Luke SkyWalker-Peters

There is a big difference between being shy, introverted or feeling homesick at 15/16 to age 19/20. Tyler is dealing with the spotlight that has been on him well. I cannot see a situation where he isn't playing in a top 5 European league next season. I do think he might believe he is better off at a club where he is valued, but can't see him dropping down to the Champ when we almost certainly go. Unfortunately, that just means it's more likely that he could end-up at a Bournemouth or Brighton instead of a Man Utd.

From starting?? He's 36 and was injured. Not excactly a surprise he can't start every week. Very normal for a 36 year old attacking player in the Premier League. Especially when, as I said, he missed most of preseason. Otherwise you are just risking injury. Rest one game or risk losing him for months.

To be fair, Lallana likely needs a rest given his age and the fact he missed most of the preseason. Moving Dibling is indefensible.

Would be great if he had a German international defender to bring into this squad. Ideally one that is physically dominant and can play with the ball too. Hyphenated name always a plus. Martin needs to get over his issues with ABK because we need him desperately.

I agree. Obviously the system has stifled the likes of Sulemana, Alcaraz and Edozie as the tempo is too slow for them to take advantage of unorganised defences. The wingers especially beat their man and then are faced with the rest of the team sat in the penalty area in a deep block. BBD is suffering from this too and currently looks worse than he did for Sheffield Utd, as he isn't getting the chance to cut inside and have shots on goal. Not utilising Meghoma, Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw enough last year was also very frustrating. Meghoma especially was showing after Christmas in the FA Cup matches that he was far better than Manning and deserving of 1st team minutes, but Martin wasn't interested and now Meghoma has (quite rightly for his career) gone - despite being better than almost all of our current depth options. Dibling and SAA probably should have had some minutes when everyone else was underperforming, but that is less of an issue as they're still here. He isn't the youth development manager that he repeatedly says he is. He doesn't give them minutes to develop. He would rather buy older players to potentially block academy player's minutes. He specifically bought Shea Charles but refused to use him despite Smallbone playing terribly at DM. He has got rid of (or tried to get rid of) Sulemana, Alcaraz and Edozie instead of improving them. He keeps hooking THB despite Stephens playing worse and consistently putting other players in the shit with his passes. Hopefully the young players here show improvement under him this season.

I feel that if there hasn't been any improvement after the Ipswich game that he'll be gone. That nice 9 days before playing Bournemouth seems ideal for a manager change. But obviously we will need to have had results in the league for him to still be with us after the international break a couple of weeks later. I could see the club giving Lallana a go while they search for a manager. He ticks all the boxes of players likely to have instant success as a manager: played central midfield, played at the top level for a top club, played under numerous great managers with differing styles, is an intelligent player that didn't rely on physical ability or pure technique, been a captain etc... I could see him possibly replicating that Arteta, Xavi, Alonso transition straight to management, or possibly not. Would be a good time for him to give it a go while Klopp is taking a sabbatical, as he could have someone to mentor him in an official or unofficial capacity. I'm almost certain the club would have Potter as their no.1 choice though, he is proven at delivering a possession style in the Premier League. On Martin himself, I like him but am yet to be impressed. I think he underperformed in the league last year with what was the second best squad in the Championship in my opinion. He is so rigid in his style that it is to the detriment of players we already had that did not suit it. I feel like more players have regressed under him than improved. Some looked better because we dropped a level. It seems like a real struggle for players to play his system. He asks them to do too much and its unsurprising that they are making mistakes. There is nothing wrong with passing out the back, or possession systems, but possession managers make it easier for their players to find passes. Martin does not seem to do this. Everyone finds it extremely hard to get out of our own half. No easy passes that then move us up the pitch quickly. And then when we do move up the pitch, we do it so slowly that our attacking players find it difficult to create good chances as they are facing a structured defence. I absolutely feel that he deserves a chance and I hope things drastically improve. However, I cannot fathom who decided he should get a contract extension after finishing 4th in the Championship and I hope the club keep a fairly short leash on him like they did with Nathan Jones. We have a genuine chance to stay up, we should not tie ourselves to Martin if he's a sinking anchor.

I'm willing to give Martin a bit of slack as most of our business was done very late, but any mitigation goes out the window after the international break. I think he somewhat underperformed with the squad he had last year to finish 4th, so although I like him as a person he doesn't have much credit in the bank with me. If we are going to pass it out, we need to be better drilled and slicker than we have been so far. I don't think Stephens and Bednarek are good enough with the ball at this level to have this kind of responsibility. Martin needs to show us his much revered man-management skills and get ABK onboard, he is a level above the other CBs. I'm hoping that we come back from the break with ABK, Ugochukwu, Fernandes, Archer, Cornet, Dibling and, if you'll let me dream, Stewart integrated into the squad more and playing Martinball as he draws it up. When it works, it is good fun and if he is a good coach I believe he can get those players, along with Ramsdale, KWP, Suga, THB, Downes and BBD playing good possession football. For me, judging Martin starts now, I hope he can deliver. But, I suspect Sport Republic will have Graham Potter on speed dial if things are not looking better by October.

It's frustrating that we are conceding these sloppy goals, but it's not like we're getting battered because of it. We have conceded 3 goals in 3 games. I think with the right players and manager we could play this way, hard to see if we have both based on the team today. I think that goal was very much on Stephens. Can't be passing it back to a CB that has 2 players on him. I do wonder whether it is so drilled into them by Martin that consequently the players aren't being diligent enough to see if the pass is on. Fundamentally, I'm going to reserve judgement of Martin in the Premier League for when he has a team of Premier League players playing. I am not in the slightest bit surprised that lineup is losing away to Brentford, whoever the manager was. I hope to see a 433 with Archer, Cornet, Fernandes, Ugochukwu and possibly Bella-Kotchap in, and with Adarma, Aribo, Stephens, Smallbone and possibly Bednarek out. That is then a team that I could see possibly surviving and will judge him if he is incapable with those players. The team today is just not at the required level. The current scoreline is no surprise.

I'm not sure why some posters think Cornet will play LWB? He has played most of his career (and his best seasons of his career) at RW... a position we have been trying to fill all summer since Tella/Brooks left. We have been linked to half the left-footed attacking players in Europe for this reason.

https://twitter.com/ExWHUEmployee/status/1829457790210883927 The best West Ham source: "There has been a late move by a couple of clubs including Palace apparently but he looks set to join Southampton at this stage. He has also said his goodbyes this morning" Edit: How do you embed the tweet?

Assuming Ramsdale passes his medical, I think our current best XI is: Ramsdale Suga THB ABK KWP Downes Big Les Fernandes AA Archer BBD Assuming Martin wants to play his favoured 433 at some point. Not sure whether it would be Downes or Ugochukwu playing DM, but personally I'd like to see Big Les running into the box to get onto some crosses. I hope that this is the side we are building towards, with Bednarek in for ABK if he goes. I think Dibling, SAA and Lallana will all be best utilised as subs to come on when we need a goal for now, with some starts if their form demands it. I'm assuming the lineup vs Brentford will be fairly similar to Forest. I'm expecting a far bigger change for the Utd game after the international break.

It's just how they are used in their system. They are both right footed wingers, but both fairly good with both feet. Fellows usually plays on the right wing to whip crosses in with his dominant foot, but has played on the left cutting in as Edozie usually does. Martin doesn't like to use wingers in this manner and usually has them cutting in. At the moment if Fellows was to whip crosses in there won't be anyone there with the way we are set up (and the way Martin usually plays). But doing more with it than Fellows does, which is my point. Imagine how frustrating you'll find Fellows when Edozie was the far more productive player last season.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the competitive starting debuts. It seems like it will be a complete change to the Premier League side to give squad players a chance: https://twitter.com/SaintsExtra/status/1828550115487031669 I think the only reason we will play 3 at the back is if we want to put ABK in the shop window after his injuries + failed medical. Larios doesn't look match sharp yet from his U21 appearances, I'm not sure that he will play with Manning and Taylor both needing minutes. Lumley Bree Edwards Woods Taylor Ugochukwu Dibling Fernandes SAA Edozie Archer

I don't understand the Fellows move. He is the same age as Edozie, but scored less goals and the same amount of assists last season in the Championship. Edozie has been deemed not good enough for the starting XI, due to his lack of end product, so why would we bring in a player that was even less productive last season? I know he has 3 assists in 3 games to start the year, but who knows what Edozie would have in the Championship right now if we hadn't have got promotion. He's a good player but seems a complete waste of resources when we are looking for an improvement. He doesn't have the pace we would like in a wide player at this level. It's not like we are short of right-footed wingers at the moment either. He just isn't the player we need. I don't understand it.

Youssoufa Moukoko's deal to Real Betis is off. https://x.com/berger_pj/status/1826305942725464399 We were mentioned as one of the clubs interested. He broke all sorts of youth scoring records at Dortmund and is the youngest player to ever score in the Bundesliga. He's as close to a goal machine as we could get for our money. He's got loads of experience having made his debut the day after he turned 16. Obviously the majority as a sub, but he has played in 99 games for Dortmund. He's leaving due to wanting more 1st team minutes at 19 years old. He only played 613 minutes last season in the Bundelsiga (equivalent to just under 7 full matches) and scored 5 goals. 5 in 7 is a very good return, but obviously he will have a much tougher time in the Premier League in a low table team. He had a nasty ankle sprain the season before (nothing needing surgery or anything) and hasn't got back into the team since. Left footed and about 5'11, he is a pacey striker with a great shot on him. But I'd probably have him play RW for us, where we haven't found a solution since Tella left. Cutting in on his left foot I'm sure he would be very dangerous. I'm intrigued. He wants to move out of Germany and he wants 1st team football. If we sell Charly, Tall Paul and ABK then I could see us making a move for him. Berger reported the fee was only €13m - €14m. I would classify this in the "insane signing" category, if it were pulled off. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/youssoufa-moukoko/profil/spieler/467720