Football 2025-26

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, thetime said:

 

League changes very quickly at the minute. Look at utd, could of gone to 2nd temporarily on Saturday and now 8th. Villa were near the bottom 3 games ago, they are up to 7th. 

 

Although the European games, domestic cup and league seems to affect Newcastle. Perhaps its a mentality issue, rather than the big European games. 

Certainly I'm aware it's still compressed - 6 points to the top 6 is not an insurmountable gap with 27 games to go. It can still be redeemed. But there is a lot of incoherence in the way we play, a question on our summer recruitment, a real problem with our away games and a question of whether we have players who care more about the Champions League games than the league ones. Essentially, we need some kind of spark to get this going.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, lost said:

 

Man City next 2 points above the relegation zone? 

 

You wouldn't of thought Howe would of been in trouble with the cup win but occupying the bottom 3 at any point does seem to drain the confidence of chairman.

I'm aware football boards now can often show very little patience. Though a lot are admittedly more patient than fanbases, given you'll often see people calling for sackings after every defeat even if it's like a first in 10 games or whatever.

 

With this case, I don't think we're yet at the "Get him out" stage, though the fact our board seem to be very slow in doing things makes me think any such decision will take a while to be reached if indeed it is reached at all. But the question of why it is we can't win away from home must be answered soon. Hell, you can be hyper critical the other way given our only 3 PL wins we have so far were against a seemingly Championship-bound Wolves, Ange's Forest and an injury hit Fulham who are in bad form themselves.

 

I certainly don't think Howe helped himself today really. I know the medical team's judgement has to be trusted but it is odd that both Pope and Joelinton were made to carry on when both really did not look right after injuries (certainly, if there was a concern Pope was concussed, sub him off ffs).

 

Meanwhile, Burn out of position at left-back in a role he has not looked comfortable in during PL games recently and on a yellow against a fast opposition right-winger was an accident waiting to happen. It is particularly baffling that having gotten away with an incident that looked like a potential Brentford penalty, Burn was left out for the exact same thing to happen again (a softer one, imo, but still). Throw in the out of form Botman, a midfield that has looked like its running on empty, a question on whether our wingers are truly in sync with Woltemade and we really have a lot of work required. I'm not sure how much we can blame on several key players catching flu, but it might not be enough to go the distance.

[kaosmark2]

29 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I certainly don't think Howe helped himself today really. I know the medical team's judgement has to be trusted but it is odd that both Pope and Joelinton were made to carry on when both really did not look right after injuries (certainly, if there was a concern Pope was concussed, sub him off ffs).

 

Meanwhile, Burn out of position at left-back in a role he has not looked comfortable in during PL games recently and on a yellow against a fast opposition right-winger was an accident waiting to happen. It is particularly baffling that having gotten away with an incident that looked like a potential Brentford penalty, Burn was left out for the exact same thing to happen again (a softer one, imo, but still). Throw in the out of form Botman, a midfield that has looked like its running on empty, a question on whether our wingers are truly in sync with Woltemade and we really have a lot of work required. I'm not sure how much we can blame on several key players catching flu, but it might not be enough to go the distance.

So my biggest question about Howe this season, was whether he was going to rotate, because he's always been a bit of a "stick with a winning team" manager. I actually thought until about 2 weeks ago he was doing really well on that front, almost every player was getting game time, but it wasn't the manic "7-11 changes" of eg. Maresca. Woltemade and Pope were the only players playing basically every game, but most were playing 2/3 or 3/4. 

 

Now we seem to have players playing through illness/fitness issues, the same midfield picked for 4(?) games in a row after recovering from a flu, despite Ramsey and Miley both looking fairly handy when they have had minutes this season, and the attack looking completely isolated from the midfield despite all 3 of whichever players dropping fairly frequently.

 

Wrt Burn, I think how he's done overall at left-back is pretty good, considering he's had to play almost every minute until now, it's not his natural position, and he can be beaten for pace if his positioning is even slightly off. I didn't watch today's game, and I've seen him struggle before, but I'm willing to say he's done well enough that a bad performance today doesn't warrant dropping him, more just that he needs a rest, and is better at CB anyway.

 

Centre back is a strange one. Burn and Schar started the season, and looked imperious together until Schar got concussed against Barca, but then when Thiaw came in just looked insanely good. Then Tino got injured and Burn went to left-back, and the Botman/Thiaw partnership had 2 games where it looked as good all the hope of "this is our centre-back partnership in the champions league for 5 years" wishing. But despite Botman having an extra yard of pace over Schar/Burn, he's looking more exposed by Burn/Trippier's lack of pace at full-back. 

 

Honestly, I think Howe is really missing the ability to use mid-week to coach/drill some movements. I think he is a systems/patterns-based coach, and with our struggles in pre-season and the lack of breaks mid-week, he's just not getting the time on the training pitch to help spread ideas. I think this is then leaning him to just pick the players who performed for us over the last 2 seasons (which is a mistake with the flu and injuries).

 

I'm nowhere near any thought of "Howe out", I'm just hoping that the international break gives us a few players a chance to get a physical and mental break, and others a chance to work with Howe on the training pitch. I think the fact that all of Livramento/Hall/Wissa should be back at the end of the month will help a lot. As I've said, I think we're missing pace from the full-back position both defensively and going forward.

 

I do still think it's early enough on the season, and points are tight enough, that our quality will tell and we'll go on a run up the table. My worry is that if we aren't competitive in/for Europe, we'll struggle to keep hold of a couple of key players, particularly Livramento.

[charlierc]

10 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Honestly, I think Howe is really missing the ability to use mid-week to coach/drill some movements. I think he is a systems/patterns-based coach, and with our struggles in pre-season and the lack of breaks mid-week, he's just not getting the time on the training pitch to help spread ideas. I think this is then leaning him to just pick the players who performed for us over the last 2 seasons (which is a mistake with the flu and injuries).

 

I'm nowhere near any thought of "Howe out", I'm just hoping that the international break gives us a few players a chance to get a physical and mental break, and others a chance to work with Howe on the training pitch. I think the fact that all of Livramento/Hall/Wissa should be back at the end of the month will help a lot. As I've said, I think we're missing pace from the full-back position both defensively and going forward.

 

I do still think it's early enough on the season, and points are tight enough, that our quality will tell and we'll go on a run up the table. My worry is that if we aren't competitive in/for Europe, we'll struggle to keep hold of a couple of key players, particularly Livramento.

Certainly I'm aware of the manager impatience stuff. I barely use the site that used to be Twitter now but I am assuming there were a lot of people calling for Arne Slot to be gone after Liverpool's latest misfire or Daniel Farke to get the chop at Leeds. Plus tbf with our specific example, a few are playing the "Howe has taken us as far as he can" card. 

 

But I do agree that the injuries in full back and striker positions are causing us a lot of problems. Feels like not getting an upgrade on Krafth as a challenger didn't help us either given he had a stinker at West Ham and wasn't trusted yesterday. I'm also of the opinion that Osula might be better as a winger than as a striker, which further reduces the depth up there (although he was injured yesterday). 

 

But like you say, I wonder if Howe is better suited when you're not going through a churn of multiple games a week and has time on the training ground to implement ideas. It seems as though we've had to revert to what worked last season due to a lack of time to come up with an alternative, even if it means leaning on players who were better last season or trying to play the system that worked with Isak with a different kind of central striker. There's an argument we could be better off playing a 4-2-3-1 with Woltemade in a number 10 role behind a line leader. 

 

Though yeah. I know many are confused by the hyper rotation Maresca does with Chelsea but there's probably a better balance between that and us this week, where I genuinely think Howe would've named the same 11 for all 3 matches if he could've done. 

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Certainly I'm aware of the manager impatience stuff. I barely use the site that used to be Twitter now but I am assuming there were a lot of people calling for Arne Slot to be gone after Liverpool's latest misfire or Daniel Farke to get the chop at Leeds. Plus tbf with our specific example, a few are playing the "Howe has taken us as far as he can" card. 

 

But I do agree that the injuries in full back and striker positions are causing us a lot of problems. Feels like not getting an upgrade on Krafth as a challenger didn't help us either given he had a stinker at West Ham and wasn't trusted yesterday. I'm also of the opinion that Osula might be better as a winger than as a striker, which further reduces the depth up there (although he was injured yesterday). 

 

But like you say, I wonder if Howe is better suited when you're not going through a churn of multiple games a week and has time on the training ground to implement ideas. It seems as though we've had to revert to what worked last season due to a lack of time to come up with an alternative, even if it means leaning on players who were better last season or trying to play the system that worked with Isak with a different kind of central striker. There's an argument we could be better off playing a 4-2-3-1 with Woltemade in a number 10 role behind a line leader. 

 

Though yeah. I know many are confused by the hyper rotation Maresca does with Chelsea but there's probably a better balance between that and us this week, where I genuinely think Howe would've named the same 11 for all 3 matches if he could've done. 

I've fully deactivated Xitter, but I skim the NUFC reddit most weeks, so I see enough of the online idiocy.

 

I still have faith in Howe mostly, because I do trust in his ability to coach and develop players. My concern is that he isn't getting the time to do that, rather than that he's taken us as far as he can. If we had a winter break like other countries I'd fully believe that'd have a big positive impact.

 

Honestly, I'm more concerned about Bruno as Howe. I suspect it's just this rumoured flu plus the non-stop midweek games, but he's been giving the ball away a lot and not he's just not looked composed at all since the Benfica game. He'll be flying off to Brazil so won't get either a physical or mental break either.

[charlierc]

46 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

I've fully deactivated Xitter, but I skim the NUFC reddit most weeks, so I see enough of the online idiocy.

 

I still have faith in Howe mostly, because I do trust in his ability to coach and develop players. My concern is that he isn't getting the time to do that, rather than that he's taken us as far as he can. If we had a winter break like other countries I'd fully believe that'd have a big positive impact.

 

Honestly, I'm more concerned about Bruno as Howe. I suspect it's just this rumoured flu plus the non-stop midweek games, but he's been giving the ball away a lot and not he's just not looked composed at all since the Benfica game. He'll be flying off to Brazil so won't get either a physical or mental break either.

All 3 of Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton looked off at West Ham as well imo. It's possible flu and playing them every minute each week really isn't working for them. Gordon was being played into the ground before his hip injury that has ruled him out of England next week after being initially called up, even if a lot of his PL games this year have fallen below expectations.

 

I do contribute now and then on the NUFC Reddit and I'm aware the posts there really run the gamut between measured and idiotic takes. But I'm aware this is always magnified after losing where everyone's annoyed and miserable. Sometimes people just have to vent and stay stupid sh*t.

[charlierc]

To stop this from just going on about Newcastle, I didn't watch the Man City v Liverpool game yesterday as I watched the F1 race instead, but were Liverpool that bad? I've heard a lot of criticism for what they were doing yesterday. To say nothing of continuous questioning of whether they've made mistakes in the summer revamp with Kerkez having been error prone and Wirtz still having issues finding a role.

[lost]

10 minutes ago, charlierc said:

were Liverpool that bad?

 

I thought they were excellent against R Madrid. Yesterday aside from Doku putting in a world class performance and Man city generally playing very well it does feel like Slott trying to justify the money he's spent. 

 

Wirtz on the wing didn't seem to work and he was probably at fault for the first goal not closing down Nunes quickly enough. Also Konate a few times this season has played like a player who knows he won't get a massive signing on bonus from his new club at the end of the season if he picks up a serious injury.

Edited November 10, 2025 by lost

[charlierc]

28 minutes ago, lost said:

 

I thought they were excellent against R Madrid. Yesterday aside from Doku putting in a world class performance and Man city generally playing very well it does feel like Slott trying to justify the money he's spent. 

 

Wirtz on the wing didn't seem to work and he was probably at fault for the first goal not closing down Nunes quickly enough. Also Konate a few times this season has played like a player who knows he won't get a massive signing on bonus from his new club at the end of the season if he picks up a serious injury.

Yes I heard about a good display against Real Madrid and indeed that they did a brilliant job at keeping Mbappe and Vini Jr quiet. But clearly Doku knew the weak spots. Even from only seeing the 3 minute highlight clip Sky pop up on YouTube after matches, he was a very strong presence.

 

Certainly, Man City look dangerous again. I'd hate to be a fan of the team that plays them next... wait, what? Oh.

 

I think the longer this season is going on the more people are asking questions of the revamp. I know Skip was particularly unimpressed by the call to sign Isak instead of a centre-back, but it is telling given both van Dijk and Konate have looked error prone so far this season. And that's no matter how many times VvD has social media worthy passive aggressive interviews with Wayne Rooney about it. Plus Kerkez being dropped and Wirtz having airs of a square peg in a round hole isn't helping I guess.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

All 3 of Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton looked off at West Ham as well imo. It's possible flu and playing them every minute each week really isn't working for them. Gordon was being played into the ground before his hip injury that has ruled him out of England next week after being initially called up, even if a lot of his PL games this year have fallen below expectations.

 

I do contribute now and then on the NUFC Reddit and I'm aware the posts there really run the gamut between measured and idiotic takes. But I'm aware this is always magnified after losing where everyone's annoyed and miserable. Sometimes people just have to vent and stay stupid sh*t.

Oh they were all awful against West Ham. That's the only bad performance from Tonali I've seen, but both Bruno and Joelinton have had a decent number of bad games. It just frustrates me as while Willock has been a little out of form for 2 years now, both Ramsey and Miley have looked pretty good most of the time they've got on the pitch this season. Trippier/Burn/Woltemade getting played until they make mistakes is more understandable with the injuries, but there are other options in midfield right now.

[Neil]

On 06/11/2025 at 13:56, charlierc said:

Howe mentioned after West Ham that Gordon has had hip issues in recent weeks. Though you'd then question why he was playing yesterday given he kept giving the ball away again then limped off. 

 

Trippier has still been alright tbf. So it's just Lewis or Tino that we need back to give us better balance in the left back role as making Burn play 90 every week is a sign that we really lack depth out there. And that's even acknowledging that Burn is a great trier and undoubtedly deserves plaudits for that brilliant goal last night. 

 

The Athletic did note we play a very flat midfield out of position that can be breached with the right pass, as Brighton did a few weeks ago. So we can have this problem. 

nick pope is also playing well.... i'm hoping he gets an England call-up, to be the first ex-Aldershot player to play for England. 🙂 

[Neil]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Wirtz having airs of a square peg in a round hole isn't helping I guess.

give worst a bit of time, same as it took firmino to fire up - worst has similar "best in Germany" stats as firmino had when signed.

[charlierc]

6 minutes ago, Neil said:

nick pope is also playing well.... i'm hoping he gets an England call-up, to be the first ex-Aldershot player to play for England. 🙂 

He has won 10 England caps so he has already hit that milestone.

 

Tuchel did call him up for the upcoming games but he suffered a concussion in the Brentford game yesterday so FA rules mean he can't play for two weeks and therefore he has had to pull out.

[kaosmark2]

55 minutes ago, Neil said:

give worst a bit of time, same as it took firmino to fire up - worst has similar "best in Germany" stats as firmino had when signed.

I don't think Wirtz himself is the problem. I think the problem is that Liverpool's midfield worked last year off having 3 box-to-box players and no dedicated DM, but they all did enough of that work between them to compensate.

 

Wirtz is a natural 10/hole player that drifts and roams, and hasn't developed that defensive side to his game. And while TAA is an attacking full-back, he'd often attack by stepping into midfield and providing play-switching long-balls, unlike Frimpong who is a "bomb down the wing" attacking full-back. Effectively, Liverpool are down 2 hybrid defense-attack players in midfield, and have added a wide player and a very attacking mid. This leaves them far more vulnerable to teams that control midfield, and far more vulnerable on the break. Add in Konate's poor form and Kerkez struggling to settle, and it's easy to see how these issues are snowballing.

 

The "square peg in round hole" thing I do think is fairly accurate. I do rate Wirtz and think over time he'll come good, the question is what else will happen while he does.

[Neil]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

He has won 10 England caps so he has already hit that milestone.

i didn't know, thanks.

[Skip997]

Slot has a worse record in his last 26 games than Hodgson did in his last 26 at Liverpool. Hodgson had an awful squad. Slot has got a great squad.

 

Slot has lost 40% of games since PSG last season. 
 

Time for a change 

[charlierc]

57 minutes ago, Neil said:

i didn't know, thanks.

Said he made his England debut in 2018 while still at Burnley in a friendly ahead of that year's World Cup. So he's definitely on the FA's radar.

[thetime]

Liverpool are next level.

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13468039/liverpool-contact-pgmol-over-virgil-van-dijks-disallowed-goal-in-man-city-defeat-to-raise-significant-concerns

[lost]

2 minutes ago, thetime said:

Liverpool are next level.

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13468039/liverpool-contact-pgmol-over-virgil-van-dijks-disallowed-goal-in-man-city-defeat-to-raise-significant-concerns

 

Yeah the minute it happens in a high profile game it all kicks off. I've seen loads of these disallowed since covid and like "arm in a natural position" penalties, completely random when they are given.

[kaosmark2]

On 10/11/2025 at 18:22, thetime said:

Liverpool are next level.

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13468039/liverpool-contact-pgmol-over-virgil-van-dijks-disallowed-goal-in-man-city-defeat-to-raise-significant-concerns

Funny how when decisions go against them they complain to "uphold refereeing standards and save the soul of football", but when dodgy decisions go their way, it's just another team "getting a bit unlucky".

[thetime]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

Funny how when decisions go against them they complain to "uphold refereeing standards and save the soul of football", but when dodgy decisions go their way, it's just another team "getting a bit unlucky".

 

Scouse innit. 

[Blisterpack]

2 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Scouse innit. 

Speaking as an Everton fan, I’d ask that you leave scousers out of it. 

[thetime]

3 hours ago, Blisterpack said:

Speaking as an Everton fan, I’d ask that you leave scousers out of it. 

 

Spot on point. 

[charlierc]

On 10/11/2025 at 18:27, lost said:

 

Yeah the minute it happens in a high profile game it all kicks off. I've seen loads of these disallowed since covid and like "arm in a natural position" penalties, completely random when they are given.

I'll give them this - it is strange the Man City goal at Wolves last season cited was allowed and this wasn't. But only because I think that one cited should've been disallowed as well. 

 

There's been a lot of noise about that goal but the ball is hitting Robertson in an offside position if he doesn't duck, no? I get why you'd be annoyed and I get that the interfering with play rule is open to all manner of inconsistent interpretation, but I don't think this was a terrible decision. 

[kaosmark2]

3 hours ago, charlierc said:

I'll give them this - it is strange the Man City goal at Wolves last season cited was allowed and this wasn't. But only because I think that one cited should've been disallowed as well. 

 

There's been a lot of noise about that goal but the ball is hitting Robertson in an offside position if he doesn't duck, no? I get why you'd be annoyed and I get that the interfering with play rule is open to all manner of inconsistent interpretation, but I don't think this was a terrible decision. 

It's one of those decisions where if it goes against your team in either way you feel aggrieved. But most clubs just let their fans (and maybe manager) moan for a few days then get on with it.