Balj

True

He’s woeful but the position he takes up creates room for Madders.

We’ve started to drop back - bad sign.

No defensive composure at all - pretty normal at the moment.

I see no way we pick up wins from here. Done.

That was genuinely comedy - jeez

Wasn’t great today but having a person wide right gave us great shape which gave others space whilst also being a potential outlet himself. Hope to see him settle into the KP and he’s maybe going to be a bigger threat away on the counter.

Thought the balance of the team was great - Tete didn’t have a great home debut but having 2 wingers gave the central midfield space and gave them outlets both sides. Positive mental attitude when we went behind was also welcome. Confidence has increased as we wouldn’t have come back from that a few games ago. Excellent day.

GONE I have an unexpected spare adult ticket today. J2 - meet outside ground. Message me if interested- sensible offer. Discount on face value absolutely fine.

Loan - contract suspended in Ukraine

I’m not saying we shouldn’t get rid of BR and noted about the psychological lift that could give - just that we have a very thin squad at the moment (and we’re only talking a few months until the end of the season so) and getting rid of BR is only part of the solution. I do think we need more resilience in the squad to keep us up whoever the manager but that’s a personal opinion. As I said we are not in this position by accident- it is a fair reflection of our performance which I think is down to management and playing squad; not either or.

A friend of mine works for a sports consultancy and he said that Club's and Manager's are increasingly making decisions on XG not outcome i.e. the justification for keeping a manager in post is that the XG indicates they are playing well and its just that they are on a losing streak through bad luck not bad management - looking at our current XG stats we are bottom six. That's accurate as far as I have seen performance ways this season i.e. we are in a genuine relegation battle and have been all along. The pre-Christmas run of good results were the anomaly not the norm/expectation. The Club have to realise this and make Jan signings to strengthen the squad - sacking BR alone will not be enough given the paucity of our squad and its lack of resilience.

I wonder if a sale of the Club in the Summer is in the offing - relegation simply changes the price and the profile of the buyer, but it seems on the cards either way. Even if we stay up we need a new cash injection and if we go down it's a long way back - under either circumstance does the KP group have the appetite and funds. Can't blame them if not.

After one adult if anyone can help - didn't make it to my tier unfortunately.

He’s got good movement, speed and finishing and we’re certainly not getting the best out of him at at a time when we can’t afford to replace him. However, he lacks ‘presence’ on the pitch (as does Kelechi) - imposing himself on a game or on a defence in any way is lacking which means defenders aren’t scared of him in the way he is currently played in our system. If he was played as a pure speedster and finisher in a different system he’d be absolutely fine I think. We’re asking too much of him at the moment.

Thanks for that - I chose a card as I didn’t think you could transfer the electronic ticket. I may swap to electronic next season if it’s that straightforward.

Europe v South America. It's the strongest federations going for it and probably the 2 current strongest teams in each so let's hope for a good game. It would be fitting for it to be Messi's finale at international level. Some romance in what is likely to be a fairly attritional game I suspect.

This commentator with his sidekick (I can't bear to say their names) better not be on on Sunday.

Tackle of the game by Griezeman - back heel tackle!

10 years too early for that to even begin to be a conversation

Kounate and Varane - top defending. Morocco need cooler heads in the box.

I think Pogba for France is different class than Pogba for club but I get what you mean when you see Tchoumaei playing so well.

Fair - although they're not Benzema/Pogba

England?

Griezman excellent after the slip, very calm finish.