Bournemouth (H) 19/08/23 - 3pm BST

[danperkins]

Jota has been good today so far

[Venton]

Szobetc has been good.

He has. Finding a bit of rhythm now.

[Venton]

What are we doing at the back? Newcastle will give us an old school snotting if we fanny about like that.

[Kenneth]

Poor half against a terrible opposition. Trent absolutely to blame for the shakey start, Mo is still not Mo, the starting lineup less than ideal again too. The penalty was a gift. Familiar stuff but good enough for this game so far.

[spud_gun]

Dom looks the business

Gakpo had been incredibly shot shy. Couple of times he was in a good position and opted for the pass

[Venton]

Poor half against a terrible opposition. Trent absolutely to blame for the shakey start, Mo is still not Mo, the starting lineup less than ideal again too. The penalty was a gift. Familiar stuff but good enough for this game so far.

I'm sorry, Trent isn't solely responsible for us being **** at the back. There are a whole raft of issues back there at the moment, it's not just confined to him.

[Phoenix07]

Will need to see how we function once we get Gakpo back up front, and Endo/new DM in front of the defence. I'm not entirely sold on the inverted full-back thing.

Szoboszlai looking sharper. He's going to be an absolute monster driving forward.

Will be interesting to see how Nunez does against this Bournemouth side. I'm assuming he comes on at some point.

[Rigadon]

Haven't read any comments but that first half performance was concerning. More the system/formation rather than the personnel.

[Venton]

Haven't read any comments but that first half performance was concerning. More the system/formation rather than the personnel.

We have real issues connecting with each other at the moment. Not all the time, but for sections of games we're all over the place. Some of the time we just don't look like a team. I'm expecting the midfield to need a bit of time to bed in but the way the back 5 interact is really concerning.

[Kenneth]

I'm sorry, Trent isn't solely responsible for us being **** at the back. There are a whole raft of issues back there at the moment, it's not just confined to him.

I didn’t see them. I saw him stretch for a ball and set up their offside goal and then saw him receive a perfectly good pass from the CB and give it away for their goal. They were pretty much the main incidents early on as far as I recall.

[Fudo Myoo]

Was I imagining it or did Trent start to stay more in the RB role when we had the ball in the last 15 minutes of the half? It seemed we were more balanced and controlled and able to keep the ball and defend better.

[Tatterdemalion]

It’s not bad is it, but he’s no James Milner from the spot.

It's not, but the trouble is 5 of those have come in the last two years, 3 in the last 6 months. I don't think he's getting any better at it.

EDIT : I believe he's had 5 pens in 2023 and scored directly from 2.

[Rigadon]

We have real issues connecting with each other at the moment. Not all the time, but for sections of games we're all over the place. Some of the time we just don't look like a team. I'm expecting the midfield to need a bit of time to bed in but the way the back 5 interact is really concerning.

It looks like a mess. Makes some of the players look clueless.

[dizzycat]

We have real issues connecting with each other at the moment. Not all the time, but for sections of games we're all over the place. Some of the time we just don't look like a team. I'm expecting the midfield to need a bit of time to bed in but the way the back 5 interact is really concerning.

Yep, we don't look like a team that is more than the sum of its parts. I still cannot see this system working evenbwith a good no 6. Virgil tackles that used to result in a good pass and possession are going straight into touch now. I just don't think we can play to our current squads strengths

[kemm1]

I'm sorry, Trent isn't solely responsible for us being **** at the back. There are a whole raft of issues back there at the moment, it's not just confined to him.

Three of our defenders are playing well. Our midfield can't stop anyone.