boys who's technically someone that's Amorim's 'boss' perhaps openly questioning team play style, formation, selection or substitutions which obviously would piss off any manager.

Something's going on behind the scenes that isn't good or working & is obviously annoying Amorim.

 

[BlackFox]

Yeah we have seen this patern too many times now for it to be ignored, behind the scenes seems a mess again and internal wrangling tends to lead to the usual manager leaving. Seems like the writing could be on the wall on this one again.

 

[Zantera]

Amorim gets the sack and I know some people will be happy about it, for me it just further cements that this club has no idea what they're doing and it's being run by idiots. There were definitely issues with Amorim and I think even people who wanted to give him more time (like myself) would struggle to say there were clear signs of improvement. It's also a bit of a weird table where we're 6th and not far off CL football but at the same time we're closer to 16th than 3rd. I do have some sympathy for Amorim in the sense that we've had a really stripped down squad these last few weeks with AFCON and injuries. And we still didn't try to fix the midfield so he's still stuck with players that let previous managers down. But it's also fair to criticize his stubbornness and at times cowardness. I don't put too much focus on his formation really because I've seen this club be awful with 4 at the back and 3 in midfield so at this point I'm kinda curious to see anything that will work.

So where does that leave us now? Fletcher comes in as interim but who do we target? Iraola? Glasner? Maresca? Xavi? When Ten Hag was sacked I probably still had an inkling of hope in my tank but I'm looking at the next manager merry-go-round and I just feel tired. We're at a point where I genuinely feel bad for the next guy and part of me is even thinking "Don't come here and ruin your career for god's sake". I could see the team going multiple ways really. Glasner would be somewhat compatible playing a similar system at Palace (so you wouldn't get the "oh he needs to sign 8 new players to fit a new formation), but some fans are also so desperate for 4 at the back that they might go for someone else. Iraola has done good with Bournemouth but I can imagine him here being a bit like Ange at Spurs. Entertaining, lots of goals in both ends but frustration.

At the end of it all my frustration with the club is about how this sacking happened. It was only like a month ago that Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave his big talk on how Amorim has their full support and it's going to take 3 years. If they wanted to sack him over results, performances or not believing in him that's fine. But it feels so clear that this comes from the falling out behind the scenes and his comments after the Leeds game. It also feels a bit like we'll be back to square one and regardless if Amorim would have turned things around or not, I would have more faith in him to have a better finish to the season than going through an interim and then another manager who is expected to be given some time to bed in.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Amorim gets the sack and I know some people will be happy about it, for me it just further cements that this club has no idea what they're doing and it's being run by idiots. There were definitely issues with Amorim and I think even people who wanted to give him more time (like myself) would struggle to say there were clear signs of improvement. It's also a bit of a weird table where we're 6th and not far off CL football but at the same time we're closer to 16th than 3rd. I do have some sympathy for Amorim in the sense that we've had a really stripped down squad these last few weeks with AFCON and injuries. And we still didn't try to fix the midfield so he's still stuck with players that let previous managers down. But it's also fair to criticize his stubbornness and at times cowardness. I don't put too much focus on his formation really because I've seen this club be awful with 4 at the back and 3 in midfield so at this point I'm kinda curious to see anything that will work.

So where does that leave us now? Fletcher comes in as interim but who do we target? Iraola? Glasner? Maresca? Xavi? When Ten Hag was sacked I probably still had an inkling of hope in my tank but I'm looking at the next manager merry-go-round and I just feel tired. We're at a point where I genuinely feel bad for the next guy and part of me is even thinking "Don't come here and ruin your career for god's sake". I could see the team going multiple ways really. Glasner would be somewhat compatible playing a similar system at Palace (so you wouldn't get the "oh he needs to sign 8 new players to fit a new formation), but some fans are also so desperate for 4 at the back that they might go for someone else. Iraola has done good with Bournemouth but I can imagine him here being a bit like Ange at Spurs. Entertaining, lots of goals in both ends but frustration.

At the end of it all my frustration with the club is about how this sacking happened. It was only like a month ago that Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave his big talk on how Amorim has their full support and it's going to take 3 years. If they wanted to sack him over results, performances or not believing in him that's fine. But it feels so clear that this comes from the falling out behind the scenes and his comments after the Leeds game. It also feels a bit like we'll be back to square one and regardless if Amorim would have turned things around or not, I would have more faith in him to have a better finish to the season than going through an interim and then another manager who is expected to be given some time to bed in.

The thing is we had 3 decent performances back to back which gave some hope, and he immediately reverted back to his system, and then yesterday he nuked himself.

Are there issues at the club beyond him? Of course, a multitude of them, but was he ever going to be the right manager? No, both things can be true at the same time. His complete inflexibility is unlike anything I've seen with a manager before, he was always going to fall on that sword if his stubbornness maintained.

Now I'm like you, my hope eroded ages ago, as soon as Ineos cosied up with the parasites instead of us getting them out with fresh new owners, I said at the time, nail in the coffin.

So will the next manager do any better? Anyone's guess, personally I think we've seen some fight and spirit in the team this season, and we've added quality in attack, so I do believe a manager who comes in and just goes 4-2-3-1 will get a steadier run of points and can still grab 5th spot, it's looking like Fletcher will get until the end of the season so the con artists can save a few more quid, so best of luck to him.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The one thing with Chelsea though is this move of sacking Maresca feels like it has very little to do with their performances or results. He's made some comments in press conferences suggesting it's not all great behind the scenes and with Liam Rosenior rumored to be their main choice for replacement it really feels like they just want a Yes-man. Someone who is green enough to go along with the hierarchy but not someone who can actually win titles who will make certain demands.

It's hard to imagine Chelsea actually challenging for a PL title in the next decade mostly because their model isn't about winning. They could have gone for Mbeumo or Semenyo in the summer to really improve their wings but they went for Gittens and Garnacho. They'll keep recycling "young and promising" with more "young and promising" and they'll probably keep swapping managers every 18 months because any manager will eventually grow tired of their structure and say "How about we sign someone who is good now?".

Chelsea are a mess too, they've got a rotating set of cowboys playing sporting director. Like us though I do think the manager can also be the issue as well in regards current form, it's a mix of things that will see them limp along like us for the foreseeable future imo.

 

[Zantera]

For me it's not going to get a lot better before certain areas are addressed. A midfield two did not work with our CM options. People have been shouting for Casemiro-Mainoo-Bruno but we saw that midfield plenty under Ten Hag without much to cheer for. Bruno is obviously a key player for us and I hope Mainoo will get a chance to become at the very least a rotational option here. But until we offload Casemiro and Ugarte and bring in some GREAT CMs to really elevate our midfield it will be more of the same I fear.

But you really gotta question Wilcox and the scouts. Everybody and their nephew who has played the latest FIFA-game knows that Wharton, Baleba and Anderson are great CMs. But they're all 80-100m players. Are there no scouts at the club who can identify a great CM for 1/3 of that price?