joey_big_nose

Was a bit on the fence with Yuki - fantastic work rate, and surprisingly decent in the air despite being average size but thought hes not careful enough on the ball, quite wasteful and clumsy.... But very much like Szmodics he finds space and his finishing is phenomenal. Got more about him physically than Szmodics too.. Swapping Szmodics and Gallagher for Ohashi, Gueye and Cantwell is looking absolutely phenomenal business at the moment.

We've looked very very good defending and attacking with real quality off the bench.... If I was a neutral watching this Id fancy us to be right at the top end of the table. Love the Championship.... Never know what you are going to get. Looked dead on our arse in Feb right through to the end of the season but a proper pre season and a window and we look like real contenders.

I'd say Gueye and Weiman are obvious big upgrades over what we had, Gueye on his own looks a transformative player who could be one of our best ever buys in the Championship, and I like Ohashi but not completely convinced he will continue his early form. Can't consistently beat a player which is an issue imo... but he needs time. Certainly started very well though. Everyone else (Cantwell, Beck, Baker, Toth, Cozier-Duberry, Batth) we need to see play more to come to a view. But feeling positive about all of them except Batth and Baker who look more like fillers to me. But way to early really to call.

Think Nations League is pretty good when we were in Group A - competitive games, and teams are taking it more seriously. Spain winning the Nations League last time bed the team in and set them up well for the euros. But now we are down in Group B it's like friendlies or qualifying. Just playing games which are not really a contest at all.

Results not been that good for JDT...couple of big losses. JDT is a great manager when the going is good, but as impressive as his attacking stats were and beating prem sides in the cup etc, that he faired so poorly against sides near the bottom and top of the Championship, and virtually never got us back into a game after we went behind tells its own story. He's got an attacking philosophy that would make Kevin Keegan blush, and if you haven't got the players for it (as he didn't really at Rovers and I doubt he has in Sweden) it's a problem. Still remember watching us home against Sunderland last season with all sorts of smart combinations, massive overloads down the channels with Travis overlapping Moran and Brittain , every outfield player in the opposition half, probably the best passing football I have seen since the Prem. But we lost 3-1....

So confused that Weiman keeps getting dropped! I would go Pears Brittain Carter Hyam Beck Travis Tronstad Wieman Cantwell Hedges Yuki Subs : Toth, Duru, Pickering, Baath, JRC, Buckley, Sigurdsson, Dolan, Cozier-Duberry Best looking bench we have had for a while.

Personally I would not start Foden with Kane... think you get more out of playing someone wide who gets beyond Kane than Foden coming inside all the time and clogging up the number 10 area. I think that's a better decision than dropping Kane for say Watkins and keeping Foden on the left. Kane has done a lot more for England than Foden ever has... And the way football is these days you just have Watkins and Foden on the bench and bring them on 60 minutes together for Kane and Gordon and change it up. You have both options. I think if we properly focus on it we can figure out these combinations, and commit to a core of 18 players who can play together fluidly in different setups.

Kane remains the most prolific striker in Europe.... England shouldn't bench him. They should figure out how to use him as effectively as Bayern Munich do - which is about getting the wide player ahead of him. Signs are that Carsley is looking to do this which is good.

Kane's definitely going to start for England next world cup, so we should run with it and figure out a way to make the most of him. Didn't realise Walker was 34, probably not going to make it. But that he is still so fast at this age maybe means he has got a Ronaldo like extra long career on the cards? I know we've got a lot of right backs but none have really nailed down the role. Anyway I'd be happy whoever we pick at full back either side as long as they are decent and we stick with them. To put a bit more flesh on it - I'd say we can have the next six months to experiment a bit, give some of the new lads a go etc, but come the spring it really has to be "this is our best XI" and work hard on finding the right way to play. Spain went from being a competitive to brilliant side this year by finding the right balance across the team.

I'd say playing 4231 like this would be ideal for England - Pickford Walker Stones Guehi ???? Rice Wharton Saka Bellingham Palmer Kane We have a lot of good players, but we need to settle on a first choice XI and bench and really really work on getting them to play as a unit - play the same players give or take every game. Our issue will be if piss around chopping and changing every game over the next two years and rock up at the world cup still without a clear idea of what our best team is and not knowing how to play together. To lead is to decide...

Benson gets a lot of stick but from an outsiders perspective he must look pretty good given Steele, Raya and Kaminski have all gone on to the premier league... Wonder how manu other gk championship coaches would have as good a cv.....

One thing that is a bit weird about Toth is he has (so I have read) great stats and 76 starts in the Hungarian top league, but he hasn't got any starts for the national team despite first getting called up in 2021. Would have thought he would by now? Didn't go to Euros either.... Bit of an odd one.

Yeah but he's away on international duty I think?

As much as Pears suffers with mistakes we saw how calamitous it can be to bring in a keeper out of their depth and then destroy their confidence..... Leo was unbelievably poor One big thing Toth does have in his favour though is under Eustace he will be a lot better protected than Leo was. But we have to make sure he is acclimatised. Its very hard for a keeper to recover when they have a bad start. I wouldnt be rushing it.

Not starts, but minutes from the bench.

Well he might not be ready but I think if we rate him we have to play him. Can't let Tyjon leave like Phillips and Finneran. I think as a club we are going to have to change our philosophy to play the best prospects we have very young so we can keep them. The bench being 9 spots helps a lot... using two of the spots for the best academy talent does not seem unreasonable.

Love him going forward but defensively he looks a bit of a worry to me... Hopefully will improve as he beds in.

He's the best proper centre forward we have had since Graham, and he could end up being a lot better than Graham. His knockdown for Wieman was superb. Every game he's come in and dominated the opposition centrebacks. Love the way he can own the centrebacks in the air centrally and then switch it up and beat them for pace in the channels. And he can pick the right passes in the number 10 spot when he drops off. He's beaten full backs with a bit of skill too... Having that many strings to a bow is so rare. We need to get him fit enough to play 70-80 mins. He's such a huge asset. Only thing missing for me is finishing but that's something that can be worked on. We should enjoy him this season as he will be attracting some big money bids in 12 months.

Bit of a strange move to drop Weiman?? One of Hedges or Dolan will miss out with Wieman keeping his slot on the right. Also have a feeling if JRC can get himself properly fit over the next two weeks he might get a crack at right back.

Fabulous result... Burnley were so much better than us first half and after the first went in i thought we might get smashed.... But one wonder goal later and we matched them, even after the sending off. Much as I love JDT we would have lost that game 3-1. We were so organised after going a man down and always looking to hold our own. Thought Gueye until his sending off had a great game, he is destined to play in the prem - not only does he win so much on the air he lays off and passes the ball welll, and Ohashi has an unbelievable way of winning the ball when looking second best. Great debut from Beck, and thought the defence generally did well. We were however totally outclassed in midfield which is a bit of a worry . Anyway great result and Eustace is looking like the sort of manager who turns losses into draws which is one of the best signs you can have.

Attacking wise based on the squad I would say we really should be looking for 8th to 12th, maybe better than that if Cantwell and Duberry turnout to be as good as hoped. But defensively we look very fragile. We are so dependent on two things really in my opinion - 1) Is Toth a good Championship keeper 2) Can Carter and Hyam stay fit and Hyam recover his form from the season before last Those two things feel quite tenuous...

Feels possible to me - think Gueye, Ohashi and Cantwell will all get that number. Dolan, Hedges, Sigurdsson, Wiemann all have a shot at it. The signs are we will exceed the goals from last season. My concerns are much more on the goals conceded side.

Think we look well covered now in every position except centre back. We're short in numbers there and injury prone.... Would feel better if we had one more loan young pacy cb.

Keeper is a real massive punt. Hes got great stats but playing in a poor league. It's really strange that after getting so burnt by Leo that we have gone a similar route again. With Eustace being after Ruddy and other experienced keepers all window I really wonder if he wanted this one. Very odd to me. Hope it works out.

Could we get Hill? Hes not going to play for Bournemouth... Would be ideal pacy cover at the back (though not left footed which is a shame).