Vranny

A left footed left winger as well. Maybe the plan is to have him cutting in from the right (if we’re actually linked to him). I definitely don’t see McNeil playing anywhere other than the left of midfield from now on, after our attempts to force him onto the right wing last season.

Atalanta have also finished 5th, 8th, 3rd, 3rd & 3rd in their last five seasons. That might also have something to do with it.

I briefly had an extreme reaction when reading the bold part of the link above

Throw in a pitch invasion protest and a couple of rain delays as well.

This is actually correct. The glove isn’t considered part of the bat when it’s not touching it. You start running the risk of being given out handling the ball if you’re deliberately fending off the ball with a glove unattached from your bat though!

Correct. The ball has to hit the pad/body part first to be an LBW dismissal.

I think at least half of the shouts to sign him are coming due to us offering Davies another contract. He might provide more off the bench than Tom, but re-signing him would leave a bitter taste for me.

It looks like they’re very aware that this would happen though. They’ve already signed a new number 1 in Mark Flekken.

I think it gets underrated by the fans how important regularly getting picked for England while playing for us has on his decision to stay put too.

Or it just shows how dodgy the “quality” of the Russian league (and our scouts) are!

That might be true, but in this game it was definitely tactical. The other positional change that hinted towards us playing a back three/five was Tarkowski moving to the right side of defence for the first time this season, so that Coady could sit between him and Mykolenko.

Here’s a link for the award: https://plpotm.easports.com/ I usually wouldn’t vote for these sort of things, but I think it’d make for a good redemption story.

This is the key difference, along with not being stuck out wide. He’s a player with good ball control, can pick a pass and has the strength to hold off opponents. It makes him ideal to keep the ball in the middle and break through the press. He’s never had the speed or crossing ability to be playing as a winger in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation. It’s just a pity that it’s taken our central midfield dropping to such a low level (pre signings of Onana, Gana and Garner) for him to be given a proper chance there.

That was a criticism of him while at Chelsea I believe. It’s not particularly relevant for his time with Everton though.

How’s the line though? Are they swinging in or out? …I’ll stop now

He was a bit of a shithouse in our game against Forest (possibly due to being a former red play), so it doesn’t surprise me.

Completely agree. He’ll dribble until he can get a shot or cross off, or die trying. His style of play just suited us more at the start of last season, when we were mostly dependent on counter attacks. It’s been a similar situation for Doucoure too.

To add a bit of context they’ve lost 4 out of the 11 players that started for them in the playoff final, so their first team was always going to need an overhaul. They definitely haven’t half-arsed it though!

I think he’ll be a massive shout to take over from Coleman once he calls it a day. That should give him a season (maybe two) to get his feet under the table.

I imagine that’s only happened due to the De Jong deal being dead in the water then. Hopefully United are adding another bad egg to their dressing room

Part of the appeal of bringing in Borja now would be to ease him in while DCL is still at the club. I think he’s got all the makings of a top striker, but it’d be expecting a lot of a 20 year old to be your main man up top for the season. And I see Dennis as a like for like replacement of Richarlison; mostly played out wide, as an option if playing two up front, but only used as a lone striker if low on other options in that position.

So I wasn’t the only one thinking that when reading the article earlier…

He reminds me a bit of Iwobi, so I especially don’t see the point in signing him now that Alex has come good.

Chelsea are too though apparently (even for next season). They might be keen to keep him around the squad with Rudiger and Christensen going. From what I hear he’d be a handy pick up if we got him (albeit he’d then be blocking Branthwaite from getting game time).

Yes to the first, but I’d say it’s nailed on that Chelsea keep Gallagher next season. He’ll be the guy giving Kante (who’s in his 30’s now) a chop out for sure. Tuchel has commented on his form and development a bunch of times in press conferences this season.