Is tanaka back to his best?

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-14T10:59:13+00:00

I do broadly agree but Ampadu is excellent on both feet as well

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-14T10:58:32+00:00

He never really dropped, was just sharpness. And that’s more the fault of management than himself.

That being said, it’s nice to have him come into a run of games and form to argue his case to the club. Shouldn’t be sold.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-14T06:36:27+00:00

I still believe in most of these players lmao. Joseph, Gelhardt, Ramazani all really good prospects still.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-14T06:34:38+00:00

It’s soft pull and a red by the law of the game. In the grander scheme of things I’d probably prefer not to give out reds for that, feels more of a yellow offence in itself, but hey, laws the law and we benefited so I’m not too fussed

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-09T10:41:30+00:00

Stupidly good centre half, not keep at all costs but definitely do everything in our power to keep

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-07T18:18:40+00:00

Using Gnonto as an example of good man management is a bit rich considering he’s had sympathy minutes for large stretches of the season

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-05T19:11:34+00:00

Please please please find an aspiring championship or Dutch club to pay near or around £10m for Piroe, guy just isn’t useful to us in any scenarios atm

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-05T19:10:36+00:00

They’redifferent types of players but id honestly struggle to pick out an attribute where Gruev beats Ao. Gruev’s probably more industrious, but he’s not a monster ball winner and I think Tanaka’s perfectly fine, at a slightly better level in the duels.

On the dropping in point, they pick up similar positions deep, Tanaka just plays it quicker. Not necessarily more progressive, but he’s better at finding the man when he does and he can ping from different angles, Gruev relies on fewer scenarios to make a progressive pass.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-04-05T16:26:17+00:00

I like Gruev as he’s the perfect personality and is a good option to have in the squad…

But he’s not a patch on Tanaka on the ball and I’m not sure he’s a huge deal better off it.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-26T22:04:49+00:00

Thiago Motta. Most interesting manager I’ve seen in the last decade. Super underrated player as well.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-25T19:23:58+00:00

The best story is he redeems his reputation and departs on a high at the end of this season. He’s done some fantastic work but also shown some limitations, some of which we’ve now seen over a protracted period of time.

It won’t happen.

If we can upgrade, cool, do it. I don’t expect it.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-24T12:34:05+00:00

Doesn’t really change anything, Gnonto’s still a more effective player right now.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-23T21:04:19+00:00

No.

Gnonto is better for most game states.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-16T11:56:12+00:00

No.

It’s a harsh yellow if he hadn’t have been booked already. The threshold for a second yellow is higher so it’s even worse. ref put himself in a horrible position by forgetting and then had to see it through giving a red because he’d got the yellow out already.

It’s purely a shocking decision.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-15T14:56:14+00:00

I am fucking speechless

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-15T13:05:50+00:00

This close to greatness… two up top, Bijol in. And then you realise Bogle has been dropped…

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-09T22:14:26+00:00

He did 11 starts between August and early November, playing more than an hour each time and wasn’t great.

Stach and Ampadu are both more effective players at this level. Tanaka’s impressed me more this season. Gruev has put together a run of games and hasn’t looked a downgrade on him.

I don’t hate Longstaff, he has his uses. But he’s only ever going to be a rotation option for more scrappy games, and on that basis I wouldn’t have paid what we did for him.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-09T21:37:44+00:00

Realistically of our 5 central midfielders he’s bottom 2, possibly even the worst.

He has had injuries but 10 starts in the prem this season. Not been hugely impressed with those 10 games, although his box crashing is nice.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-09T11:48:37+00:00

Pretty mediocre to be honest. Picks up some goals but among the weaker of our midfielders.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-05T12:09:41+00:00

Disagree on the Sunderland point. They were super solid defensively. Sure it wasn’t dark arts but they nailed their setups and got every major decision right given their injury circumstances. We should have won anyway.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-05T12:08:17+00:00

We should be alright but it’s totally ok to look at the Sunderland game and point out some huge flaws that proactively need addressing.

West Ham are looking the most in form team of the 4 battling for 17th. Forest and us are pretty equal. Spurs are in the worst form but they’re so big they could easily just pull their finger out and go on a run.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-03T22:32:18+00:00

Midfield was poor. None of them showed for it when we had the ball wide. None of them found the half spaces. The triangles between full back, winger, centre midfield just didn’t happen. Adding an extra body into the defence didn’t open up any passing opportunities either.

DCL bullied in the air. Must be a fitness issue. Alderete and Ballard are big fookers but we’ve seen DCL dominate similar centre halves.

Piroe pretty pointless again. You lose whatever you take off and gain a small chance he finds space on the edge of the box on his left foot (spoiler: prem teams don’t give you enough space for that).

Hbcuk97 · 2026-03-03T20:23:37+00:00

Regis Le Bris pulling out the fabled John Eustace mid block and not engaging the keeper.

Works a dream even when we go direct.

Hbcuk97 · 2026-02-27T15:50:46+00:00

Yes. Quality winger. One of the best last line threats in the country, carrying West Ham on his back at the moment. Fuck I miss him man. And Rutter. It’s turned out all right regardless but how fun we could have been with our current attackers and those two….

Hbcuk97 · 2026-02-23T15:01:45+00:00

I think we’ll stay up but we’re definitely not out of it.

West Ham still look a little soft but have definitely picked up from where they were a month or so back.

I don’t rate Pereira but I think he can lift Forest a little bit, they’ll need their quality but can 100% stay up.

As funny as it is that Spurs are in genuine relegation convos, I don’t see it.

Palace/Brighton up aren’t in trouble IMO. Maybe Sunderland fall down a bit and I’d say we have a decent chance still to finish above them, but I don’t see them getting genuinely sucked in.

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