Deeg67

Slot was refreshingly candid after the match. Said PSG were way better, and he would have considered himself extremely fortunate to have had a draw.

I don't know how well-rounded Burnley is. They're in a 3-way tie for 9th in the Championship in goals. They basically do one thing well - prevent goals - albeit they do it extremely well. That makes them the opposite of well-rounded if anything, pretty much a one-trick pony.

Pretty much revisionist history to call his Championship season "OK". He was absolutely integral to Enzo's scheme and the performance perceptibly dipped when he wasn't playing. Obviously that's because he could thrive in a situation where we dominated possession and his main role was to be a deep-lying playmaker, and not defending, and that will never happen in the PL. But that doesn't diminish his 23-24 season in the slightest.

That's the probleem. And why would any decent manager even consider it when the squad is clearly not good enough and RVN was obviously screwed over by the club in not bringing in any reinforcements in January?

That would be a pretty awesome turn of events.

Roma have taken 20 of a possible 24 points in 2025 and are now pushing for Europe after flirting with the drop before Claudio came in. Unbeaten in 10 matches, incredible run of form. He says he's retiring for an upper management job with Roma after this season, which is understandable since he's 73. Wonder if he's tempted to go back on that decision.

If Ricardo can go I would think you have to risk him, whatever his fitness level is. Whatever time we have for a miracle is fast running out

Burnley has a very good shot to finish second.

Leeds had 59% possession and double the shots and shots on target, playing on Sheffield's turf. If that constitutes a lousy performance (without their captain and anchor of their midfield) they're certainly in good shape in that division. Frankly Leeds should walk it in from here, as they have no matches left against the top four and the dropoff from there is huge. But the race for second is a fascinating one. Burnley might be favorites at this point - they simply don't give up goals, and Edwards was probably the best January addition in the Championship.

Bournmouth was 19th in the PL with 40.4% possession their first year back up. Fulham was 11th with 48.8.

How many newly-promoted teams come into the PL and succeed playing possession-based football?

Very well said, and true. Of course the problem is that the most achievable middle ground that can "suit us in the Championship AND the Premier League if we go back up", as you say, is drum-tight defending and quick counterattacking - and our squad could hardly be more ill-suited for it. If we get a young manager who can implement that style it's going to mean a complete squad turnover (even bigger than what we're already facing). And thus, probably at least one season of struggling even in the Championship. It'd be worth it in the long run but that's a hard sell for owners and execs who think waiting one minute for the shampoo to work is too long.

No.Likely, but not inevitable. 32-33 points might cut it and with some blind luck and even a bit of form, that’s not completely unachievable.

Meanwhile Everton co-lead the PL in points since Moyes took over. It matters, this manager thing.

Rohl isn't leaving Wednesday to join a Championship-based Leicester fresh off screwing over their last manager.

Clearly RVN was promised reinforcements in January and apart from Woyo he got bupkis. I don't agree with everything he's doing but he was clearly backstabbed.

Ayew is OK for what he is, works hard and defends, but in a squad with so little pace and creativity he’s a luxury we can’t afford. To the extent that there’s any hope whatsoever of survival it hinges on Buonanotte starting every match. He’s capable of producing goals from nothing and apart from Bilal we have no one else who can do that.

8-game unbeaten league run for Claudio at Roma. Claudio Ranieri’s impact in the Italian capital can be observed in the team’s points tally since his arrival. With Venezia came not only the second consecutive away win but also the 8th consecutive useful result. In the league, since the away game in Como in December, Roma has never lost. At home the performance is even better, with 7 consecutive wins between the league and cups before the draw with Napoli. As reported by Siamolaroma.it, when Ranieri arrived, the team was 4 points above the relegation zone, and today it is 4 points from 7th place. Since November 14, the day of his announcement, Ranieri has collected 6 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats for a total of 21 points. Only Napoli, Inter and Atalanta have done better in the last 12 games.

Agreed, and that's the case for playing him. If you want to bet on the 1% chance of getting anything out of the game he probably gives you a marginally better chance than the other alternatives.

Faes or Coady I wouldn't care, they've been around the block enough. But Okoli seems pretty fragile mentally at the moment, based on the reports of his being homesick and rumors he was being sold. You're not getting anything from Arsenal anyway, in Okoli's case specifically I'd protect the young player and sit him.

If you want him at his best for the matches we realistically might get points out of I don't think it helps him to be part of a 5 or 6 goal drubbing against Arse.

Arsenal is going to eat us for lunch and make us pay the check anyway. Why trash Okoli's confidence by starting him there?

Wilf and Okoli should be starting every match, obviously. I would say Coulibaly and Buonanote too. And it would certainly help to get Ricardo back sometime soon, because even at 70% of his best years he's still safely our best FB.

I'll at least give credit to Amorim for being honest about it. "The goal was offside. We should have VAR. It should be here to overturn the decision. It's hard on Ruud, it's hard on the opponent."

Whatever bug RVN has up his arse about Buonanotte, he needs to get over it. He’s here and whatever slim hopes we have of surviving depend on him being on the pitch with Bilal. We have so few real creative players we can’t afford not to start one who actually is.