Definitely, hence my second paragraph. It takes time to settle into a new club and position, but a top 3 earner should have enough quality to start every time. The reason he doesn’t, is because we’re about the same level with either of him, Jorginho and Vieira starting, which reflects well on our depth, even without Partey, but poorly on Havertz.

Pepe comparison is good. Let’s hope Havertz has what it takes to kick on instead of dropping off. At least unlike Pepe, the manager brought him here. Would be fun if Nwaneri eventually Saka’d him.

I think the reaction towards Havertz, in parts on here, but particularly anywhere else is crazy over the top. People act like he has been horrible - he has been OK.

And obviously he’s highly rated I’m the footballling world. Chelsea and Germany kept starting him, and Bayern, Arsenal and Real Madrid wanted to sign him. But we need more in the final third, much more quality. That he’s highly rated within the game, only goes so far, when we’re not even starting him half the time.

It will take more than a few months to settle into midfield for him, which many completely fail to acknowledge. Would absolutely love it, if he ended up fitting us like a glove.

Aston Villa totally had that coming.

Suicide line with no pressure on the man on the bal didn’t make sense when Tottenham did it against Chelsea, and doesn’t make sense away against Tottenham today. Must adjust, or they’ll hold 4 or 5.

Edit: lol Tottenham

Are Aston Villa playing with 9 men? Why is their line so high?

Brentford losses at home in the league since the beginning of last season: Arsenal, Newcastle, Everton, Arsenal.

Not an easy place to go.

At one point yesterday I thought “Fucking hell. Nørgaard might genuinely be the strongest player in the league.” Then I saw Rice body him.

If this is the decisions being animated gets you, I’d like Arteta to hire Donald Duck as his assistant.

Because for now it definitely doesn’t work.

It’s weird. I was so incredibly hyped when we got him, and then watching him I still think it’s mindboggling how good he is. He’s a rock defensively, 80/20 on 50/50s, fast, technically very sound, hits those sexy long passes and has scored important goals against United and Chelsea.

I think having expectations from any player of this level of performances, would be setting them up to fail. But he’d easily live up to it.

Yeah, what would happen if he’d just said “Oh, he hit him in the head”

That Vieira red from yesterday will look more and more ridiculous as the weeks go on.

More force, more contact, more weight in behind, more of a chance to know the outcome. It’s a fucking lottery.

Brentford should have taken their chances when they had them. At some point Liverpool will punish it.

Pretty crazy that Villa are 13/13 at home since we beat them in February.

Expect them to be all over Fulham.

Weird how they’ve not jumped to release the VAR-audio from our game last week yet.

You know they’d do it, if it in anyway supported their cover-up.

Imagine if we win the league because of an emotional support dog.

On a semi-related note, Atom y Humber are definitely dead by now, right?

https://imgur.com/Z2WSvjj

And this is a pretty conservative set of lines from the guy who drew it. The line on Gordon is at his knee, rather than at his outstretched foot which isn’t visible from this angle, while the line for the ball is so far right, that if the ball was any further right it’d be visible - even though it obviously hit the left side of Joelinton.

If they’d drawn the lines at Gordon’s foot from a different angle, the line would go somewhere in the visible space right of Joelinton and behind Gabriel, which would mean that even if you can’t pinpoint the ball, you can see that it’s at least half a yard offside.

It’s much clearer than the the time they couldn’t find Cucurella’s foot because he was blocked by his own keeper, so they just gave up after 4 minutes and guessed that Martinelli was probably offside to overturn the goal.

If nothing else, at least this week’s coordinated attacks in the media and sham self-reviews have proven that whatever the reason may be, there’s something rotten in the PGMOL beyond the decisions on the pitch.

It’s a phrasing they’ve never used before, to invent a way of not admitting wrongdoing.

He also played it with his arm.

Can someone explain to me how Saliba being hit on the arm in a natural jumping position from half a yard away on a scuffed Mudryk-header going a mile off target is a penalty, but Joelinton assisting the goal with his arm in a fouling motion from a 20 yard pass is a-okay.

Even beyond the handball , the foul is obvious and the offside is clear, there is no logic. Blatant cover-up.

Prepare for “marginal gains” to enter mainstream football conversation.

It’s interesting how all these 90s goalkeepers through their own egomaniacal lense suggested that having two capable goalkeepers at the club was a recipe for disaster, because earning your spot is reserved for all other players in the game.

So far so good. I don’t know if you can keep both at the clubs for years if the pecking order becomes too established, but for this season it definitely seems they both accept it’s a dogfight.

There are some suggestions of tactical flexibility as well, but I think they’re too similar, although there’s probably little differences between them that I don’t understand.