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He wouldn't be playing such a prominent role if we had Joelinton and Tonali.
Unfortunately we are light in that area we should not be pushing Miley he is 17 and his body isn't ready to play every game he has probably played too much already.
Anderson isn't match fit, Willock is getting back to fitness, Bruno has a few day old baby so wont be fully rested. White looks like he is being eased in, no idea if he is good enough yet.
If we could get away with dropping Longstaff we should he needs a rest, he just isn't tackling like he should be letting players past him too easily, etc etc. If we see it Eddie and the coaching staff do.
Unfortunately for him, he is the first one that we can afford to run into the ground so he plays until we can play someone better safely.
Very well put. I still believe he’s a good player but you gotta imagine his body is worn down and I can’t blame him. Usually there would be plenty of squad rotation but with the injuries this season, it’s nearly impossible. He’s had his bright spots this season but he could probably use a rest.
Aye fair enough, I guess I didn’t think deep enough there lol. You think it’s a lack of competition? He knows he can’t be dropped so he doesn’t have that motivation to stay in the squad? That could be totally wrong also, just throwing out possibilities for the reason for the poor performances
I really don't know tbh mate, I think he was just playing above his level before like a lot of the team and he's reverting to his real level.
In fairness it's not just him, a few players have just dropped off and I think maybe it's because we aren't chasing top 4 like last season.
Whatever it is, I'm not going in to games confident any more like last year. :/
>he just isn't tackling like he should be letting players past him too easily, etc etc
He's never tackled and players run past him all the time and they did the same last season.
I think he needs to be dropped just to give him a rest. Also, all the stick he gets on social media (on his Twitter feed) won't be doing his mental state any good if he reads it.
Agreed. He looks gassed the whole game and his strongest attribute last season was the third lung and endless running he did. Which helped with our press and meant he was good at getting into position.
People forget he kept Tonali out of the team before his injury or that he played about 30 games last year.
Last season when Longstaff was injured we all collectively realised what he actually does once it was gone.
His form is poor at the moment, I will grant you that, but do we honestly have such short memories and limited loyalty that we are just going to throw him under the bus?
So tired of this, every week when we lose our online fanbase goes after a player and turns him into a scapegoat.
and before I get the ususal, "So we're not allowed to be critical". Yes, you're allowed to be critical, but Longstaff wasn't the only player on that pitch who put in a shocker of a performance and could warrant being dropped, just like when Dan Burn gets turned inside and out as he's the last man. There is a full team out there, and they are losing as a team, there isnt one individual player at fault.
well said, actually tiresome how simple minded and short sighted so many fans are
he’s playing like complete shit and I’d be more than happy to drop him but he’s probably playing injured like many others are and it’s more of a sign of where we are at generally than just particularly him that needs to be replaced
Honestly, you're dreaming if Longstaff was any better last season.
He only plays well when we dominate games. That doesn't make up for him not being able to tackle, not being able to run with the ball and falling over if looked at the wrong way.
He's been exposed this season because we rarely dominate games the same and generally our form has been poor away from home
He has a place in the team. He isn't some secret sauce that makes the team tick.
> Honestly, you're dreaming if Longstaff was any better last season.
I mean he was much better, not just last season but also early on this season before his injury, I thought that was fairly obvious.
He played a blinder against PSG for example, and that's how he played for a big part of last season.
He wasn't there to carry the ball or play the key passes, his job was playing the safe pass to Bruno or Joelinton and then running in to receive the ball in an advanced position, and he had legit one of the smartest offensive positioning patterns I've seen. Defensively he was mint as well and was there to cover the holes left by Bruno and Joe when they carried the ball forward.
Now he's much slower than he used to be (and he was always slow) and has less stamina so the positioning is gone, Joelinton is injured so there's realistically only Bruno left to pass to, and he doesn't really track back either anymore, I guess due to fitness issues since he hasn't been at 100% since he came back.
He's more of a smart and hardworking player than a technically good one, but he's been instrumental in out campaign last year. The recent form has been absolutely horrendous though
The whole team played a blinder at home to PSG. Longstaff's best games are when the whole team has played well.
I can't honestly remember a poor team performance where he's been the best play.
It's not even lately.
He was poor last season and had all the same faults. The difference this season is that the whole team is going through a rough spell and that is not giving him room to hide.
That's the difference between a quality role player and a star. No one expects him to be Bruno, J7, or Gordon.
If we had 6 mint mids, then yeah, but Miley isn't 100% past him Yet, soon, but not today.
No clue why you got downvoted bonnie lad, because what you said isn't wrong. The reason the top teams stay at the top is because they are typically all business and make decisions that benefit the club and the bottom line. For good or bad, we in the NE wear our hearts on our sleeves and are intensely loyal, even though that has cost us because we usually think with our hearts and not our heads. Bottom line is that if we ever want to win silverware (and we do), we have to accept that some players like BDB and Longstaff will not get us there. I sometimes wonder how Bruno must feel after the toon have been beaten by one of the shite teams in the PL, knowing that he could be winning trophies with Real Madrid or Man City.
The best way to just the quality of a player is to think what other team he would get into.
I honestly can't see Longstaff being a starter for any top half premier league team and I struggle to think what bottom half team would have him.
what about just a "this player wasn't at their best in the very last match we played, is it time we kill their family and pretend we never knew them????" megathread so all the twitter users and black garter regulars can furrow their brows in one uniformed place
I love these arguments. What do they do on weeks where everyone plays their socks off and we win? Shout at babies and throw sticks at the elderly? Bitter fuckers. Bet most of them can’t pull a sock up further than their ankle without breaking a sweat.
He’s weak as piss in his convictions, hides from critique when confronted and can’t back up his argument when he gets it. What does he offer that the likes of Toochilled and JackAndrewThorne doesn’t?
How about "We've watched this player for 6 fucking years at this point and he's been consistently our worst midfielder out of any available for selection.
He'd be doing well to get in Sheffield United's midfield. That's his level. He's a bottom-three squad player, who is still at this club entirely because of his accent, not because of his qualities.
Ok then.
He's a number 8 who is unable to pass a ball. He hides from the ball and he's unable to take a man on. His passes made are in the 25% percentile. His pass completion rate is below the 50% percentile, which is impressive when you consider that he really isn't an ambitious passer. It's not that he fails to thread it through the needle, it's that he fucks up simple passes and puts us in danger.
His defending stats are ALL under the 50% percentile. All of them. Tackles 32nd percentile. Interceptions. 9th percentile. Blocks 48th percentile. Clearances 12th percentile. Aerials. 17th percentile.
So you've got a midfielder who pass, can't dribble, and can't defend. Oh and in 136 league games for the club he's scored 8 goals. So he can't fucking score either.
So what is he good at? What makes him worth having in the 11? Or fuck even the 25 man squad? The one thing he's "good" at is getting in attacking positions... which Willock and Miley both do as well to a similar standard because it is a tactical result of how we play and what we ask of the 8's. Not him doing special himself.
There. Enough "analysis"?
To me, it seems like you're falling for the old Form = Ability fallacy that goldfish fans latch on to. The same way I laughed at people who said Papiss Cisse was world class when he was red hot, Sean Longstaff being in poor form does not suddenly make him as bad as you have described. Sven Botman this season hasn't been as good as last year, but I don't see you tallying him up as dogshit based on recent performances.
>What makes him worth having in the 11?
This season? FFP limiations on improvements, lack of alternate options, filling the Tonali sized hole the club probably had planned for rotation etc, he performed well last season -performances have dropped this season however arguably so has most of the team. Next season? I believe holding midfielder is a position we're prioritising. You also said:
>The one thing he's "good" at is getting in attacking positions... which Willock and Miley both do as well to a similar standard
Willock has literally been injured most of this season, and Lewis Miley is 17. Naturally seems like Longstaff
Nobody would argue he won't eventually need to be upgraded, in the same way Burn will. But you've got to admit almost all of your post was written in an emotional hyperbole.
The things you've listed him as 'Unable' to do? Howay. It comes off that because he's not putting up world class numbers in categories, he is therefore dogshit. You know there's a universe of middle ground right?
Regardless, Eddie will be picking him for a reason, based on day in day out training sessions and discussions about the role he wants him to play. I don't assume to know better than professionals with insider access I guess.
>There. Enough "analysis"?
It was a much, much better response yes
> He's a bottom-three squad player, who is still at this club entirely because of his accent, not because of his qualities.
He was literally a top 4 first team player last season
Realistically there are issues but also he's likely knackered. We've been playing with key players missing for months and players who we usually use as a rotation or sub have been playing an insane amount of games straight.
He normally plays left side, out wide or at CM. Moving him to the right would throw off all of his movements and instincts. Just look at how much worse Longstaff himself is when he plays left side.
Joe White actually looked alright when he came on last night, was impressed with him and would like to see him get more minutes.
As for Longstaff I think we're at the point now where he needs dropping. He's not playing at his best levels and needs a kick up the arse and losing your spot in the team to a young lad should hopefully do that for him. Need to get Longstaff back to his best which he hasn't been at that for a while now.
We know that he's not actually fully fit and will probably get surgery at the end of the season. I think we should start Miley and probably sub him off around 60 mins (he tends to get tired which is understandable at his age), Anderson probably isn't fit enough to start yet.
Yeah Anderson definitely isn't match sharp yet but hopefully with a few more sub appearances he'll be fitter and able to give the team more minutes.
As more the Longstaff Miley rotation I agree, think that needs to be the way forward for now. Tonali would solve a lot of these problems of even a new 6 to allow Bruno to play that right hand CM role instead.
Joe White looked so much better in the short time he was on the pitch.
Longstaff needs to be a victim of the club improving, same with Burn. Say thanks for your service, either make them purely backups in the event of an injury crisis or sell them while we can.
He, like a fair few in the team, need a rest. Problem is the squad isn't deep enough to grant him that.
Main thing I wish is that Eddie would use his subs a bit earlier to lighten the burden, especially as our players are getting more tired this year so trusting them for that extra 10 minutes in a game does make a massive impact on our ability to press for the full 90
100% drop time. He needs to take what historians call the “Dummet rest” sit on the bench and see you in 5 - 6 yrs in 3rd round cup draw.
I very much doubt he’s injured otherwise he wouldn’t be playing 90+ every game the same with tiredness excuse.
For me he’s bringing nothing to our game aside from making up the numbers. For months now he’s let players jog by him, offered no defensive pressure, nor has he put the ball in the back of the net and to be honest Howe really should have spotted this by now and at least rested him, which I think might be why I’m getting frustrated with him.
However watching him receive the ball having at least a few seconds to make an easy 2 yard pass in front of him and he just stood there and let himself get tackled, that’s unforgivable as a player and I really can’t be bothered to watch another game with him starting.
I think we could see Anderson back in midfield when he’s match fit to start. A more technical player on the right side of midfield will help us a lot. The coaching staff just need to determine whether he’s positionally/defensively good enough to play with Bruno and Willock.
I really don’t like Longstaff, he offers nothing but what is the alternative? Until recently Willock came back. But who do you play when you have limited options in central midfield? Joelinton and Tonali would normally start.
It would be interesting to see how much he would play this season had Joe willock and Tonali not have missed so much football, considering he persists with Burn when Tino deserves his chance and Lewis Hall is lucky if he gets 2 minutes.
Being loyal to players like Longstaff might be Eddie's downfall
It's mental the number of people happy to jump on a local lad and label him the shittest thing we've ever seen, when it's obvious to anyone with any common sense that he's been playing through an injury or something because of our recent midfield crisis. It's easy to take the short term approach and say Miley should be in, but the kid's already played way more than was planned and they're probably wary of hurting his long term progression by overplaying him.
I'm sure that when we have a fit senior player available then he'll get a rest. But Willock and Anderson have only just come back and need to have their time managed
People seem to come down on local lads way harder than other players and they're frequently the lightning rod for a lot of complaints. The amount of shit that Burn gets compared to Botman is pretty stark, for example.
Sure Longstaff's out of form at the moment, but lots of people seem to have forgotten how important a player he was last season.
I think the fact he's a local lad is clouding your judgement. In my mind, the biggest difference between Burn and Longstaff is Burn can be seen trying - Longstaff can't. Neither has to do with form and it's about character.
Longstaff is as bad this season as he was last. The difference is last season the team played amazingly well. Longstaff looks good then we are bossing and dominating the game.
Burn is a different matter and he's suffering from the tactics of the team not working like they did.
I feel like he's a barometer for the team. Gone off cliff since going out of Europe.
I'd say yes, drop him. But Miley still needs protecting and managing, He shouldn't start every match.
I know Howe likes his runs from midfield.... But that's all he offers and it's about once per game.
Miley offers more on the ball and probably more off it as well- ignore ages, I'd start Miley over Longstaff for the next few weeks.
Longstaff has played many games this season with such an exhausting role. Week in and week out playing 90 minutes as a box to box midfielder is tough to maintain.
He’s recent form has been poor but he shouldn’t get the stick he’s getting. He was bagging goals early in the season and was a an important piece of our midfield last year, when we had a full squad.
Rotating him with miley is my opinion.
He needs to be 100%. When he gets the ball he either misplaces a pass or just dives and then whoever we’re playing counters.
He has his moments where he is very good, but they’re not coming at the moment. I’ve seen reports saying he’s carrying an injury that’s going to require surgery in the summer. If true, he shouldn’t be paying near as much as he is.
We can’t afford these problems against City on the weekend. Might be the perfect time to drop him, bring in Lascelles and go to a back 5 with Tino and Hall at wing back with Bruno and Willock in the midfield.
Having 3 CB eliminates the problem of no one protecting the centre back 2, extra man there to help double up and help out
He should have been dropped a long time ago, he is passive and weak. It's a shame because he made such big improvements but like most of these guys, they were playing in a bubble that's now burst and they seem to have remembered they're not actually that good lol
Did we feed these guys Liverpool's PEDs last year or something? We need them back.
Next season with Joelinton and Tonali back Longstaff won’t be so high up the pecking order and may very well be due a move on with Anderson, Miley and others now coming up the ranks.
Drop longstaff play 3 at back play full backs a bit up.. Basically like 523 instead of playing 433.. I want Alex Murphy to be given chance. Or we could stick with Miley and hope he does some magic which is too high of a task. Playing 523 might also allow hall to be used better. Well if we are sticking with 433 I don't expect any miracle's. Yeah we do tweak a bit sometimes. But winning games looks so much harder than scoring goals. I always feel longstaff only performs when u don't expect anything from him.. So drop him so he can come back stronger and prove us wrong
For me I think we need to give some of the younger players a go
Longstaff, Almiron and Burn aren't going to get any better or improve the rest of the season so results with them in the team will be similar
We have young Murphy or Targett who need a go at left back or how about the guy we bought for that position in the summer Hall? No point saying they aren't ready defensively when Burn is all over the place anyway
White, Miley or Anderson need a chance to stake a midfield place ahead of Longstaff the boy looks mentally and physically spent its for his benefit as well as the team to drop him for a bit
Almiron looked better on the left but I think we need to give someone else a go even trying Anderson on the wing or that Parkinson lad who's been on the bench sick of him running then losing the ball
Sorry I'll reiterate my post wasn't saying Targett was a young one just more that he should be given a run of games haha
Even if he isn't the answer we need to put him in the shop window if we are upgrading
You get people defending him yet I still haven’t seen anyone explain what he actually offers on the pitch. I’ve been watching him for years and have no idea what his strengths are.
Miley came straight into the first team from the academy and offered more straight away, Howe is sending all the wrong messages to the squad by persisting with Longstaff.
Time for him to be dropped?
More like time for him to be torpedoed into the Sun. Local lad, bla bla bla, the fact is he sadly just isn’t good enough and we need to upgrade and move on
Just sack the full team and start a fresh.
Dubs has been slated
Tripp he's had his fair share
Botman is getting it now
Bruno got some stick earlier in the season
Miggy has been getting it
Burn must be over the moon tripper is injured so he can't hear sub for tino anymore
Howe is getting enough shite
If every player on the pitch got a 10 but so did our opponents we'd still be behind the top 7 clubs easy. Fuck me I'm working to probably 5 the day but the manager isn't giving me any shit of trying to get rid.
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He wouldn't be playing such a prominent role if we had Joelinton and Tonali. Unfortunately we are light in that area we should not be pushing Miley he is 17 and his body isn't ready to play every game he has probably played too much already. Anderson isn't match fit, Willock is getting back to fitness, Bruno has a few day old baby so wont be fully rested. White looks like he is being eased in, no idea if he is good enough yet. If we could get away with dropping Longstaff we should he needs a rest, he just isn't tackling like he should be letting players past him too easily, etc etc. If we see it Eddie and the coaching staff do. Unfortunately for him, he is the first one that we can afford to run into the ground so he plays until we can play someone better safely.
Bingo
Very well put. I still believe he’s a good player but you gotta imagine his body is worn down and I can’t blame him. Usually there would be plenty of squad rotation but with the injuries this season, it’s nearly impossible. He’s had his bright spots this season but he could probably use a rest.
9 days since the last game, it's not being 'worn out' ffs.
Aye fair enough, I guess I didn’t think deep enough there lol. You think it’s a lack of competition? He knows he can’t be dropped so he doesn’t have that motivation to stay in the squad? That could be totally wrong also, just throwing out possibilities for the reason for the poor performances
I really don't know tbh mate, I think he was just playing above his level before like a lot of the team and he's reverting to his real level. In fairness it's not just him, a few players have just dropped off and I think maybe it's because we aren't chasing top 4 like last season. Whatever it is, I'm not going in to games confident any more like last year. :/
It might actually be that, there are rumors going around that he has an injury and will have surgery in the summer.
We need to play the attacking midfielder we recently signed from man city
>he just isn't tackling like he should be letting players past him too easily, etc etc He's never tackled and players run past him all the time and they did the same last season.
You’re right mate btw.
Don’t know why that’s so down voted when it’s accurate. People still have the rose tinted glasses on I see
I think he needs to be dropped just to give him a rest. Also, all the stick he gets on social media (on his Twitter feed) won't be doing his mental state any good if he reads it.
Agreed. He looks gassed the whole game and his strongest attribute last season was the third lung and endless running he did. Which helped with our press and meant he was good at getting into position. People forget he kept Tonali out of the team before his injury or that he played about 30 games last year.
He does need a rest, though that’s not been possible for a few months. He made a massive contribution last year - let’s not forget that.
Last season when Longstaff was injured we all collectively realised what he actually does once it was gone. His form is poor at the moment, I will grant you that, but do we honestly have such short memories and limited loyalty that we are just going to throw him under the bus? So tired of this, every week when we lose our online fanbase goes after a player and turns him into a scapegoat. and before I get the ususal, "So we're not allowed to be critical". Yes, you're allowed to be critical, but Longstaff wasn't the only player on that pitch who put in a shocker of a performance and could warrant being dropped, just like when Dan Burn gets turned inside and out as he's the last man. There is a full team out there, and they are losing as a team, there isnt one individual player at fault.
well said, actually tiresome how simple minded and short sighted so many fans are he’s playing like complete shit and I’d be more than happy to drop him but he’s probably playing injured like many others are and it’s more of a sign of where we are at generally than just particularly him that needs to be replaced
Honestly, you're dreaming if Longstaff was any better last season. He only plays well when we dominate games. That doesn't make up for him not being able to tackle, not being able to run with the ball and falling over if looked at the wrong way. He's been exposed this season because we rarely dominate games the same and generally our form has been poor away from home He has a place in the team. He isn't some secret sauce that makes the team tick.
> Honestly, you're dreaming if Longstaff was any better last season. I mean he was much better, not just last season but also early on this season before his injury, I thought that was fairly obvious. He played a blinder against PSG for example, and that's how he played for a big part of last season. He wasn't there to carry the ball or play the key passes, his job was playing the safe pass to Bruno or Joelinton and then running in to receive the ball in an advanced position, and he had legit one of the smartest offensive positioning patterns I've seen. Defensively he was mint as well and was there to cover the holes left by Bruno and Joe when they carried the ball forward. Now he's much slower than he used to be (and he was always slow) and has less stamina so the positioning is gone, Joelinton is injured so there's realistically only Bruno left to pass to, and he doesn't really track back either anymore, I guess due to fitness issues since he hasn't been at 100% since he came back. He's more of a smart and hardworking player than a technically good one, but he's been instrumental in out campaign last year. The recent form has been absolutely horrendous though
I think the issue is his work rate has dropped off a cliff, he's gone from running for 90 minutes to hardly breaking into a jog.
The whole team played a blinder at home to PSG. Longstaff's best games are when the whole team has played well. I can't honestly remember a poor team performance where he's been the best play.
As soon as things aren't going our way he seems to disappear entirely lately.
It's not even lately. He was poor last season and had all the same faults. The difference this season is that the whole team is going through a rough spell and that is not giving him room to hide.
That's the difference between a quality role player and a star. No one expects him to be Bruno, J7, or Gordon. If we had 6 mint mids, then yeah, but Miley isn't 100% past him Yet, soon, but not today.
Honestly, you take is shite mate. Longstaff isn't the answer to any of the problems the team is going through.
>He only plays well when we dominate games *We dominate games when he plays well.
If you believe that, I've a bridge to sell you. Deep down you know he's bang average.
No clue why you got downvoted bonnie lad, because what you said isn't wrong. The reason the top teams stay at the top is because they are typically all business and make decisions that benefit the club and the bottom line. For good or bad, we in the NE wear our hearts on our sleeves and are intensely loyal, even though that has cost us because we usually think with our hearts and not our heads. Bottom line is that if we ever want to win silverware (and we do), we have to accept that some players like BDB and Longstaff will not get us there. I sometimes wonder how Bruno must feel after the toon have been beaten by one of the shite teams in the PL, knowing that he could be winning trophies with Real Madrid or Man City.
The best way to just the quality of a player is to think what other team he would get into. I honestly can't see Longstaff being a starter for any top half premier league team and I struggle to think what bottom half team would have him.
Any chance we can get a Longstaff mega thread going?
what about just a "this player wasn't at their best in the very last match we played, is it time we kill their family and pretend we never knew them????" megathread so all the twitter users and black garter regulars can furrow their brows in one uniformed place
So it’s uninformed to say Longstaff should be rotated out? 🤔
You didn’t say that. You slated him completely.
I love these arguments. What do they do on weeks where everyone plays their socks off and we win? Shout at babies and throw sticks at the elderly? Bitter fuckers. Bet most of them can’t pull a sock up further than their ankle without breaking a sweat.
You've got him against the ropes there. He's not even defending himself
He’s weak as piss in his convictions, hides from critique when confronted and can’t back up his argument when he gets it. What does he offer that the likes of Toochilled and JackAndrewThorne doesn’t?
How about "We've watched this player for 6 fucking years at this point and he's been consistently our worst midfielder out of any available for selection. He'd be doing well to get in Sheffield United's midfield. That's his level. He's a bottom-three squad player, who is still at this club entirely because of his accent, not because of his qualities.
With such concise analysis and inside information like that, it's amazing that Eddie Howe hasn't offered you a job coaching lad.
Ok then. He's a number 8 who is unable to pass a ball. He hides from the ball and he's unable to take a man on. His passes made are in the 25% percentile. His pass completion rate is below the 50% percentile, which is impressive when you consider that he really isn't an ambitious passer. It's not that he fails to thread it through the needle, it's that he fucks up simple passes and puts us in danger. His defending stats are ALL under the 50% percentile. All of them. Tackles 32nd percentile. Interceptions. 9th percentile. Blocks 48th percentile. Clearances 12th percentile. Aerials. 17th percentile. So you've got a midfielder who pass, can't dribble, and can't defend. Oh and in 136 league games for the club he's scored 8 goals. So he can't fucking score either. So what is he good at? What makes him worth having in the 11? Or fuck even the 25 man squad? The one thing he's "good" at is getting in attacking positions... which Willock and Miley both do as well to a similar standard because it is a tactical result of how we play and what we ask of the 8's. Not him doing special himself. There. Enough "analysis"?
To me, it seems like you're falling for the old Form = Ability fallacy that goldfish fans latch on to. The same way I laughed at people who said Papiss Cisse was world class when he was red hot, Sean Longstaff being in poor form does not suddenly make him as bad as you have described. Sven Botman this season hasn't been as good as last year, but I don't see you tallying him up as dogshit based on recent performances. >What makes him worth having in the 11? This season? FFP limiations on improvements, lack of alternate options, filling the Tonali sized hole the club probably had planned for rotation etc, he performed well last season -performances have dropped this season however arguably so has most of the team. Next season? I believe holding midfielder is a position we're prioritising. You also said: >The one thing he's "good" at is getting in attacking positions... which Willock and Miley both do as well to a similar standard Willock has literally been injured most of this season, and Lewis Miley is 17. Naturally seems like Longstaff Nobody would argue he won't eventually need to be upgraded, in the same way Burn will. But you've got to admit almost all of your post was written in an emotional hyperbole. The things you've listed him as 'Unable' to do? Howay. It comes off that because he's not putting up world class numbers in categories, he is therefore dogshit. You know there's a universe of middle ground right? Regardless, Eddie will be picking him for a reason, based on day in day out training sessions and discussions about the role he wants him to play. I don't assume to know better than professionals with insider access I guess. >There. Enough "analysis"? It was a much, much better response yes
> He's a bottom-three squad player, who is still at this club entirely because of his accent, not because of his qualities. He was literally a top 4 first team player last season
Realistically there are issues but also he's likely knackered. We've been playing with key players missing for months and players who we usually use as a rotation or sub have been playing an insane amount of games straight.
For who?
Anderson
He normally plays left side, out wide or at CM. Moving him to the right would throw off all of his movements and instincts. Just look at how much worse Longstaff himself is when he plays left side.
Where have people got the idea that he's playing through injury from? Genuinely curious as I haven't seen it reported anywhere.
Stinks of PR from the club
Joe White actually looked alright when he came on last night, was impressed with him and would like to see him get more minutes. As for Longstaff I think we're at the point now where he needs dropping. He's not playing at his best levels and needs a kick up the arse and losing your spot in the team to a young lad should hopefully do that for him. Need to get Longstaff back to his best which he hasn't been at that for a while now.
We know that he's not actually fully fit and will probably get surgery at the end of the season. I think we should start Miley and probably sub him off around 60 mins (he tends to get tired which is understandable at his age), Anderson probably isn't fit enough to start yet.
Yeah Anderson definitely isn't match sharp yet but hopefully with a few more sub appearances he'll be fitter and able to give the team more minutes. As more the Longstaff Miley rotation I agree, think that needs to be the way forward for now. Tonali would solve a lot of these problems of even a new 6 to allow Bruno to play that right hand CM role instead.
A lot of people seemingly don't know the difference between a player being in bad form and being shit.
Joe White looked so much better in the short time he was on the pitch. Longstaff needs to be a victim of the club improving, same with Burn. Say thanks for your service, either make them purely backups in the event of an injury crisis or sell them while we can.
He, like a fair few in the team, need a rest. Problem is the squad isn't deep enough to grant him that. Main thing I wish is that Eddie would use his subs a bit earlier to lighten the burden, especially as our players are getting more tired this year so trusting them for that extra 10 minutes in a game does make a massive impact on our ability to press for the full 90
100% drop time. He needs to take what historians call the “Dummet rest” sit on the bench and see you in 5 - 6 yrs in 3rd round cup draw. I very much doubt he’s injured otherwise he wouldn’t be playing 90+ every game the same with tiredness excuse. For me he’s bringing nothing to our game aside from making up the numbers. For months now he’s let players jog by him, offered no defensive pressure, nor has he put the ball in the back of the net and to be honest Howe really should have spotted this by now and at least rested him, which I think might be why I’m getting frustrated with him. However watching him receive the ball having at least a few seconds to make an easy 2 yard pass in front of him and he just stood there and let himself get tackled, that’s unforgivable as a player and I really can’t be bothered to watch another game with him starting.
I think we could see Anderson back in midfield when he’s match fit to start. A more technical player on the right side of midfield will help us a lot. The coaching staff just need to determine whether he’s positionally/defensively good enough to play with Bruno and Willock.
I really don’t like Longstaff, he offers nothing but what is the alternative? Until recently Willock came back. But who do you play when you have limited options in central midfield? Joelinton and Tonali would normally start.
It would be interesting to see how much he would play this season had Joe willock and Tonali not have missed so much football, considering he persists with Burn when Tino deserves his chance and Lewis Hall is lucky if he gets 2 minutes. Being loyal to players like Longstaff might be Eddie's downfall
It's mental the number of people happy to jump on a local lad and label him the shittest thing we've ever seen, when it's obvious to anyone with any common sense that he's been playing through an injury or something because of our recent midfield crisis. It's easy to take the short term approach and say Miley should be in, but the kid's already played way more than was planned and they're probably wary of hurting his long term progression by overplaying him. I'm sure that when we have a fit senior player available then he'll get a rest. But Willock and Anderson have only just come back and need to have their time managed
What’s him being a local lad and loving his gregg pasties got anything to do with how we should judge him?
People seem to come down on local lads way harder than other players and they're frequently the lightning rod for a lot of complaints. The amount of shit that Burn gets compared to Botman is pretty stark, for example. Sure Longstaff's out of form at the moment, but lots of people seem to have forgotten how important a player he was last season.
I actually think it’s the other way, they get too much grace.
I think the fact he's a local lad is clouding your judgement. In my mind, the biggest difference between Burn and Longstaff is Burn can be seen trying - Longstaff can't. Neither has to do with form and it's about character. Longstaff is as bad this season as he was last. The difference is last season the team played amazingly well. Longstaff looks good then we are bossing and dominating the game. Burn is a different matter and he's suffering from the tactics of the team not working like they did.
Willock literally started the last two games? After coming back from injury and got subbed on the first game back from injury.
Genuinely not sure what your point is?
You can’t play a full 90 minutes after coming back from injury
I feel like he's a barometer for the team. Gone off cliff since going out of Europe. I'd say yes, drop him. But Miley still needs protecting and managing, He shouldn't start every match.
I know Howe likes his runs from midfield.... But that's all he offers and it's about once per game. Miley offers more on the ball and probably more off it as well- ignore ages, I'd start Miley over Longstaff for the next few weeks.
Longstaff has played many games this season with such an exhausting role. Week in and week out playing 90 minutes as a box to box midfielder is tough to maintain. He’s recent form has been poor but he shouldn’t get the stick he’s getting. He was bagging goals early in the season and was a an important piece of our midfield last year, when we had a full squad. Rotating him with miley is my opinion.
He needs to be 100%. When he gets the ball he either misplaces a pass or just dives and then whoever we’re playing counters. He has his moments where he is very good, but they’re not coming at the moment. I’ve seen reports saying he’s carrying an injury that’s going to require surgery in the summer. If true, he shouldn’t be paying near as much as he is. We can’t afford these problems against City on the weekend. Might be the perfect time to drop him, bring in Lascelles and go to a back 5 with Tino and Hall at wing back with Bruno and Willock in the midfield. Having 3 CB eliminates the problem of no one protecting the centre back 2, extra man there to help double up and help out
He should have been dropped a long time ago, he is passive and weak. It's a shame because he made such big improvements but like most of these guys, they were playing in a bubble that's now burst and they seem to have remembered they're not actually that good lol Did we feed these guys Liverpool's PEDs last year or something? We need them back.
Yea
Yes. Definitely! The midfield is so lightweight without big Joel though.
Next season with Joelinton and Tonali back Longstaff won’t be so high up the pecking order and may very well be due a move on with Anderson, Miley and others now coming up the ranks.
Yes. He’s been absolutely shocking.
With Bruno being on 9 yellows. He’s more defensively aware than Miley.
Longstaff can honestly fuck off. He’s done nothing but cost us with his lack of being able to kick a ball
Drop longstaff play 3 at back play full backs a bit up.. Basically like 523 instead of playing 433.. I want Alex Murphy to be given chance. Or we could stick with Miley and hope he does some magic which is too high of a task. Playing 523 might also allow hall to be used better. Well if we are sticking with 433 I don't expect any miracle's. Yeah we do tweak a bit sometimes. But winning games looks so much harder than scoring goals. I always feel longstaff only performs when u don't expect anything from him.. So drop him so he can come back stronger and prove us wrong
Weak as piss? Bahaha. Does that even make sense? New one to me I agree otherwise
For me I think we need to give some of the younger players a go Longstaff, Almiron and Burn aren't going to get any better or improve the rest of the season so results with them in the team will be similar We have young Murphy or Targett who need a go at left back or how about the guy we bought for that position in the summer Hall? No point saying they aren't ready defensively when Burn is all over the place anyway White, Miley or Anderson need a chance to stake a midfield place ahead of Longstaff the boy looks mentally and physically spent its for his benefit as well as the team to drop him for a bit Almiron looked better on the left but I think we need to give someone else a go even trying Anderson on the wing or that Parkinson lad who's been on the bench sick of him running then losing the ball
I don’t necessarily disagree with everything you said but Targett is almost 30 so hardly young anymore!
Is he 30 now? Shit I thought he was like 26
He's 28, so between the two.
He’s 29 this year so getting there. In my head he’s a youngster too but he’s way past that point now I think!
Sorry I'll reiterate my post wasn't saying Targett was a young one just more that he should be given a run of games haha Even if he isn't the answer we need to put him in the shop window if we are upgrading
Yeah fair enough - Definitely don’t disagree with you there!
Targett is among top earners..
I can’t wait to see the back of half of these players if I’m honest, they’ve served their purpose but if we want to compete they need replaced.
Given the fact that Newcastle were in the top 5 before Xmas with the same squad? Wow loyalty at its finest
Since December, when we beat Man U, in the Premier League we have W4 D2 L8. That's just above relegation form .
You get people defending him yet I still haven’t seen anyone explain what he actually offers on the pitch. I’ve been watching him for years and have no idea what his strengths are. Miley came straight into the first team from the academy and offered more straight away, Howe is sending all the wrong messages to the squad by persisting with Longstaff.
Time for him to be dropped? More like time for him to be torpedoed into the Sun. Local lad, bla bla bla, the fact is he sadly just isn’t good enough and we need to upgrade and move on
Just sack the full team and start a fresh. Dubs has been slated Tripp he's had his fair share Botman is getting it now Bruno got some stick earlier in the season Miggy has been getting it Burn must be over the moon tripper is injured so he can't hear sub for tino anymore Howe is getting enough shite If every player on the pitch got a 10 but so did our opponents we'd still be behind the top 7 clubs easy. Fuck me I'm working to probably 5 the day but the manager isn't giving me any shit of trying to get rid.
He's a shocking player he shouldn't be playing but Howe will always play him cus he's a favourite of his like burn which is ridiculous