Fair play, I couldn't pick between those 2, Diame and Fernandez. Don't care what the FA say I'm giving him the first goal, 100% on target.
CB's are looking tasty. Fernandez looked top today. Schar was literally unreal- incredible defending, incredible forward passing. Diane was a shrewd buy at 5m now, it's officially undeniable. All we have left is Lazaar, Manquillo and Murphy. Quite frankly, anyone questioning Rafa's purchase record at the toon is a moron. Liked the tactics. Switching clark into CB, Ritchie effectively LB, Schar more of an RB, Yedlin pretty much right mid. Sounds nuts now I write it down but we played to our opposition and it worked out well. Ki proved my point re:Shelvey. Short, accurate passes are vital now, as is Diame's defensive work, there's no space for baldy. For god's sake though, Kenedy and Perez's decision making will haunt me for eternity. Too many shots, too many turns. Defensive work on point though. Dubravka had a real 'i'm too good to think about goalkeeping' moment but sorted himself out. He did look nervy at times with the old possession recycling but managed to come out clean every time. Proper buzzing tonight. This team is once again capable of beating anyone and has worked through the most bleak start we have seen to a prem season. Enjoy this season lads, Rafa's stock is rising.
Wonder what all the people criticizing rafa for our tactics during the hardest start fixture wise I've ever seen think now ? -5 goal diff looks good where we are like another point on the rest Winnable games till January
Was gutted not to hear the commentator say "that was awful by Mee" Been waiting for a commentator to be self-aware for years
That group from us down - 4 points between 13th and 20th is crazy. Hopefully we have enough confidence between now and January to pick up enough points to drag ourselves out of that group 6 games till the half way stage: West Ham (D) Everton (L) Wolves (D) Fulham (W) Huddersfield (W) Liverpool (L) That'll put us on 20 points at the halfway point
Look at Bournemouth's (8th place) fixtures in the same time period (6 league games) they still have City, Tottenham, Man U and Liverpool to play before January with a QF vs Chelsea thrown in the mix as well.
9-12 for me, but gets us away from the bottom - reckon Cardiff and Southampton are already very likely candidates plus one more
