Donatello

True enough, but with 20 minutes to go and England needing a goal, who would be more likely to influence the score, JWP or Henderson (assuming he doesn't start)?

Such a boring performance (so far) Passing has been dire. No incisiveness or direct play whatsoever. Weird.

Bring on Tella for Diallo. Shift Armstrong to CM.

I feel like individual players are gung-ho pressing, at 'random times', and it's leaving massive gaps on a routine basis. It's okay if it's Ings/Redmond/Armstrong/Theo, but when it's regularly Diallo/JWP/KWP/Bertrand 😬 Could be wrong, just looks very headless chicken.

The level of defending/team structure is crazy. Not convinced JWP and Diallo will ever be a decent pairing... they'll get rinsed by better teams, and bullied by weaker/worse teams. If Rom is out, has to be a 3. We might get okay results at times, but if we have one of the worst defences in the league, we'll never be a threat for anything.

Well this is a bit ridiculous, getting carved apart on both sides now. They should be a couple up, what with that horrific offside decision.

Back in it, but it's crazy how many goals we're conceding this season 👎 If defending from the front (constant pressing) isn't an option/isn't working, we clearly don't have a back-up system/individual players who have the right skill sets to defend in this league.

Good point, well made 🙄

He spends the majority of the match shouting encouragement at the players/trying to keep positive, so any lack of fight is entirely on the players.

Definitely. Fresh legs/impetus surely trumps experience on this occasion - particularly in the forward/wide positions, where we need people to press constantly.

http://freestreams-live1.com/btsport1z/ Quality - okay. HD links welcome 😁

With the reported sell-on fee, it'd definitely be less (assuming the £20m is the release clause price, and not the discrepancy between the two sides prices)

Any replacement ideas that can make us feel slightly more positive? 😁 Not sure I fully understand the repercussions of Brexit, but...Andre Silva at Frankfurt? 🤷‍♂️

Always find the suggestion that X/any player isn't involved in their contract negotiation to be extremely dubious/a load of b*llocks/an obvious case of PR management. Yes, they may not attend the meetings/have the difficult conversations, and they may not stipulate the release clauses/conditions to the pound, but they tacitly agree with everything their agents are doing, by virtue of the fact that they're still their agents. Anyway, something of a nothing issue in relation to the club's plan from here. Personally, I'd be 'happy' to see us sell him any time from now until the summer. I'd also like is to have prepared for this eventuality, and have several targets that Ralph is serious about/sold on, and are plausible, and start making moves to sign them this window.

I think it's more than likely that he's 'gone', for whatever reason (his personal ambition, club needs, etc) Few teams have the ability to retain their best talent long-term, and when clubs like Dortmund get 'preyed' upon by their direct rival(s), and they themselves then 'prey' upon the rest of the Bundesliga, it puts things into perspective. What I don't understand is why we don't use options in our contracts, like some of the bigger clubs, to wrestle a modicum of power back. 4 year deals, with an optional 5th year. (or 3 and 4). Would certainly give the club more strength in these situations, and wouldn't necessarily prevent a player from leaving after 2 years (of good performance), but could potentially limit clubs like Spurs from coming in and inevitably trying to take the piss.

Since we lost our 2 best performing players of the season, and our most talented player? 😁 Still, we should still be playing better than this. Or at least trying to (a few subs, perhaps).

Co-com on Long..."we know he can score goals" 🤔

And Djenepo for Armstrong 🤷‍♂️

Armstrong should be hooked at h/t 😬

Hmmm, I guess the injuries prevented us from making tactical changes to the right hand side - which has been rag-dolled the 2nd half. Still a good result. Was excellent at 4 nil.

Please make a change Ralph! 😬

I'd be taking Armstrong off (Redmond). Looks tired.

Absolute disgrace of a proposal. Ultimately, it's just making public what we've known some of the big clubs have, and will be, pursuing for years to come (separate league, no relegation, individually negotiated broadcast deals, monopolised power, pre-season/mid-season tours, home games played overseas, etc) My wholly unrealistic suggestion would be to partially grant them their wish by expelling Liverpool and Man U from the league with immediate effect 👍Will be interesting to see how their fans react to these proposals.

What's happening with Boufal? Seems to have gone a bit quiet.

Yes, not a name anyone would've suggested at the beginning, middle, or final week of the window, but with a few days left, and now a few hours, it definitely makes sense as a low-risk upgrade on Tella/Smallbone (when he plays RM). He was a squad player for a team that finished just below us last season, so it's likely he's still good enough to be a squad player for us - although, with a hands-on coach like Ralph, I would expect some improvement.