Sooper Steve's shin

Question: we have a decent centre back pairing, arguably one of the best in the league this season. But why do we play the left-footed one on the right and the right-footed one on the left? There were a couple of occasions in the Watford game where each of them had a slightly awkward moment when receiving/releasing the ball that made me question why we do this. Is it Rodgers’ preference or the players? Does it help or hinder them to be on the “opposite” side? I know it’s become quite normal to have inverted wingers that cut inside, are we trying to do the same with the big guys at the back?

Got to be Ken Jeong. I’d like to see Top go full Lesley Chow one day.

Mental fragility/youth. Young players peak and trough in confidence. Needed an experienced head in January (see: Cambiasso, Huth, Wasilewski). (20)

True. Horrible player. No thanks.

Seems more like a classic West Ham signing. Introduced as a sub, scores a worldie on his debut. Plays a few more games without scoring and everyone calls him out as rubbish. Moyes gets sacked. Big Sam comes in and signs Andy Carroll back. Kruse never plays again and sees out his contract. People only remember him briefly when he retires (“I’d forgotten he was there LOL”) and then in 2030 when a brief clip of his goal circulates on Twittergram with the caption “Ten years since Max Kruse did THIS - whatever happened to him??”

The Racial Undertones - great band name.

I agree with the sentiment. These and Man Utd should not be seen as a “big team” for us to bow down to any more. They have history, but currently both have extremely inexperienced managers, some very young players, very few genuine pedigree players in either side and neither of them have a proven 20-goal-a-season forward. In terms of teams we should worry about, Man City and Liverpool are ahead of everyone else in the league, Spurs (sadly) probably have a bit extra too (at least in their first team) but the rest should be fair game.

What do nearly a quarter of people on the poll see in Soyuncu that I don’t? I want him to be good, but he’s never had an outstanding game and drops a couple of clangers every match even against lower league opposition. Would love to be proven wrong, but I don’t think he’s got it and definitely not to replace Maguire at the start of a season when we’ll hope to challenge for Europe. Ake would be fantastic but seems a long shot (surely any of the top 6 would take him?). I would not be unhappy with any of Dunk, Lascelles or Tarkowski - all in and around the England team, solid Prem defenders. I don’t think we have the time to bed in another from outside the league.

Undeniable quality, but played less than 20 games last season, only 12 in the league. Ribery, a year older, played 37 (the most he has since 2014) and has done 30+ for each of the last three seasons. More in the tank? I’d love us to get one of them - great star quality and useful in the mix alongside Albrighton as another older head that Barnes and Gray could learn from. In that sense, maybe Robben’s previous EPL experience (and probably language) gives him the edge.

It will be interesting to see what any new manager does differently. We have not been awful in general play (finishing and defensive lapses have let us down) and even on Saturday after we scored the equaliser it would not have been too surprising from that point if the final result had been reversed. We were hit with a penalty and two sucker punches. Puel has largely got around to our best side in most eyes and made some bold decisions that most fans would have wanted during his spell including installing Chilwell, giving game time to Gray, dropping Morgan and giving Barnes a run. We have not kept players in the team/squad just because they won the league or cost big money - see Simpson, King, Fuchs, Slimani, Silva, Musaffah etc. We’ve been dominating possession and had 40+ goal attempts in the last two games. The recent spell of results has been unacceptable, but I recall Pearson having a couple of shocking runs results-wise in the Championship and obviously a big chunk of the great escape season. All in all, while not sad or shocked that he has gone, I’m not quite sure what a sacking at this point achieves. Are we expecting to turn it around and challenge for Europe? Surely we have enough in the bank to avoid relegation and I don’t think it’s as toxic a situation as late Mourinho-era Man Utd, so unless our top target is more available now than he might be in the summer I’d have avoided the drama of yet another mid-season sacking. If we don’t get a permanent, we risk keeping inexperienced coaches in the job for too long than is good for them or us. Or we appoint a temporary manager - but how does that help? Will the players play for someone who won’t be around after May? If they do, we have the Shakespeare situation again where we almost feel we have to give him the job. If they don’t, we will finish the season bottom half and be that much less attractive with two managers having failed to do anything with this squad. Maybe that’s all too negative, we have a Messiah lined up to take over this week who will lead us on a Solskjaer-type run through to the end of the season and qualification for the Europa League. I’d love it, but it seems unlikely to me.

You know how it’s going to go from the opening still of the video...

100%. You could also add that Ranieri had to deal with the loss of the previous season’s player of the year (Cambiasso), plus his more refined defensive tactics were pretty obvious. We stopped shipping easy/late goals and went on that run of 1-0 wins. Game management was head and shoulders above Pearson. I’m firmly in the camp that everything combined beautifully to us winning the league, including the groundwork put in over the seasons leading up to it. A relatively young side grew together through promotion, the Great Escape and everything else. Players, coaches and recruiting team all seemed to peak together. Ranieri might not have saved us in 14/15 and Pearson would not have won the league in 15/16.

Not bad for someone who can’t defend...

He’s definitely in the UK this weekend doing a concert in London and then nothing on his tour schedule until the US in late November. Based on that, it’s a possibility - would be a strong probability if Claudio was still around. Absolute tearjerker though.

Only 30?! Seems like he has been around so long that if someone said he was 35 I wouldn’t have blinked.

I would have no issue with the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Stadium - the slightly tricky pronunciation of the surname should not be a barrier and it may become known as the VS Stadium.

I’ve enjoyed watching Mendy this season, but second half we needed someone experienced and calm to step in and take a bit of control. Iborra always feels like he could be that option (although he has rarely shown it for us in truth). We are lacking a bit in terms of game-changing subs and perhaps showing the mistake of ditching both Slimani and Ulloa without similar options.

I’m fully expecting Evans to play with Soyuncu as sub for both games. Soyuncu may even get a little taste in either game based on Claude’s latest comments about him being ready. It would be a brave decision to throw him straight in against Arsenal, although he is a £19m international defender. Unless we have two clean sheets or two outstanding defensive performances, it seems likely that Morgan will come back in after suspension. Although maybe less likely given the manner of his sending off v Everton (where he was struggling) and the impact it had on the result. I think this might see Claude try and carry on without Morgan unless the CB pairing has majorly underperformed in both games.

Pieces are coming into place. Vardy, Iheanacho and Maddison combined fairly well and have decent complementary qualities. That could make an excellent front three, Madders definitely has to play No. 10 as I did think he was pulled wider on Saturday and perhaps not as effective as a result. To balance it out (if we want to), I think we either evolve to a narrow three in the middle (Ndidi, Mendy and Iborra/Silva) with Ricardo and Chilwell as more attacking fullbacks providing width (needs one of the three CMs to drop when the FBs go forward) or we switch to three CB’s, stick with Ndidi & Mendy, and have the wingbacks. The issue with either of these solutions is where it would leave the likes of Gray, Albrighton and Ghezzal as neither system requires the more out-and-out winger. Albrighton is probably best able to adapt to a WB role, Gray as backup for Iheanacho (or possibly Maddison).

Poor result, but... - We started well, fast out of the blocks as we’ve been wanting and on top for the first 15. - We conceded three breakaway goals and a penalty. Bournemouth wouldn’t score four again if they played that game another twenty times. - Maddison superb throughout. - We ended the game well, scored two, won the second half. - Maguire dodged a red and can’t be so bad next game. - Morgan got a red and can’t be so bad next game. Chance for Evans or Soyuncu to stake a claim. - Did we really think we’d win at Bournemouth??! Now clearly we conceded four against a mid-table/top half rival and looked oddly out of sorts, but we are a young team nd we are going to get the odd result like this. Three or four more games like this before Christmas and I’d be worried, but personally I don’t see a need for wholesale change. We gave Man U and Liverpool a run and won our other two games before this, so it’s no crisis.

I was watching one of the Premiee League preview shows looking at the strength in depth of the top teams. Man City’s second XI could probably win the league, others are noticeably weaker. They did not go outside the top six but it got me thinking about ours and I think it must be the strongest reserve team we’ve ever had - using the same system as we’ve played with to date you could make the following sides without even considering players on loan: First XI: Schmeichel Ricardo Morgan Maguire Chilwell Ndidi Mendy Gray Maddison Ghezzal Vardy Second XI: Ward Simpson Evans Soyuncu Fuchs Iborra Silva Albrighton Okazaki Diabate Iheanacho Unlike many times in our past, I would not be too upset if we fielded that “second XI”. There are a few arguable cases, perhaps only Schmeichel, Maguire and Vardy as absolutely nailed on starters. We don’t seem to have a group of untouchables and the competition must be good, plus we have others even outside this 22 (Choudhury, Barnes, James, Jakupovic, Benkovic). Always dangerous to post this kind of thing three hours before kick-off on a Saturday - it won’t feel quite so rosy if we fail to turn up this afternoon and Bournemouth smash us, but with the depth we now have there should no longer be an excuse for something like that. Outside the top six, it’s difficult to think of teams that could put together a similar second string.

We are only four games into the season and all of those you mention have scored...

I don’t think you can play our system with anything other than two solid defensive (and energetic) players in that double pivot. One of them on their own would be too swamped - playing them both is what allows us to have two attacking wide players, a CAM/supporting striker and a centre forward, plus attacking wing backs. I would certainly have said release/sell Mendy before the start of the season, but he’s come in and is doing a better job in that position than anyone else has. Iborra would be my second choice, once he settled last season he looked fairly solid. I think Silva has been frustrating and does not seem to have either the presence or short passing game to play that position how Puel wants it. Either way, I don’t think you take out Ndidi or Mendy to swap for a playmaker. That would overbalance the attack in my view. Maddison can be the creative influence, maybe he just needs to drop a little more.

The Big Man is front and centre on the club’s Twitter cover photo...

Gerrimina!