He didn't "have" to play Murphy and Krafth at the back, we had Hall and Livramento on the bench Vs Palace.
Livramento at times has not been fully fit. Hall has at times gone off with fatigue or injury. It's been an issue of minute management IMO.
Chelsea the worry now - 5 points secures 7th minimum (unless Man U beat Arsenal.... - I know i laughed out loud also) and Europe unless Man U beat City.... (I know, again right?) Chelsea have some kinder fixtures but 7 points means a fifth place finish is a guaranteed spot even if they both win all their games bar a draw against us.
It is but any dropped points and it starts becoming seriously tense - starting this week against Brighton, Man U is then a cup final in effect and finally squeaky bum time vs Brentford. Exciting but equally nerve wracking. 5-8th are genuine possibilities at the moment, literally 3 games to decide the future of the squad - 5/6th and I think we keep most/all of our superstars and sign some good players, 7th/8th could see a few of the big names wanting out and signings think twice about joining.
Brighton and Brentford I am confident we'll win. We have joelinton, miggy, trippier and Pope back soon. I have a feeling we'll see an almost full strength side vs man utd. Brighton may be tough because they aren't bad defensively at times and may sit back.
While I hope you are right T-dawg, I was confident vs Luton and Forest earlier in the season. We've only been shut out 4 times in 35 games so far so we will probably score in all our remaining fixtures but it's the defence that's a worry, literally down to a reserve back 5. Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Target Dubs, Tino, Krafth, Burn, Hall
Forest was a while ago now, we're in much better form now. Same with Luton, where Dan burn was basically to blame for our last 2 goals. Thankfully Eddie has no choice but to play an actual LB at LB now. Targett? Why is targett in there? Definitely no where near the starting 11 for me. Hall should be LB going forward definitely.
Physically he's better, but the fact that Trippier still has one of the highest assists counts despite being injured for much of the season and off form for a while, says it all. Trippier is better at reading the game and better creatively. His main weakness is physical. If Trippier can get back to what he was before the 2nd half of this season, then he's still arguably our best player besides Bruno. He was only off form for december and jan, before he got injured he got like 4 attacking returns in 4 games. Still a class player but we're going to have to accept he can only likely play 1 game a week from now on.
Think if Targett is fit (granted its a rarity) he starts ahead of Hall and Burn at LB - tbh I think Hall's last few performances will have given Eddie a lot to think about - the switch to Wilson in the lead up to the second goal was phenomenal and pin point. Target or Burn couldn't hit a ball like that but if Target was fit would Hall be getting the chance he is? Don't think he is there defensively yet to be considered starting LB. Trippier is ahead of Tino in the pecking order - there's no doubt about that, Trippier has nearly 50 caps, a goal in a WC semi final and assist in a Euros final and is still 2nd in assists in the league despite missing 10 games, Tino as good as he will (likely on par if not better) be isn't there yet.
